I was going to nominate the following statement from Sen. Charles Schumer as the “Hypocrisy of the Week,” but then I saw Sen. Patrick Leahy’s comment and realized they would have to share the honors.
When asked on ABC’s “This Week” program yesterday whether the Roberts hearing should go on as scheduled despite Chief Justice Rehnquist’s death, Schumer replied:
No, I think, you know, we can take a few days out to mourn Justice Rehnquist,” Schumer said. “He was a towering figure in the judiciary.
I have tried but failed to picture Schumer mourning Rehnquist. If you’re more successful, let me know.
Although it’s a close call, I think Sen. Patrick Leahy‘s comment about the propriety (not) of questioning Roberts about the sway of his religious views takes the hypocrisy cake this week:
Just as we’re supposed to be colorblind, we should be religious-blind.
This is not the first time Leahy has said this. For example, regarding the accusation that some Democrats were opposing the nomination of Alabama attorney general William Pryor to the 11th Circuit because of his Catholic beliefs, Leahy said in July 2003:
Just as we’re supposed to be colorblind, we must be religion-blind.
What makes this hypocritical, of course, is that Leahy opposes colorblindness at every opportunity. He argues that Judge Roberts’s apparent support for colorblind equal treatment identifies Roberts with “policies that are deeply tinged with the ideology of the far right wing of his party then, and now.”
But maybe there are grounds for hope here. The fact that Leahy recognizes that “we’re supposed to be colorblind” suggests that at least he knows he’s a hypocrite.
