Tag: Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Justice Ginsburg: Stand-up Comic

As widely reported in the ‘nerd press,’ Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bade Ginsburg auditioned for a spot on Comedy Central’s next celebrity roast a few nights ago.

Here’s the Wall Street Journal‘s take:

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg got props for her routine Friday night, when she contested her reputation as the least funny member of the Supreme Court with a quip-filled address to the American Constitution Society, a liberal legal organization holding its convention in Washington.

One pending Supreme Court case, concerning profane words spoken by minor celebrities on television, “asks whether the FCC’s current indecency policy violates the First or Fifth Amendment. ‘The Paris Hiltons of the world,’ my law clerks told me, ‘eagerly await the decision,’” Justice Ginsburg said. “‘It is beyond my comprehension,’ I told the clerks, ‘how the FCC can claim jurisdiction to ban words spoken in a hotel on French soil.’”

So I bit him.

To My New Facebook Friends

You are all the shades in the rainbow, both sexes, married and single. You are widely scattered in age. You are more often heavy than light. Right back ‘atcha.

Earlier today I had around 350 friend requests pending on Facebook. That wasn’t good. Guilt was taking over my online life.

Tonight I friended the lot of them, trying to undo the damage. Some were waiting since early summer. I was definitely not worth the wait!

This is a subject that came up before when I ‘ignored’ a boatload of people. It seemed the only option for me at the time, but I didn’t like it.

I have a strategy so I don’t go nuts with over 700 on my list now. That’s a bit daunting. I suspect you’ll be a chatty bunch.

I’ve read your bios and checked your photos. You are all the shades in the rainbow, both sexes, married and single. You are widely scattered in age. You are more often heavy than light. Right back ‘atcha.

A word of warning. I hate those games and tests that float through Facebook. “Geoff knows which Supreme Court Justice he’s most like! Are you Ruth Bader Ginsburg or Samuel Alito? Maybe you’re the late Earl Warren. Play Sequestered Supremes.”

Don’t. Just don’t.

Don’t poke me either… whatever that means. I really don’t know. Anyway, my life has enough poking already.

After all the clicking I was surprised not to see any obviously “self-shot’ portraits. You know what I mean? These are shots taken at the end of an outstretched arm. It’s a shot that didn’t exist until the advent of digital photography!

Are there too many permanent connections now? Is it to easy to find or be found? Is Facebook a force for good or evil?

If you’re reading this and I blew you off on Facebook once upon a time, please try again with my apologies.

Justice Scalia

There’s not a lot he and I agree on. However, he is astoundingly smart, smug and charming.

I’ve just pressed pause while watching the 60 Minutes interview with Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court justice.

There’s not a lot he and I agree on. However, he is astoundingly smart, smug and charming.

You don’t see a lot of “The Supremes” on TV. I saw Scalia once before, probably on C-SPAN, debating Justice Breyer. I was in awe of their collective brilliance and collegial sparring.

How they could they both possess such amazing minds and opposing viewpoints?

On 60 Minutes, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was used to provide the same contrast. She and Scalia are close friends, though they seldom vote the same way.

Anyway, that’s not why I’m writing.

I watched the interview and all I could think of was, he will be played by Nathan Lane.

scalia-and-lane.jpg

Note: I swear I didn’t look for the photos until after I’d written the entry.