Eighth Grade Name Calling

Asked to point out an example in support of his charge that Justice Clarence Thomas is an embarrassment because he writes poorly written opinions, Democrat U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid brought up the case of Hillside Diary, Inc. v. Lyons. In Reid's view, Justice Thomas' opinion in this case resembles an "8th grade dissertaion compared to somebody who just graduated from Harvard."

After reading Thomas' part concurrance and dissent in Hillsdale Diary (which is little more than a paragraph), I share in the perplexity expressed by others over the charges levelled by Reid. In an age when Supreme Court decisions can be readily accessed by anybody at anytime, and the MSM no longer has a monopoly on reporting news, I'm amazed that someone like Harry Reid still seems to assume that nobody is going to check out the validity of what he is saying and expose any flaws. (Hat tip to PSB).

Update: In addition to refuting Reid, former clerk to Justice Thomas, John Yoo, writes an interesting piece here where he essentially argues that Thomas would lose influence on the Court if he were ever to be named Chief Justice.