Justice Elena Kagan The Supreme Court

October 22, 2012
Justice Elena Kagan
The Supreme Court
1 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20543

RE: OY! Male, female. Smart, dumb. Semite, non-Semite, anti-Semite. BTB, are there any pro-Semites out there? Or, as, President Obama says, “You didn’t build that. Somebody else did.” Maybe you didn’t get your job the old fashioned way.

Madame Justice,

I had the pleasure of meeting Justice Fortas when he was in private practice. Yes, it’s true. His wife did smoke cigars. No, at no time during the conversation, even though I was the client, did I ask him about “Landslide Lyndon”.

“Not sure” if you would have gotten the job if you weren’t a woman?

Two things:

#1 – Being able to pee standing up is an overrated virtue. And, since more Americans die of prostate cancer than of breast cancer, there may be an additional benefit. Plus, in case you haven’t worked it out, if you didn’t get the job I wouldn’t be writing to you.

#2 – Institutions have, or should have, a collective memory. Try to find out how Justice Brennan, a Jersey guy, got his seat. All that mattered is that he got it. Was it he or was it Justice Douglas, a recess appointment, who gave us the great legal concept of “penumbras” and “emanations”?

My father’s father had two uncles who fought at Gettysburg. One of them is still there, “wrapped in his faded coat of blue”. He helped overturn the Dred Scott decision.

“The Supreme Court follows the election returns.”

Relax. You have tenure.





Kevin Smith