Friday, May 14, 2010

"Kagan Might Be Gay" Oh.

The U.S., whose two political parties are proving to be incapable of working together in some semblance of harmony for the greater good of the country, is increasingly polarized about virtually everything, and more so of late with a new Democratic administration that has veered sharply to the left-of-moderate. Perhaps what is much more problematical, voters themselves, the ordinary person-on-the-street appear to have placed themselves solidly in one camp or the other.

With President Barack Obama's nomination of current Solicitor General Elena Kagan as a Supreme Court candidate to replace outgoing Justice John Paul Stevens, things have taken a fairly ugly turn, although Republicans do not own the podium on this particular matter. It is, rather a hot-potato topic taken up with great enthusiasm by hard-right talk-show hosts. Although why this should be a hot-potato topic is another thing altogether.

Questioning an individual's sexuality, their inborn sexual orientation, to determine whether that personal quality qualifies her for a highly skilled, experienced position on the high court represents a signal failure in reasonable civility. This is a woman whose professional qualifications and presumed capacity to fill the required position - and they are many, although she has never sat as a judge - are being rightly debated.

That debate is quite legitimate. It troubles many that she has never left a trail behind her throughout her professional life that might indicate precisely or even roughly where she stands on many important political-social issues that are of great concern to Americans. She has, however had immense professional and political experience indicating the extent of the respect she has garnered in her profession:
  • 1986-1987 Law clerk for Judge Abner Mikva of the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. Circuit
  • 1987-1988 Law clerk for Justice Thurgood Marshall
  • 1989-1991 Private practice (associate at Williams & Connolly)
  • 1991-1995 Professor at University of Chicago Law School
  • 1995-1996 Associate White House Counsel
  • 1997-1999 Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy
  • 1999-2001 Visiting professor at Harvard Law School
  • 2001-2003 Professor at Harvard Law School
  • 2003-2009 Dean of Harvard Law School
  • 2009-Present U.S. Solicitor General
And, as has been pointed out by judicial experts in the U.S., if she is confirmed she will not be the sole Supreme Court Justice not to have had judicial experience before nomination to the Supreme Court; 38 justices, including Judge Rehnquist also had no previous judicial experience. This is a matter, ultimately, to be settled between the White House and the ruling Democrats and the opposition Republicans.

But it is impressively ugly that the White House has seen fit to respond to accusations of this woman being unfit for office because she is a closet gay. Who the hell really cares? How can this matter? Why dignify the accusations by a rejoinder? She is who she is, and she is a highly intelligent, talented candidate for public office. Her previous stints in academia, in politics, and clerking for high court judges surely qualify her enormously.

This is an individual who, if she is indeed gay, need not apologize to anyone. Neither for her sexual orientation, nor her lack of specific experience which her career has more than made up for. If she is a lesbian that is her personal and private business. It's a pity that those who revel in raising these non-issue issues have no sense of proportion, fitness or shame.

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posted by Pieface @ Friday, May 14, 2010

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