John Paul Stevens...A Giant in My Opinion

This post is prompted by a segment on The Colbert Report a couple of days ago, to which there is a link at the bottom.

I have long been a fan of former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, and not just because of his bow ties. Although he was a Republican, appointed to the Court by President Ford in 1975, as the Court moved farther and farther to the right in the ensuing years, he became the voice of reason and moderation...or, by default, liberalism. According to Wikipedia, when asked by an interviewer in 2007 if he still considered himself a Republican, he declined to comment.

I wish I could find the profile of Stevens that was published in The New Yorker a few months before his retirement. His criticism of the Citizens United decision was magnificent...and, as we are already seeing, prescient.

I'm sorry that I can't attribute the following quote, but I've lost the link and don't feel like searching for it.

"In his book “Five Chiefs” – Stevens recalls talking to fellow Justice Stephen Breyer about Bush’s suit – and them both agreeing that, 'the application was frivolous… To secure a stay, a litigant must show that one is necessary to prevent an … irreparable injury. Bush’s attorneys had failed to make any such showing.' Yet – the High Court took up the case anyway – and as we all know, stopped a recount in Florida that would have proven Al Gore was the actual winner of the 2000 Presidential Election. Not to mention that Justice Clarence Thomas’s wife was working on the Bush transition team at the time – and Justice Scalia’s son was working for a law firm representing Bush at the time. Not only was the Bush presidency defined by corruption – it was birthed by corruption as well."

Here is the link to the Colbert Report that I promised you at the beginning. Oh, to be so with it at 91.

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/406409/january-19-2012/colbert-super-pac---john-paul-stevens