Bill Clinton (constitutional expert) to Speak 2/10 at Columbia U. on Brown v. Board of Education

Columbia Spectator ^ | Feb. 10 2004 | Megan Greenwell

[mountaineer]

he was a professor of constitutional law.

That doesn't make him a constitutional scholar. Any law school graduate, including me, might be hired to teach a course in constitutional law, but a true scholar has published on the subject, argued before appellate courts, etc. Blubba did none of that. When I was in law school, my trusts and estates professor had absolutely no experience in the field. She was a Boalt Hall grad with an interest in leftwing social issues (of course) and knew absolutely nothing about the subject she was hired to teach. My impression is that x42 was a similarly ill-equipped law school prof.

[Piranha]

I wouldn't expect a school as good as Boalt Hall to hire someone unqualified to teach a basic course like t&e.

In my mind, a professor of a subject at a law school (as opposed to a teaching assistant) qualifies as a scholar of that subject. I admit that I don't have an authorotative definition to cite. If you (or any other readers) have an accepted definition of when a professor of a subject qualifies as a scholar in that subject I would be interested to read it.

[Piranha]

authoritative

[mountaineer]

My instructor graduated from Boalt Hall, but she was teaching at Washington University (St. Louis) School of Law. She was no more prepared to teach T&E than I would be to teach physics, having taken one required physics lab in college. My point is that teaching a course, even at the law school level, doesn't necessarily mean the instructor should be considered a "scholar." Law school professors are not all that intellectually impressive, believe me! The fawning articles I posted described Clinton as a constitutional scholar. That is not true.

[Pagey]

He may have been morally repugnant

Ohhhhh c,mon now, he wasn't so morally repugnant as he was more readily understood to be a borderline sociopath. Fully absorbed in the ambitions of self, Bill Clintoon was a political chameleon who assumed the coloration of his environments and the constituencies on which his fortunes had come to depend.(As in the Chinese Military and Billionaire James Lippo of Indonesia for starters) Furthermore, (he says with a smile) Bill Clintoon will have great difficulty spinning the public and historians over Judge Susan Webber Wright's Contempt Citation, the first sanction of a sitting president for disobeying a court order.
May I Quote Cal Thomas: "...Contempt is not just a legal term. Its definition gets to the heart of the character of the person who demonstrates contemptuousness toward the law and the courts: "the state of mind of one who despises; disdain; lack of respect; willful disobedience to or open disrespect of a court, judge or legislative body". This president has performed the hat trick, demonstrating disrespect for all three -- a court, a judge and the federal legislature..."
He may have taught constitutional law, but he spit upon that which he allegedly taught, and people who don't identify with his type of behavior won't soon forget that.

[rmlew]

I'm sure tickets for Freepers would be out to the question.
We are having enough trouble getting tickets for the CPU Party of the Right, the Conservative Club.

[weegee]

Is he going to talk about those non-existant church fires in Arkansas again?

[weegee]

Clinton, a constitutional rights attorney before becoming president in 1992, will speak at Columbia for the first time tonight as part of the School of Law's year-long celebration of the landmark case.

This "attorney" was disbarred for perjury. His defenders tried to use the unconstitutional punishment of "censure" to keep him in office.

What an embarassment for a law school to engage in such hokum.

[LisaMalia]

I guess Columbia U. is as good a place as any to pick up young chicks, which is ultimately his goal in being there.

[LisaMalia]

What? When was Clinton ever a practicing attorney specializing in constitutional rights? Mind-boggling!

C'mon....you're not going to try to confuse Slick with the facts, are ya???

[rmlew]

I guess Columbia U. is as good a place as any to pick up young chicks, which is ultimately his goal in being there.
As a Columbia grad, I find that comment hillarious.
There are few good girls at Columbia. (Don't even count Barnard, it is divided between the lesbians and the religious). I have seen very few highly attractive women at Columbia.
Of course, WJC could still get someone better looking than the epinomous former intern to give him a Monica.

[Zack Nguyen]

Perhaps that was thrown into the story for comic relief.

