Turley Might Piss You Off, But That Doesn't Make Him "Dumb"

[Dinger]

That is all.

[ellacott]

1. Sotomayor may piss off Turley

But that doesn't maker HER dumb.

[Dinger]

3. That's True (nt)

[SemiCharmedQuark]

4. For. The. Win.

[Jennicut]

7. LMAO

So so true.
Turley tried to make it seem like someone who graduated from Princeton summa cum laude is dumb.

[ecstatic]

12. exactly! nt

[chimpymustgo]

20. Stupid retort. Sotomayor doesn't "piss off" Turley, he just doesn't find judicial brilliance in her

opinions that he's read. She's clearly smart as hell, based on her college and law school record. Turley's opinion is that she has not displayed the intellectual rigor in her written opinions so far that you would hope for - especially to shape the direction of the court against the likes of Scalia and Roberts.

He says she may well come into her own on the court. And she may be a great justice.

Let's hope she is. But the silliness against Turley is just - childish.

[Hieronymus]

28. Thanks, many DUers dislike Turley, because he dares to criticize Obama.

That the poster got the impression that Sotomayor pissed off Turley is a reach.

[ellacott]

32. You don't pay attention

You've really got to stop with these talking points. I said when my opinion towards Turley was shaped but of course you didn't pay attention.

[alcibiades_mystery]

41. Yes, he "dares"

Do you ever cease to pretend that you're doing something revolutionary or transgressive? Ever?

[ellacott]

31. He seemed pissed to me, this isn't silliness against Turley

I don't hold him in high esteem like most of you on this board and I'm not afraid to say it.

[polmaven]

36. And his reasoning for

not thinking very much of Turgood Marshall? ....THURGOOD MARSHALL? One of the finest SCOTUS justices in the history of the country? ..."Silliness against Turley", my left foot!

[Teaser]

38. comment fail

you were owned before you replied.

[grantcart]

40. Turley had his opinion written before he knew who was appointed and just filled in her name.

More substantive comments by other commentators have made him look churlish.


And his comments on her judicial brilliance were patronizing in the extreme.


Not every district has ground breaking issues coming up from lower courts. The North East is an especially dry area for controversy because the legislature and the lower courts regularly break ground on progressive issues.


Any intelligent observer would have simply said we will have to wait and see how she testifies but for Turley its all about Turley all of the time.

[CreekDog]

46. Your statement assumes that Turley is being honest about his criticisms

however, in reading his blog post, he didn't give one detail to demonstrate why he thought her opinions did not display his desired intellectual rigor, all the while, spending much of today's post talking about the optics of the appointment, optics being something that Turley frequently rails against as worthy of influencing a decision.

so, yeah, i think there's a good chance he's feeding me a line of BS because he's inconsistent with previous lines of argument, he spent relatively little time explaining what his specific issue was and it's not like he didn't have the time, his post was dominated by optics arguments that are generally irrelevant to his reasoning anyway.

so what gives? the man is lying or out of his field of expertise --and he chose to be. he could have expounded on her legal opinions, but instead he talked about optics.

someone likes being on tv 3 times a day, the problem with that is that it makes you stupider.

[Hello_Kitty]

51. Can you or Turley give us an example of a jurist who meets those lofty standards?

Well, I'm sure Turley would say himself, but is there anyone else?

[ShortnFiery]

2. Just a pompous and puristic horse's patootie?

:evilgrin:

[Thrill]

5. No but he's an arrogant pompous jerk

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

6. No, plenty of other things make Turley dumb.

[BonnieJW]

8. What???

Please enlighten me. I've always thought he was brilliant. What did I miss????

[vaberella]

17. So it was brilliant of him to say that he believes

Sotomayor is "intellectually lacking" ? I didn't know that denoted brilliance. Plus pushing an impeachment of a man over sex and finding some sort of constitutional rational for it is ludicrous.

[Dinger]

21. What's Your Definition Of Dumb?

Not going along with the President on a SC pick or an issue? Not having the same views as you? Enlighten me please. Serious question.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

29. People like Turley and the people who like Turley.

[pnwmom]

9. He might have a big mouth,

but that doesn't make him smarter than Sotomayor (or Obama) as he seems to think.

[Skidmore]

10. No, it means it makes him one of the good ole Beltway boys

who hoped that all of the media work he's done in the past year would have made him the choice--just because.

[tularetom]

13. After the way he's trashed Obama

on every issue including Gitmo, war crimes investigations/prosecutions, indefinite detention, and on and on, do you really think he is delusional enough to believe he really had a chance for any Supreme Court post other than being the guy who empties the justice's wastebaskets at night?

