On the Elena Kagan nomination

A reader’s comment at the New York Post:

larryhot13
05/11/2010 9:23 AM

Am I the only one out there that is getting tired of liberal women moving up the ladder of success because of their looks?

Say what you like, but if Kagan is confirmed, three of the nine U.S. Supreme Court justices will be New York women—all of them diminutive, homely, ethnic (two Jews, one Puerto Rican) left-wingers. Just like America.

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Jim C. writes:

Making fun of Kagan’s looks is a cheap shot—bad boy.

LA replies:

If it were a matter of just one person’s looks, then I would agree with you. But when there’s such a striking pattern, it becomes legitimate to mention.

James P. writes:

You wrote, “If Kagan is confirmed, three of the nine U.S. Supreme Court justices will be New York women—all of them diminutive, homely, ethnic (two Jews, one Puerto Rican) left-wingers.”

In Annie Hall, Woody Allen’s character, Alvy Singer, said, “The rest of the country looks upon New York like we’re Communist, Jewish, homosexual pornographers.” If Kagan is confirmed, that’ll be three out of four New York stereotypes represented in three Supreme Court justices! Sadly, ignorant prejudice still excludes pornographers from the Supreme Court—for now, anyway.

Yesterday I heard a radio news commenter smugly proclaim that the Republicans will find it hard to attack a Supreme Court nominee who has never been a judge. Ha, ha, ha, he said, Obama once again shows his sheer genius, nominating someone who has never been a judge to the highest bench in the land in order to deny his enemies any political traction! Who would dare oppose an insultingly unqualified woman with little or no written record indicating her opinions on legal issues, but with a long record of party loyalty and political conformity? Kagan ought to breeze right on through!

Felicie C. writes:

Unlike Ruth Bader Ginsburg (who, I agree with you, is homely), Elena Kagan is actually good-looking. She is just overweight. But look at her facial features. They are quite proportionate and pleasantly arranged. If I am not mistaken, you also thought that Ayn Rand was homely. Admit it, you just don’t like Jewish looks.

LA replies:

Not true! However, Ginsberg is a gnome. Sotomayor is homely (though in some photos, pleasantly homely, unlike Ginsberg), and in the photo in today’s NY Post (linked above), Kagan looks like a typical New York leftist Jewish woman, most of whom are not comely. [Note: in a comment below, I take back what I said about her looks.]

Ron L. writes:

Kagan doesn’t look Jewish at all. She looks like the non-Jewish actor Kevin James in drag. Actually, Mr. James would need to add a few pounds and lose some hair. There are plenty of attractive Jewish-looking liberal women. My city councilwoman, Jessica Lappin, comes to mind as does Congresswoman Wasserman-Schultz of Florida. Elena Kagan is an Upper West Side leftist lesbian. I don’t want her having a law license, much less being on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Peter G. writes;

The phenomenon of elevating unattractive women to positions of tremendous power will have dire consequences. I work in a bureaucratic setting for two post-secondary educational institutions, and there are too many anecdotes I could bore you with to support that assertion. The essence is: empowering a person who can then act out her childhood grievances against historical adversaries. Although the original antagonists are not physically present, a psychological matrix is rapidly constructed with respective parties identified as being on the wrong side of the sandbox. I witnessed the acting out, it’s vicious and insatiable; a lust for revenge on anyone and everyone who might tweak their sense of envy.

LA writes:

What I said about Kagan’s appearance was based on photos. I’ve just watched her on video (here and here), and I take back what I said. While short and very ethnic looking, and also overweight, she’s what a female friend of mine would describe as “cute.” She has a good smile and personality (unlike Ginsburg), is very intelligent looking (unlike Sotomayor), and has presence as a speaker.

She also has the ability to come across as “mainstream,” so, if she’s as leftist as reports indicate, that would make her formidable.

Still, it’s remarkable that Obama’s two Supreme Court picks so far are short, rotund, unmarried, New York, leftist females.

Mark Jaws writes:

I think Kagan is homely, and that raises a red flag. It is my experience with liberal New York Jewish females that the homely ones are more to the left. Furthermore, rumors abound that she is a lesbian. What could be worse than a homely, New York Jewish leftist lesbian? And why isn’t anyone complaining about too many Jews on the Court? This will make the court 33 percent Jewish, which is almost 20 times overrepresentation of the overall Jewish population.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at May 11, 2010 01:38 PM | Send