A Truly Great SCOTUS End of Term

Like most relatively aware political junkies, I have a make-believe law degree, a distinction that lends great weight and authority to my statements on Supreme Court decisions. In that vein, I would like to pronounce the just-ended Supreme Court term a smashing success.

There are at least two things I give the almost universally bad Trump Administration credit for. The Abraham Accords and Supreme Court choices. (Ok, three— Operation Warp Speed was pretty damn good.) The Biden Administration is doing what it can to dismantle the goodness of the former, but the three nominees Trump added to the court have not only exceeded my expectations, but they have been responsible for a renaissance in Old School Conservative (OSC) jurisprudence.

I won’t bother you with the details of the decisions—you can read them if you like. As a matter of fact, I highly recommend that you do, especially the cases that you are really interested in. Firstly, because there are some SCARY talented writers on the Court (Gorsuch, Kagan), and second, because in order to truly know an issue, it is helpful to read both supporting and dissenting opinions.

I don’t care for Justice Sotomayor’s opinions, which seem to spring more from the glandular excretions of the online left than any serious legal philosophy, and Justice Brown-Jackson’s dissent in the recent affirmative action case was disappointing. You can learn an AWFUL lot from reading a well-written dissent, things that help you strengthen your own arguments.

But at last, we have a Supreme Court ready to rule that the Constitution does not permit racism to fight racism, that the President is not a King and Congress has the power of the purse, and that a person cannot be forced to “create” for another. The 6-3 decisions get all the press, but there were a ton of really interesting cases across the term featuring unique combinations of the liberal and conservative justices. A really interesting development is Gorsuch’s “man out of the West” perspective, something we haven’t seen in quite a while.

Friends Visiting

Sixteen years ago at a UVA reunion, I was talking with a dude from my first-year dorm, mostly about that it was like to be male, early 40’s, and dating in Washington DC. His wife overheard a bit, asked if I were single, and eventually got around to introducing me to her boarding school chum Catherine, whose presence has blessed my life ever since.

Our kids were all about the same age, and there was a pre-existing (me, that is) practice of routine visits, and that practice has continued. The kids are grown, so it is mostly an older adult thing these days. The latest edition of the practice occurred this weekend, and I joined in Saturday morning after a red-eye home from the West Coast. The ladies had a third friend along (also a boarding school chum) and so the five of us had a wondrous two days of bonhomie.

The cross talk is great, because I and the couple who introduced us, all went to UVA. The girls all went to high school together. Catherine refers to people like this as people who “…have your stuff”. I’ve always loved that phrase. We’ve all had kids who are now friends, they’re all about the same ages and facing the same kinds of early adult challenges, our parents are aging, and our bodies are creaking in many of the same places. So, lots to talk about.

We are Hobbits out here on the farm, keeping mostly to ourselves. We talk all the time about being more social, and then do little to make it happen. Regular visits from friends are welcome breaks in our solitude, but are all too infrequent as Summer schedules are difficult beasts to coordinate in the modern busy life. I need to get better at this.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Catherine has for years maintained a large and fertile vegetable garden behind my office/garage, but this year decided to let it lie while she pursues other priorities. As one of MY priorities is a smooth transition to eventual retirement by “my own vine and fig tree”, I asked if I could uncover one of the beds for a little garden of my own this summer, mostly to get a sense of all of it as a possible outlet for time and energy someday, but also because I’ve always really wanted to do this. She gladly handed me this box, and I have a cucumber plant, sunflowers, and four yellow squash and zucchini plants under cultivation. The space at the top/middle is where I have a few spaghetti squash seeds that I replaced a struggling cucumber with. As of yet (a week) no sprouts are up, so I’m not sure if I will be successful there.

As I suspected, the up front work—even for this little box—was a bear, what with tilling, turning, and soiling to be done. I think I made it harder by rushing through it rather than leisurely pursuing these tasks, a lesson I’ve taken for next year. Putting this garden in weeks ago left me a little sore. But I’m please with the results so far. The Yellow Squash on the middle right has my first fruit growing steadily, and the sunflowers (my favorite) have been a joy.