If that's the case the sumbitch IS dumb.

[Uzybone]

11. Between saying Sotomayor and Thurgood Marshall lack intellectual depth

and cheerleading for Bill Clinton's impeachment, it think Turley is dumb.

Once can be for the rule of law without being stupid like Turley.

[otohara]

14. Yeah, But Now I Question His Judgement

he sounds rather bitter and arrogant and has always displayed an annoying amount of superiority.

[vaberella]

16. I've been saying that for months now. n/t

[vaberella]

15. However...had the right to claim Sotomayor was "intellecutally lacking.."

In any event, asshole is more like I think of him.

[Rowdyboy]

18. Nope....just makes him an elitist ass....

[Spazito]

19. He is intellectually dishonest and that makes him....

"dumb", imo. A truly intellectual person has the both intellect and the empathy to use that intellect, in matters of the law, to properly interpret that which is in need of interpretation.

Turley lacks both, imo. One only needs to read his submission to the House re the Clinton impeachment to see where he is sadly lacking in that which he insults both Judge Sotomayor and Supreme Court Judge Marshall, imo.

[Clio the Leo]

22. Does anyone remember a couple of months ago when half of us were mad at Krugman?

Well.....

http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0509/utter_catastrophe_evaded_87d1a4a5-e82a-4634-820a-96d7706b3bb3.html

Turley will come around too ..... they all do. ;)

And no, I agree, he's not DUMB .... he's just very very very very very annoying. And he can twist logic so well, they should make him an honorary Republican.

[bertman]

23. maybe Rachel will give him a chance to explain why he said she lacks intellectual depth

tonight on her show.

[DURHAM D]

24. The folks I would like to hear from are his fellow faculty members.

I remember during the Clinton impeachment process being at a reception during the annual gathering of law professors. Turley's fellow faculty members were making fun of him in his new role as "media whore and self- appointed constitutional expert". They indicated his only field of expertise was environmental law. Constitutional law professors from several major schools were asking each other "Has anyone ever heard of this guy?" "What has he published?" "Where did he come from?"

Jonathan was the main subject at the party - and not in a good way.

[PopSixSquish]

25. Well I Can Think of Several Adjectives I'd Use to Describe Him at the Moment

dumb being the most kind and acceptable to say in mixed company...

[emulatorloo]

26. I don't think he is dumb. I think he can be too melodramatic. Some reactions seem Knee-Jerk

I like listening to the guy, but I don't have to agree with everything he says.

This is one of those reactions that seems a bit knee-jerk.

[Jennicut]

27. He is not dumb, just an arrogant prick who thinks he is right all the time

and knows more about the Constitution then anyone else. And I agree with him on some issues related to torture. But he is still smug.

[WeDidIt]

30. His arroagance and prickishness makes me dismiss his opinions

as the opinions of an asshole.

[jillan]

33. He handed the RW talking points against Sotomayor - and

they are playing clips of his words.

'nuff said.

[Spazito]

35. It's even worse than that....

I would have given him 1/2 a point for originality if the talking point HAD originated with him but it did not. He is merely regurgitating a talking point that had already been put out there even before Judge Sotomayor was announced as the candidate. He can't even be an original asshole, merely a copycat one, lol.

[vaberella]

45. A copycat with the academic "depth" to assert RW ideology.

And basically fucking up history on all ends. The man is an asshole.

[Spazito]

48. Yep, he is, with a capital A, lol! n/t

[stevenleser]

34. He is a RW hack who happens to be for torture prosecution because it causes a problem for Obama

who is a Democratic President. That's all there is to it.

He loves Scalia. He was for impeachment. He is spouting the reich wing talking points against Sotomayor. It's time for those who were defending him to wake up.

[vaberella]

44. This is why I don't get why KO and RM adore him so much. n/t

[ChairmanAgnostic]

37. but, what if he is right?

something else to consider.

I know of no person here who actually read all of her Appellate court rulings, and I certainly haven't. He has. That puts him one step ahead, no matter how you view it.

Still, putting her out there was a net plus, on a variety of issues.

female: damn, we need MORE of them on the bench.

hispanic: Finally. In the 200+ years that we have been placing olde white males on the Court, this is a truly inspired choice.

intellect: The problem I have is not that Turley says she is intellectually shallow, that may be a fact. But people blossom in certain roles, and we can hope that she does too.

schooling: Here, I have a strong problem. ENOUGH WITH THE YALE/HARVARD/STANFORD crap already. There are hundreds of law schools, many of which put out brilliant thinkers. I hate the fact that even a ground-breaking nomination like hers must include a pedigree from those very few schools.

