Seeing Brown in the NY Times
Perhaps I’ve just become too cynical. When I read the NY Times headline for David Kirkpatrick’s column on Janice Rogers Brown, I immediately believed the column was an attempt to portray Brown in a negative way. The headline – Seeing Slavery in Liberalism. After reading the column, aside from reaffirming my belief that Brown will make an excellent Justice on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, I had to believe that either the NY Times had missed its mark or I’d wrongly pre-judged their intent.
Kirkpatrick uses several quotes to exemplify Justice Brown’s views on "the perils of liberalism." His telling of her life story includes her move from the liberal values of her family to her more conservative values. Along the way Kirkpatrick reminds his readers of her faith on more than one occasion. All in all, to my mind, it wasn’t a bad piece of reporting. Yet the headline keeps popping up.
Seeing Slavery in Liberalism
A headline aimed at the left. Many on the left call themselves liberal; this headline is aimed at them. It is meant agitate them, to draw their ire at the gall of a Justice seeing their political view in a comparable light to that of slavery. And moreover, the many liberal, yet not leftist, out there may also be stung by this headline. Although on reading the article, if intellectually honest, they’ll understand what Brown stands for and that it isn’t that far from their own beliefs.
Try this one on for size – "We no longer find slavery abhorrent. We embrace it." Taken alone, one might wonder. Who’s embracing slavery? Is Brown? Kirkpatrick thankfully points out the context with further remarks from Justice Brown – "If we can invoke no ultimate limits on the power of government, a democracy is inevitably transformed into a kleptocracy - a license to steal, a warrant for oppression."
Sounds a tad bit like Alan Keyes on tax policy or John Galt in Atlas Shrugged. Here! Here!
Brown apparently takes issue with Affirmative Action, I'd call that a form of group kleptocracy, is opposed to current abortion rulings, and heaven forbid... "She has criticized the New Deal, which gave us Social Security, the minimum wage, and fair labor laws. She's questioned whether age discrimination laws benefit the public interest," to quote Senator Ted Kennedy. Perhaps that explains Kirkpatrick’s less than clear description of her position leading up the quote – "the triumph of our socialist revolution."
In the end, I’d like to thank Kirkpatrick and the NY Times. I like Justice Brown even more now. Next up Justice Pryor.
