Some like it simple

By RICK HOROWITZ   Tuesday, July 14, 2009
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“I will not vote for, and no senator should vote for, an individual nominated by any president who believes it is acceptable for a judge to allow their personal background, gender, prejudices or sympathies to sway their decision in favor of or against parties before the court.”

--Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., at the Sonia Sotomayor hearings

I am truth.

I am certainty.

I am facts—facts as they are, not as some might wish them to be.

I am objectivity personified.

I am White Guy.

When I see things, I see them clearly, and without distortion of any kind. I see all things, and hear all things, and I overlook nothing. I assign each thing I see, each thing I hear, the importance it deserves—neither more nor less. My judgment in these matters isn’t judgment at all—it is the simple recognition of reality. Any judgment that differs from mine, to the extent it differs from mine, does not reflect reality.

I am White Guy.

My knowledge is total and has no gaps. If there are things I seem not to know or fully comprehend, it is because these things are not worth knowing or comprehending. I have exactly the knowledge one should have, exactly the comprehension one should have, to make my way in the world. The rest is extraneous.

I am White Guy.

“Call it empathy, call it prejudice, or call it sympathy, but whatever it is, it’s not law. In truth it’s more akin to politics. And politics has no place in the courtroom.”

--Sen. Sessions

The rules and practices that appear to benefit me as White Guy are the only possible rules and practices. When I benefit from them, it is because I deserve to, by dint of dedication or hard work or innate talent. When others press for other rules and practices, it is only because they expect that somebody will cut them a break. This conclusion is too obvious to require further explanation.

I am White Guy.

Because I already know I have no prejudices, it would be a complete waste of time to consider the possibility that I might. Because I have no prejudices, I am confident that my judgments are the only possible judgments. My brain plays no tricks on me. Neither does my heart, or my gut. My experiences are universal experiences, and the lessons I take from those experiences are precisely the same lessons that any reasonable person would take.

I am White Guy.

“This ‘empathy standard’ is another step down the road to a liberal, activist, result-oriented, relativist world where laws lose their fixed meaning, unelected judges set policy, Americans are seen as members of separate groups rather than simply Americans, and where the constitutional limits on government power are ignored when politicians want to buy out private companies.”

--Sen. Sessions

“Empathy” is feeling what others feel. Since reasonable people in any circumstance feel exactly what I feel, I already know what others feel. Empathy is superfluous. So is sympathy.

I am White Guy.

I hate when questions are raised about the way things are done—especially when the way things are done is the way things have always been done.

Instead of going down that dangerous road of complain and criticize, we should stick to our familiar path, and be thankful that the familiar path has been so helpful to so many of us for so long.

I have had it up to here with all the sore losers.

I am White Guy.

Rick Horowitz is a syndicated columnist. You can write to him at rickhoro@execpc.com.

reader COMMENTS
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(5)
jstwndrn
Jul 15, 2009 at 7:35 p.m.
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I believe this column is written using scarcastic wit and thereby ridiculing "White Guy" and the senators who are quoted. At least, that's how I interpret it.

SuperDave
Jul 15, 2009 at 9:10 a.m.
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Great to see that racism and sexism are tolerated - as long as the race is white and the gender is male. I wonder if Horowitz ever heard the words of Martin Luther King?

RetiredAirForce
Jul 14, 2009 at 11:28 p.m.
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Wow, Rick has done it again...great post that the people at huff post will love.

darwin1
Jul 14, 2009 at 9:28 p.m.
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Yes, coyote the law should be color blind as of - NOW! Let's just forget about Plessy vs Ferguson, Brown vs the Board of Education, Jim Crow, internment camps, the trail of tears and all the laws that deprived minorities of their rights over the years and pretend like it didn't happen and doesn't need to be addressed. Let's forget about how Chicago cops tortured confessions out of African Americans or that LA cops planted evidence on alleged gang members. Lets pretend that Justice Alito didn't make similar comments about his heritage. I understand that Republicans don't want their mistresses and gay lovers to have any rights either.

coyote
Jul 14, 2009 at 1:57 p.m.
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White, Green, or Purple color does not have a place in court. Ask any law proffesor.

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