SENATOR TED CRUZ HAS A MASSIVE HARD ON FOR NEARLY GORSUCH
AN IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME, TAKE A QUICK LOOK AT THIS NEXT VIDEO.
YOU BEGAN YOUR CAREER WITH THE OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE AS
A LAW CLERK TO BYRON WHITE.
BYRON WHITE IS AN EXTRAORDINARY MAN.
BYRON WHITE WAS THE OTHER JUSTICE THAT JOHN F.
KENNEDY PUT ON THE SUPREME COURT.
BYRON WHITE IS I BELIEVE, IN FACT I'M QUITE CERTAIN, THE ONLY
SUPREME COURT JUSTICE IN HISTORY TO LEAD THE NFL IN RUSHING THAT
AND ALSO TO GRADUATE FIRST IN HIS CLASS FROM YALE LAW SCHOOL.
COULD YOU SHARE WITH THIS COMMITTEE WHAT IT WAS LIKE
TO BE A LAW CLERK FOR BYRON WHITE AND TO INTERACT WITH
HIM EVERY DAY DURING YOUR CLERKSHIP?
YOU KNOW, HE REALLY WAS MY CHILDHOOD HERO.
AND ACTUALLY GET PICKED OUT OF THE PILE TO SPEND A YEAR WITH
HIM AS SENATOR LEE'S DAD DID, THAT SOMETHING WE SHARE IN
COMMON TO THAT WAS AND REMAINS THE PRIVILEGE OF A LIFETIME
THOUGHT HE WOULD SIT DOWN IN MY OFFICE, IN A
CHAIR ACROSS THE DESK AND BE TALKING ABOUT A CASE AND
SAY, IT ALWAYS STARTED WITH A GRUNT.
IT STARTED A
CONVERSATION, IT WAS LIKE HELLO.
SO WHAT DOES THE GREAT JUSTICE GORSUCH THINK ABOUT THIS ONE?
OKAY.
AND THEN HE WOULD GO BACK AND THINK ABOUT IT HIMSELF.
LATER THEY WERE GOING TO MAKE OUT.
WHAT WAS THAT?
CAN YOU TELL ME HOW GREAT IT WAS?
ARE THESE QUESTIONS THAT ARE RELEVANT TO THE AMERICAN
PEOPLE ARE NEAR GORSUCH AS INTERPRETATION OF THE
CONSTITUTION AND HOW HE PLANS ON VOTING IN CERTAIN CASES
THAT WILL AFFECT EVERYONE'S LIFE?
I DON'T CARE ABOUT BYRON WHITE'S HISTORY AND HOW HE WAS IN
THE NFL OR, I DON'T KNOW HE DID WITH NFL, I DON'T CARE.
THIS IS RIDICULOUS.
THIS IS THE MOST RIDICULOUS INTERACTION I HAVE SEEN IN A
HEARING PROBABLY EVER TAUGHT
THERE DOING A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT THEY'RE RUNNING
OUT THE CLOCK, THEY ARE JUST WASTING TIME SO THAT HE
COULD JUST GET CONFIRMED.
THE SECOND THING IS THEY ARE TRYING TO PUT A POSITIVE
SPIN ON GORSUCH THAT THEY ASK HIM THE SOFTBALL QUESTIONS
THAT ALLOWS THEM TO GIVE FOLKSY ANSWERS.
THIS IS ALL PREPLANNED.
THEN HE GIVES A STORY ABOUT HOW HE WOULD GRUNT BEFORE HIS
ANSWERS.
THAT IS SO FOLKSY.
SO FOLKSY.
AND THEN THE THIRD THING IS CRUISE GETS TO USE THIS AS
A WAY TO PRACTICE CONSERVATIVE VOTERS, LOOK AT ME HAVING A
MAN CRUSH ON GORSUCH.
I TOLD YOU WE WOULD GET SOMEONE WHO IS MORE RIGHT-WING THAN
SCALIA AND HE CAN'T HELP HIMSELF.
THAT IS WHEN OUR LEGENDARY PRODUCER JR JACKSON ZOOMS IN ON
HIS FACE AND THE WAY THAT THEY SMUGLY SMILE AT ONE ANOTHER
IS INFURIATING, BUT LOOK, TIP OF THE ICEBERG.
THEY DID THIS FOR LITERALLY AD NAUSEA HIM.
WE'RE GOING TO GIVE YOU JUST ONE WORKLOAD BECAUSE I CAN'T
SUBJECTS YOU TO ANY MORE THAN THAT, BUT HE WASN'T DONE
WITH BYRON WHITE YET.
