What could have been: Robert Bork
By Frank Moraes
It is a sad day. Robert Bork died this morning. But that's not why it's sad. It's sad because of the great opportunity we missed.
One incident in Bork's career explains everything about him. During the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon wanted Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox fired because, you know, he was doing his job. Attorney General Elliot Richardson refused to do it and resigned. So did his second in command, William Ruckelshaus. But Bork was willing to do it. Why? Because he's an authoritarian.
But we missed a great opportunity to have him on the Supreme Court. Instead, we got Clarence Thomas who is 20 years younger than Bork and, more to the point, is not dead. There is really no daylight between Bork and Thomas in terms of how they rule on the cases. They both think children ought to be forced to pray in public school. Women shouldn't have the right to an abortion. People don't have a right to privacy.
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One incident in Bork's career explains everything about him. During the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon wanted Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox fired because, you know, he was doing his job. Attorney General Elliot Richardson refused to do it and resigned. So did his second in command, William Ruckelshaus. But Bork was willing to do it. Why? Because he's an authoritarian.
But we missed a great opportunity to have him on the Supreme Court. Instead, we got Clarence Thomas who is 20 years younger than Bork and, more to the point, is not dead. There is really no daylight between Bork and Thomas in terms of how they rule on the cases. They both think children ought to be forced to pray in public school. Women shouldn't have the right to an abortion. People don't have a right to privacy.
Read more »
Labels: Antonin Scalia, Bush v. Gore, Clarence Thomas, conservatives, George W. Bush, Richard Nixon, Robert Bork, Samuel Alito, U.S. Supreme Court
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