Either the writers sense of humour is well-honed, he is completely in the dark or totally unhinged. Clinton never came close to practicing law. He was given a make-work job teaching Constitutional Law at U of A to give him a steady income while he ran for Congress and Attorney General of Arkansas. He typically waited months before grading papers, and was known as the most disorganized professor around.

[mountaineer]

Clinton Speaks on Brown v. Board

In Low Library Address, Former President Says Case Was Good Start, But U.S. Needs More Work

By Megan Greenwell
Spectator Senior Staff Writer
February 11, 2004



Paying tribute to Columbia constitutional law scholars from Jack Greenberg to Lee Bollinger, former U.S. President Bill Clinton called for a systematic end to racial disparities in a Low Library address last night.

In his first-ever speech at Columbia, Clinton commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education desegregation case. A long-time advocate of affirmative action and other race-based programs, Clinton said that the landmark case had been a major victory for the country, but that today's discriminatory culture demands further attention.

Clinton took the stage to a standing ovation, opening his speech with light-hearted anecdotes and praise for many of the event's invited guests. Participants included School of Law dean David Leebron, former New York City mayor David Dinkins, and several notable constitutional law scholars.

In his introductory remarks, University President Bollinger highlighted Columbia's tradition of working towards a legal end to racial discrimination. Greenberg, a School of Law professor, was a member of the team of lawyers that argued for the plaintiffs in the Brown case. Almost 50 years later, Bollinger himself became a hero of the affirmative action campaign as the defendant in last summer's Supreme Court case that upheld the practice as constitutional.

After initial lightheartedness, the former president's tone quickly became more serious. He tempered his remarks about the victory the Brown case represented by warning that Americans must not become complacent in the knowledge that "separate but equal is a fraud." He mentioned statistics referring to how many black Americans have taken political roles and corporate executive positions since 1954, but added that major cities are more racially segregated now than they were 50 years ago.

"School is not out on America's struggle to build one nation," Clinton said.

He briefly recounted the history of race relations in America, noting that the Brown decision was significant in part because it came so early in the struggle for civil rights. Clinton characterized the Supreme Court decision as the "declaration of interdependence." He reminded the audience just how far the nation had come even before 1954, pointing out that Brown v. Board was neither the beginning nor the end of the path to desegregation.

Throughout his speech, the former president demonstrated his passion for the issues, pounding his fist on the podium, outstretching his arms, and pointing at the audience as he made particularly hard-hitting points. He did not abstain from criticizing the American populace, pointing out psychological reasons for racism and America's need to reject treating these reasons as excuses for prejudice.

"We can't navigate the world unless we can put the whole world into little boxes," he said. "And then because we always want to feel important we have to know that our boxes are good. ... The whole history of the human race is basically a struggle as people go crashing into those who are different."

But Clinton reserved many of his strongest words in order to criticize the George W. Bush presidential administration. He lauded many of the achievements of his own tenure, then lamented what has been undone since he left office in 2000--noting especially the economic downturn, loss of jobs, and tax cuts. His anecdote about his own lower tax rate had the audience laughing out loud.

"You don't know what it's like to be such a target for the opposition party and then, when you leave office, have them love you so much that they treat your tax cut as sacrosanct," he said, drawing cheers.

Even the most jovial stories had a more somber message behind them, many of which characterized the need for further change by saying "this is a load Brown can't carry alone." He rejected the notion that all racial disparities should have race-based solutions, favoring instead systematic changes that would help anyone in need rather than solely those belonging to racial minorities. He made examples of the welfare system under his administration as well as job training programs for unskilled workers.

Clinton demonstrated his skill as an orator during the brief question-and-answer session, speaking easily off-the-cuff about several of the issues raised. Yet he concluded that he did not have all the right answers, telling one law student that "your generation is going to have to be the one with the answers."

Very few undergraduates were present at the speech, upsetting many students who wished to attend. But Columbia College Democrats president Zac Frank, CC '05,--who attended last night's event as an undergraduate representative--said that his group is working to bring Clinton to campus in an undergraduate-only event.

[dr_who_2]

No, he's going to reminisce about seeing the governor of Arkansas blocking the schoolhouse door on television and how that inspired him to run for president as a Democrat. Then he'll drop an anecdote about how he secretly lusted for Pam Grier in all those 70's blacksploitation flicks.