The one reason Bill O’Reilly can come up with to demand why Americans should be privy to Elena Kagan’s sexuality is a false starter: because a Supreme Court justice’s orientation might dictate how she votes on particular cases. It’s a stupid argument that’s stupidly been made before, stupidly.
Immutable characteristics like sexuality do not make a person any more or less qualified to issue objective conclusions. A black justice should be no more expected to vote in favor of affirmative action than a white justice should be expected to vote against it. And even characteristics of choice, like religious beliefs, aren’t necessarily indicators about a justice’s fitness to interpret the Constitution. A Catholic justice should be no more expected to rule in favor of blurring the separation of church and state than an atheist justice should be expected to rule against it.
The Washington Post‘s Sally Quinn last night made the best of points: The reason the president nominates a Supreme Court justice is because he thinks she’s qualified.
TheAwfulTruth
But… is she gay???
JamesStone
Hey Bill..you said that you think that Thomas Jefferson would not be in favor of gay marriage. I wonder what old Tom would think about interracial marriage or having the audacity of giving WOMEN the right to vote???
Geoff M
Why does it matter? If Kagan is gay and that supposedly disqualifies her ruling on gay cases like DADT, ENDA or Gay Marriage….then doesn’t it disqualify the heterosexuals too? Don’t THEY have a stake??
A
why is it that if you are Gay or Latino/a or Female those identities will sway how you vote or decide a case as a judge. If you are straight, or male, or white won’t those identities sway how you judge too!? Why is it so hard for Bill to see this? Oh yeah, because he is a straight white male.
Andy
@A: Yeah, but that’s not the point. The assumption is that gay marriage is wrong.
Jorge
It’s bat-shit crazy that these days when I watch Fox News, I find Bill O’Reilly is the most even-handed of the bunch.
Joey O'H
For Gay people, it is important. To have an ally in the Superior Court could be helpful in our quest for simple civil human rights that we are entitled to.
Hetero people think it’s not important because they may not want to hear about it.
Yes, the softball photo is stereotypical, but it’s not a false one.
ewe
One cannot say a blogger is not credible if they do not tell us who that blogger is. Being gay is not a prerequisite for harboring a bias. Oreichy is a homophobe, racist and paid off a female employee after harassing her on the phone about his personal dildo use right? All the other eight judges had better discuss their own sexual orientation before Kagan be required to. Talking about what Thomas Jefferson thinks on gay marriage is stupid. He was around before the radio. Plus why should anyone care what a slave owner thinks of homosexuality? I think his point of view can be discarded. Not to mention no one can possibly know because he is long dead and gone. Typical Oreichy would use him as an example.