Quote of the Day 2

On Nation Review's Bench Memos, Ed Whelan noted that the concluding remarks of the Judiary Committee Democrats yesterday featured a recurring theme: religious language. Stating that he was gaining "a new appreciation of the threat posed by public officials who invoke religious authority," Whelan noted in particular the comments of Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin. Durbin said:

“The greatest compliment one can pay a judge is that he is wise, that in his work on the bench he's shown the wisdom of Solomon. In the Scriptures, Solomon was often described as the wisest man who ever lived. But in Chapter 3 of the First Book of Kings, we learn what Solomon wanted more than wisdom. It is written, In Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night, and God said, 'Ask what you wish me to give you.' Then Solomon said, 'So give your servant an understanding heart to judge your people, to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of yours?' . . . I will pray that John Roberts will prove, as chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, that he has not only a great legal mind but also an understanding heart.”

But it was Whelan's commentary in response, based on this passage in the book Durbin cites, that earned it today's blog entry:

Note to Senator Durbin: In case you missed the point of Solomon’s most famous demonstration of his wisdom, he was actually opposed to cutting up babies and recognized that a loving mother would not willingly cause the death of her own child.

But really, Durbin was only praying that Roberts would have "an understanding heart" like that of Solomon. Despite the position held by Durbin and his fellow Democrats, Durbin never indicated that such a heart would lead Roberts to uphold Roe v. Wade, so maybe this was super-secret code to Karl Rove that he's pro-life!

Yeah, that's the ticket.