YOU AND I BOTH HAD THE EXPERIENCE OF CLERKING AT THE
SUPREME COURT AFTER JUSTICE WHITE HAD ENDED HIS TIME ON THE
BASKETBALL COURT, OR MAYBE YOU WERE LUCKIER THAN I, FOR THOSE
WHO DID NOT KNOW, ABOVE THE SUPREME COURT, ABOVE THE ROOF OF
THE COURTROOM AS A BASKETBALL COURT WHICH IS REFERRED TO
TONGUE-IN-CHEEK AS THE HIGHEST COURT IN THE LAND AND JUSTICE
WHITE FOR MANY YEARS WOULD PLAY IN THE BASKETBALL GAMES, NFL
HALL OF FAME FOOTBALL PLAYER WITH A BUNCH OF PENCIL NECK LAW
CLERKS, AND HIS ELBOWS AND FILES WERE LEGENDARY THOUGHT WHEN
I WAS CLERKING, HE WAS NO LONGER PLAYING DOWRY LUCKY ENOUGH
TO GET THEM UP ON THE BASKETBALL COURT?
HE WOULD COME UP FOR A GAME OF HORSE WITH THE CLERKS,
FORMER LAW CLERK THAT REUNION START
HOUSES JUMPSHOT?
HIS BEST SHOT AT THAT AGE WAS FROM THE FREE-THROW LINE
BACK UP OVER HIS HEAD LIKE THAT.
AND HE COULD HIT IT PRETTY REGULARLY.
HIS EYE HAND CORONATION WAS JUST UNCANNY DIANE HE WOULD ASK ME,
HOW MANY OF THESE GUYS DO YOU HONESTLY RECOGNIZE?
AND I WAS ONE OF THOSE PENCIL NECK LAW CLERKS AND THE
TRUTH WAS I THOUGHT I KNEW A LOT ABOUT SUPREME COURT.
OH, BYRON WHITE'S JUMPSHOT.
IT'S NOT GOING TO BE SOMETHING
RELEVANT.
GORSUCH ANSWERED WITH SUCH DRAMA.
NO, GAME OF HORSE.
THE WHOLE THING, THE WAY TED CRUZ ASKED THE QUESTION IS
FULL OF DRAMA.
CAN YOU TELL ME, WERE YOU LUCKY ENOUGH, AS SOON AS HE
STARTED THE QUESTION I ROLLED MY EYES.
WERE YOU LUCKY ENOUGH TO SEE HIM PLAY BASKETBALL?
THESE ARE THE SERIOUS JURISTS THAT THE REPUBLICANS CLAIM THAT
THEY ARE AND THEY CARE SO MUCH ABOUT THE CONSTITUTION THAT THEY
DON'T ASK HIM ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE CONSTITUTION, ALL THEY
DO
IS ASK HIM ABOUT BYRON WHITE'S JUMPSHOT AND FINALLY, LET ME ADD
ONE POINT OF SERIOUS ANALYSIS HERE, ONE OF THE THINGS
THAT CRUZ DIDN'T ASK ABOUT WAS ORIGINALISM.
THIS IS THE DOCTRINE THAT CONSERVATIVES BELIEVE IN
THAT YOU SHOULD TAKE THE FOUNDING FATHERS WORDS WITH
THEIR ORIGINAL INTENT AND NOT HAVE THE CONSTITUTION BE A
LIVING, BREATHING DOCUMENT THAT WE AFFECT IN THESE GENERATIONS.
SOUNDS LIKE A SMART IDEA.
IT'S NOT LIKE SOCIETY EVOLVES IN ANY WAY.
HERE'S SOMEONE WHO AGREES WITH YOU.
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
HERE'S WHAT JEFFERSON SAID.
NO SOCIETY CAN MAKE A PERPETUAL CONSTITUTION OR EVEN A
PERPETUAL LAW.
THE EARTH BELONGS ALWAYS TO THE LIVING GENERATION.
IF YOU WERE TRYING TO FIND THE ORIGINAL INTENT OF THE
FOUNDING FATHERS, THE GUY WHO WROTE THE DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE AND HAD A HUGE HAND OF HELPING JAMES MADISON
WRITE THE CONSTITUTION SAID IT SHOULD BE A LIVING DOCUMENT.
IT SHOULD NOT JUST BE ORIGINAL INTENT.
I'M GOING TO GIVE
YOU ONE MORE QUOTE FROM JEFFERSON.
SOME MEN LOOK AT CONSTITUTIONS WITH SANCTIMONIOUS REVERENCE.
WHAT A GREAT WAY TO DESCRIBE CRUZ AND GORSUCH TODAY, AND
SEE IT LIKE THE ARK OF THE COVENANT, TOO SACRED TO BE
TOUCHED, WHO ASCRIBED TO THE MEN OF PROCEEDING AGE OF WISDOM
OF HUMAN THEN SUPPOSE WHAT THEY DID TO BE OUTSIDE AMENDMENT
THAT LET US NOT FOLLOW THAT EXAMPLE OR WEAKLY BELIEVE THAT
ONE
GENERATION IS NOT AS CAPABLE OF ANOTHER TAKING CARE OF
ITSELF AND OF ORDERING ITS OWN AFFAIRS.
SO IF YOU ACTUALLY CARED ABOUT THE ORIGINAL INTENT OF THE
FOUNDING
FATHERS YOU WOULD HAVE NONE OF THE JUDICIAL BELIEFS OF GORSUCH
OR TED CRUZ.