May 11, 2010

Emily Bazelon talks with me on Bloggingheads — about the Kagan nomination.



The topics the bhtv editors identify are:
The enigma of Elena Kagan
Will she be able to win over the court’s conservatives?
The Supreme Court as “women’s work”
Six Catholics, three Jews, zero Protestants
Ann defends Kagan on military recruiting
Predictions for the confirmation hearings
But there's much more. Try it. Only 20 minutes.

15 comments:

ricpic said...

"She's an enigma...and that's a good thing."

It's good to put enigmas into positions of power?

avwh said...

"She's an enigma...and that's a good thing."

It's good to put enigmas into positions of power?


Exactly. We see how well that's worked out with Obama...

The Drill SGT said...

Wow,

I was intending to post on exactly the same enigma comment.

Althouse, your track record on assuming the best intentions from enigmas isn't very strong.

Hoosier Daddy said...

I half expect Kagan to begin her remarks at her confirmation hearing to go:

"The details of my life are quite inconsequential...."

MadisonMan said...

If you don't know how people will behave you will never be disappointed.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

One of the problems for a republican senator, in "going after" a democrat nominee, is that as a career politician, he better have a clean and pure record.

Republicans have not feared well in those battles.

Ann Althouse said...

"Althouse, your track record on assuming the best intentions from enigmas isn't very strong."

I don't assume the best. You looking at times when I had to look at something relatively bad as the alternative. It's not empty optimism. It's realism.

Penny said...

“If you don't know how people will behave you will never be disappointed.”

Shouldn’t that be, “If you have no EXPECTATIONS as to how people will behave, you will never be disappointed?’

“It's not empty optimism. It's realism.”

It’s the same kind of realism that had blank slate Obama become President instead of Clinton or McCain. There is the difference of course…This nominee will serve for LIFE if she is approved.

Penny said...

Loved this Bloggingheads, as I usually do.

In the early stages, Althouse was wearing her moderate hat, and Bazelon was wearing some of her left wing "nerves" about this appointment...No matter that Kagen is the darling of their lefty President. Hm?

It seemed like Bazelon was holding back some in NOT saying she wasn't sure she could trust Obama to be mindful enough of the liberal agenda.

Penny said...

Ann, on a slightly different note, I happened to catch the last minute of a former Bloggingheads participant, Michelle Goldberg, on the Chris Matthews show.

She was equally as embarrassing as she was when you talked with her, except it seemed SO much worse on national TV.

She must have some strong connections to someone of influence. Connections that you should have. You'd be great.

Beldar said...

I enjoyed your comments, Prof. Althouse, even though I usually prefer reading to talking heads. But if you're offering wagers on your predictions, I'll take you up on that one about nine women on the SCOTUS at once. (I do agree that it is entirely likely, even probable, that there will soon be occasions when there are more women on the Court than men.)

Be said...

Have to admit that I was really diverted by the background. Who plays? Who built it? (Looks well taken care of.)

josil said...

The lack of diversity on the SCOTUS is alarming. In religious terms, there are no Protestants or Muslims (who will represent the side of Sharia?). In terms of educational background, we have only Harvard and Yale.

Penny said...

"Have to admit that I was really diverted by the background."

Me too, Be. In fact, it sometimes seriously got in the way of focusing on the dialogue, which was clearly my primary reason for even clicking on Bloggingheads..."she said". lol

Funny...In saying that, I realized my reason for hitting that link was really my association with Althouse and my personal respect for both she and Bob Wright. PLUS, DIALOGUE!

Did your mind's diversion to what might well be called, "personal background noise" help you or hinder you in understanding the topic on the table? It was supposed to be about Kagan afterall.

Ann Althouse said...

The piano is quite old. I bought it circa 1990, fully restored, for my sons. The brand is Ellington (which became Baldwin).