[alcibiades_mystery]

39. Turley may spill out stuff you already believe

But that doesn't make him correct in his analysis.

[Karenina]

42. Attacking Thurgood Marshall DOES.

Punkt. Feierabend.

[Number23]

49. Damn right. I could kick his ass for trying to diminish Judge Marshall

I love your "punkt." In Australian, he'd be called a "wanker" or "fuckwit." :)

[MarjorieG]

43. Dishonest intellectually to make a buck, and blames others for being less.

[underpants]

47. Eh Turley is still okay with me-it was just one opinion and he wanted someone else

no big deal

[scheming daemons]

50. He's not dumb. He's just a dick.

[Occam Bandage]

52. He's not dumb. He's just a pompous, one-note jackass. nt

[Honeycombe8]

53. LOL! nt

[TheKentuckian]

54. Not dumb but a douchebag

He is also used by the corporate media to build contempt for Democrats and often his own viewpoint. That is his function. That and preaching to the choir.

[Political Tiger]

55. No, it just makes him a stuck-up asshole who is in love with himself.

n/t

[masuki bance]

56. Turley was on the good side for most people here until

he spoke his mind about Obama's decisions regarding tactics to be used in detention, warfare etc..

Same with Rachel, Glenn, Krugman(economy), etc etc..

The four of them would have been tombstoned by now if it was up to some here.

[Boomerang Diddle]

57. Yeah Right!

Turley has always been on the good side of people here on DEMOCRATIC Underground since Turley led the chorus to have Clinton impeached. Nothing can endure you to Democrats better than advocating that the duly elected Democratic President of the United States should be tossed out of office because he lied about his sex life......
:sarcasm:

[masuki bance]

58. That's brought up now, but not for the past 8 years when he, rightly,

was going after the BFEE.

[Boomerang Diddle]

59. And if he had anything positve to say about Obama

you'd throw him under the bus in a heartbeat.

[Forkboy]

62. Here's proof. Read this thread and count how many on it are supporting Turley and how many aren't.

There's a lot of people defending him and praising him in many threads. Here is just one example.

"As a Constitutional lawyer myself, I think Turley's among the greats."

"But if we you want to take Turley on for being "unhelpful" to Clinton then so be it. I'll take Turley's side."

"..to call out Turley for following the rule of law just because Clinton LIED about a BJ is beyond ridiculous."

"I believe the man has done yeoman service by pointing out to the public the correct interpretation of the law, regardless of his past behaviour."

"Turley is consistently on his game. Best player on our team in the Pundit Wars, imo."

"I like Turley ...."

"That was an odd match-up, but Turley did a good job!"

"DU hating on Turley because he criticized Bill Clinton years ago. That is making less and less sense all the time."

"DU is now a place to harm Turley's reputation."

"I can think of many other talking heads you could despise far worse than Turley."

"The long held bitter resentment doesn't harm Turley on the least, but has clouded your vision."

"Turley was magnificent." (that one even had a :loveya: icon included lol)

"I respect Turley."

"Then poor Jonathan Turley, never to be accepted because he did not think Clinton should have lied about a blowjob in the Oval Office. I understand. He is forever a bad guy, and no redeeming qualities. And Bill bears no responsibility for his actions."

"I love Jonathan Turley why don't people listen to this man?"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=8369152

If you still have doubts it would be quite easy to find many more examples. That thread just came to mind because I took part in it, but there's many more than I read and didn't post in. Your sarcasm should be true, and I wish it was, but sadly it's only in the last week or so that the opinion of Turley is changing for the negative with many. A lot of people are either unaware of the role he played during Clinton's impeachment, or simply don't care because they agree with him or a different issue.

[dorkulon]

60. I'm not qualified to assess Turley's assessment, and neither are most here.

Turley says he has read at least 30 of her opinions. I have read none. How many has anyone here read?

Turley may be right, or he may be wrong. Perhaps Sotomayor doesn't feel the need to invent a new school of legal thought, and that bores Turley. Perhaps he's just a horse's ass and her brilliance shines thorugh in her opinions. The point is, I don't know, nor do most of you. All of this shouting is purely emotional and without any legitimate foundation.

[onenote]

61. Turley may appear on tv a lot, but that doesn't make him infallible -- or even "smart" n/t

[autorank]

63. k*r !

:)