A Tepid Endorsement

The hearings begin Monday.

The conclusion - barring some extraordinary and surprising development - will be that Generalissima Kagan (OK, she likes plain old "General Kagan," but she is a nominee to the Supreme Court so some hyperbole seems appropriate) will be Justice Kagan before the summer is over.  About six weeks ago, I posed this question.

Is there anyone other than she, her family, her friends (and maybe His Barakness) who's actually excited about the prospect of Justice Kagan?  OK, maybe those members of the LGBT community who believe (rightly or wrongly) that she is one of them.  Anyone else?  Never-robed members of the Harvard and Yale Law School faculties who dream of sitting next to Clarence Thomas and Steven Breyer?  Perhaps.  But seriously?

The answer, of course, was "No." But if nobody much was excited, nobody much was horrified, either.  

Oh, lots of people have said nice things about her.  She's been endorsed by former Solicitors General, by former Supreme Court law clerks, by law deans, and even by Michael McConnell.  The ABA finds her "well qualified" (which is as strong as their recommendations get).  And of course Democrats in the Senate are fawning all over her Generalship. 

But that's trivia, the words of the connected, the friends and hangers on.  The surprise would be if those endorsements didn't come.

Equally not surprising is that Republicans aren't the least bit enthusiastic.  And they've found a voice, finally, in their hero, Robert Bork.  She's not fit, he said.  Her praise of Israeli Supreme Court judge Aharon Barak "is disqualifying in and of itself."  Besides, she's immature, without a developed judicial philosophy or understanding.

As I said (sort of) "Ho hum.  Yawn."

But wait.  I've found a reason for excitement.  (Found it via Turley, to whom I offer thanks.)
His name is Yehuda Levin, and he's spokesman for the 850 Orthodox rabbis and others who make up the Rabinnical Alliance of America (which will have a more useful website one of these days, I'm sure). 

As reported by Pete Winn, Senior Writer/Editor of CNS News, Levin & Co. released a press release (I can't find it - if you can, send it on and I'll post it or link to it) declaring,

Elena Kagan is not kosher. She is not fit to sit on this Court--or any court.

Which'll teach Obama.

But this is too serious for jokes.  The press release puts us all on notice.

It is clear from Ms. Kagan's record on issues such as abortion-on-demand, partial-birth-abortion, the radical homosexual and lesbian agenda, the 'supremacy' of the anti-family panoply over religious liberties of biblical adherents, et. al., that she will function as a flame-throwing radical, hastening society's already steep decline into Sodom and Gomorrah.

Scared yet?

What exactly was Obama thinking, President Obama thinking, when he nominated Kagan? Because eventually, down the road, someone--or some group--is going to ‘take the hit’ for the crazy decisions that Kagan is bound to make. So we would have much preferred if President Obama had given this ‘distinction’ to another minority group, instead of singling out the Jews.

OK.  I'm becoming convinced.

Still with grave misgivings and little enthusiasm, but with the desperate hope that Rabbi Levin is right (and though I'd still prefer Gerry Darrow), I'll issue a qualified endorsement of the flame-throwing Generalissima.  If she's as bad as Levin and Bork say, she can't be all bad.