[colorado tanker]

Posner is one of the leaders of the "Chicago School" that applies principles from economics to the law. Reagan appointed him and he is generally considered a conservative, but he is incredibly smart and knows it, which sometimes leads him to going off on a tangent because he can be so pedantic.

He also likes to pick fights with Scalia. It's pretty obvious he thinks he should be on the Supreme Court, but that would be a mistake for both parties.

[Lurking Libertarian]

Posner is one of the leaders of the "Chicago School" that applies principles from economics to the law. Reagan appointed him and he is generally considered a conservative, but he is incredibly smart and knows it, which sometimes leads him to going off on a tangent because he can be so pedantic.

In business cases (breach of contract and securities lawsuits and the like), or cases involving government regulation of business (especially antitrust cases), Posner is an excellent judge, always trying to get the law to coincide with economic common sense. Reagan put him on the Court of Appeals exactly for that reason. But Posner's economics background gives him a strong libertarian streak, so he can be a big disappointment to social conservatives in cases involving abortion or gay rights.

[hinckley buzzard]

“How can tradition be a reason for anything?”

Respect for tradition is the deference paid to generations of wise men who knew far more about real life than ivory tower relics like this butt hole.

He may be "incredibly smart," for a lawyer that is, but he rolls like what Thorstein Veblen identified as an "educated incompetent." I suspect he never made the high court for good reason.