Kagan's views continue to bump up against each other in media coverage of her pending nomination because we lack definitive evidence of what she really believes. Perhaps her views will become clearer during her confirmation process in the Senate, and perhaps, if confirmed, she will make an excellent justice.
But, for a president to appoint someone to a lifetime position, wouldn’t it be preferable to know what she believes on the biggest issues of the day—and how she arrived at those conclusions? If Obama does nominate Kagan, as he likely will, he will be taking a very big risk.—Paul CamposAccording to sources Elena Kagan will be president Barry Hussein Soetoro nomination to the Supreme Court today. She is an ideal nominee for president Soetoro because she is somewhat of a stealth nominee. (see article)
Kagan like Soetoro, before he was elected president, is not well known outside of the circles in which she orbits. However there are some things known about her. She has just not had a great many published works which she has expressed a political philosophy. (president-elect nobody knows.)
Kagan fought to have the ROTC removed from the campus of Harvard when she was Dean of Harvard Law school. She fought it all the way to the Supreme court citing, in her opinion that the military discriminated against homosexuals with “Don’t ask Do tell” military policy. A policy mind you that president William Jefferson Clinton endorsed by signing into law.
Kagan fought all the way to the United States Supreme Court to deny students their Constitutional rights. In the litigation of Rumsfeld v. FAIR, Elena Kagan filed amicus briefs with the Third Circuit Court and the United States Supreme Court to institutionalize discrimination against the military and students who wish to serve which, as mentioned above, the Supreme Court struck-down.
Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan, believes the military should be banned from campus. In a 2005 letter about military recruiting, Kagan arrogantly called the military's recruiting policy "discriminatory," "deeply wrong," "unwise," and "unjust.".-- Patrick X. Coyle (source)
Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan, believes the military should be banned from campus. In a 2005 letter about military recruiting, Kagan arrogantly called the military's recruiting policy "discriminatory," "deeply wrong," "unwise," and "unjust.".-- Patrick X. Coyle (source)
And then there is that speculation that Kagan’s nomination by president Soetoro is a bone thrown to the gays and lesbians to beat back their concern that Soetoro has not moved quickly enough to infuse the culture with homosexuality. (Kagan first homosexual supreme?)
An issue that is causing consternation among gays because either the White house or Kagan are treating Kagan's alleged homosexuality as something to be proud of. That issue is being quashed by the White house until they get their nominate seated on the Court.
In fact the general public knows very little about Kagan’s views and that will make it very difficult for those in the Senate who oppose the political philosophy behind the nominating of Kagan.
What is known about Kagan is the most leftist president in the history of the United States of America wants her on the Supreme Court to represent his political philosophy. That prospect alone should give Conservatives the will to fight for a more acceptable nominee.
However it is my contention that we need diversity of a different sort on the Court. A diversity that has nothing to do with who you sleep with or what color your skin is or who your ancestors were.
We need regional diversity on the Supreme Court. We need a Justice that can relate to everyday people not just the elitists on the East coast. Didn’t president Soetoro say that he would nominate such a person? Someone who could relate to everyday people? He did. He did say that, and if he meant it Elena Kagan is not that person. Therefore she should not be his nominee.
Forget liberal vs. conservative justices. The Supreme Court is way out of regional alignment: It's heavily tilted toward the Northeast corridor and could become even more so as President Barack Obama prepares to fill an upcoming vacancy.
Five of the nine justices have strong ties to Boston, New York and central New Jersey. Chief Justice John Roberts is a Midwesterner raised in Indiana, but he went to college and law school at Harvard and has spent his entire professional life in Washington.-- Mark Sherman (source)
Five of the nine justices have strong ties to Boston, New York and central New Jersey. Chief Justice John Roberts is a Midwesterner raised in Indiana, but he went to college and law school at Harvard and has spent his entire professional life in Washington.-- Mark Sherman (source)
Kagan hails from that cookie cutter academia elitist circle of privilege that very few attain to. Her judgments would come from a life experience that has no real connection with common people.
Diversity on the court often is measured by gender, ethnicity, religion and race, and the current candidates are being assessed by those measures. But there could be some value, both in the politics of the nomination and a familiarity with issues a new justice might bring, in choosing someone who lives far from Interstate 95, the principal north-south route along the Eastern Seaboard.
"The impetus to appoint someone from the West is a really good one. –Mark Sherman
"The impetus to appoint someone from the West is a really good one. –Mark Sherman
If the president was serious about his own criteria for selecting a Justice for the Supreme Court then he couldn’t possibly nominate Kagan. The president said he wanted a nominee who understood the "practical day-to-day" implications of rulings, someone who had judicial "empathy."
Kagan is a Manhattan-born Eastern who was educated, works and travels in political elitists circles.
Today once again we’ll see if the president’s words mean anything. And if Kagan is nominated against the president’s own criteria she should be opposed on the very grounds that the president established. She was not and will not be in touch with everyday American people. Those are the very principles that this president laid out for his criteria in selecting a nominee.