SocraticGadfly: If mediocrity isn't good enough, then there's Renchburg

July 08, 2005

If mediocrity isn't good enough, then there's Renchburg

As Tricky Dick Nixon first called him.

Kevin Drum has picked up an Internet meme about famous American political quotes.

Apropos of the potential twin Supreme Court vacancies, here's Nebraska Sen. Roman Hruska, when Nixon nominated Harold Carswell to the Supreme Court vacancy, the one before the one for which Rehnquist eventually got the nod:
“Even if he was mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers. They are entitled to a little representation, aren't they, and a little chance? We can't have all Brandeises and Cardozos and Frankfurters and stuff like that there.”
So, which mediocrity will Bush pull out of his hat, or his nether regions?

3 comments:

Malbuff said...

Oh, for goodness' sakes, the man was joking. I was there. The problem was, Hruska was such a stultifyingly dull speaker that nobody "got" his attempt at humor.

Gadfly said...

You were there? Wow, great plastic surgery, or else great 1990s photo on your profile, because that's not the picture of a normal 65-year-old man! (Assuming an age of early 20s when Hruska made his dull, but presumed serious by most historians today, and most journalists at the time it was uttered.

Malbuff said...

I am 58. I look years younger, especially with a hat on-- no grey, no lines in the face, though I've been bald since my early 30s. The photo was taken in 2003 when I bought my business. It was used for publicity and is all over the Internet. You may hum a few bars of "You're So Vain" if you like-- yes, I remember when that song came out, too.

I was 14 when Hruska made his statement, and I was then, more than now, a "political junkie", to use HST's term, frequently getting embroiled in arguments and debates in school over the various hot topics of the day, especially Vietnam.

We lived in Montgomery county, Maryland, my father worked for the federal government, and we frequently visited the Capitol and sat in on budget hearings, committee meetings, and the like.

Hruska was a lousy public speaker. He tried to make a joke. He failed. I saw it happen. You're welcome.