I watched part of the confirmation hearings. I remember the "sound bite" questions that never gave him a chance to reply. I remember Kennedy and Metzenbaum making a big stink about some cases he'd decided, and I decided to look a few up myself. One of the complaints was that Bork had accepted a finding about lead in the workplace. It turns out he was procedurally required to accept the findings, something the two lawyers accusing him already knew.
I'd had a passing familiarity with the dishonesty of politicians before, but I was paying attention that day and I acquired a gut sense of just how much they'd be willing to lie about.
From then on my default assumption was that whatever Kennedy or Metzenbaum said should be assumed false unless proven otherwise.
I don't know if Bork would have been a good Supreme Court justice or not. I vaguely recall him saying something that struck me a little off a decade or so ago. But his accusers were liars.
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I think Bork became bitter and less reasonable over the succeeding years. He was actually only an 8 as a conservative on a scale of 1-10 when he was nominated.
As a postliberal, this is part of why I left. I do think that many liberal ideas are unworkable or not thought through. But I don't think they are all insane ideas. I did find liberals dishonest in the 60's-80's, and eventually decided the others were also culpable for turning a blind eye.
My estimation hasn't changed much. Their counteraccusations of ill-motive of conservatives are not evidenced, so I conclude they are largely projections.
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