Dershowitz: Ted Cruz one of Harvard Law’s smartest students

Daily Caller ^ | 5/9/13 | Charles C. Johnson

[Nachum]

Famed Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz ranks Sen. Ted Cruz among the school’s smartest students, adding that the Canada-born Texan can run for president in 2016.

Cruz was a “terrific student,” Dershowitz told The Daily Caller. “He was always very active in class, presenting a libertarian point of view. He didn’t strike me as a social conservative, more of a libertarian.”

“He had brilliant insights and he was clearly among the top students, as revealed by his class responses,” Dershowitz added.

Dershowitz also gave a high estimate of Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren — who has decidedly different political views than Cruz.

Dershowitz says he and Cruz would often debate issues presented in Dershowitz’s criminal law class. “Cruz’s views were always thoughtful and his responses were interesting,” the law professor explained. “I obviously disagreed with them and we had good arguments in class. I would challenge him and he would come up with very good responses.”

[Kansas58]

You can be a cerebral narcissist, without being all that smart.

That is, unfortunately, what we are dealing with: Someone who desires to be thought of as “brilliant” and who, in a strange contradiction, does not really care about the opinions of others who do not see him as being brilliant.

[Jeff Winston]

You can be a cerebral narcissist, without being all that smart.

Rather a timely comment, as I have just said, on another thread, that if DiogenesLamp doesn't recognize at some level that all of his arguments are BS, then there must be something going on with him psychologically.

That is, unfortunately, what we are dealing with: Someone who desires to be thought of as “brilliant” and who, in a strange contradiction, does not really care about the opinions of others who do not see him as being brilliant.

I have struggled to understand the motivation here.

I do think the best theory is the one you've put forth. DiogenesLamp seems to be trying to impress other people with his supposed intellect.

He seems to want to be taken as intelligent. Why else would someone create a screen name with a reference to an old Greek philosopher? Why else would someone put a phrase in Latin ("Partus Sequitur Patrem") as their tagline? Why else would someone go on and on about logical fallacies (in this case, while thoroughly abusing them) and spouting Latin?

The ironic thing is that he has firmly established a reputation here of being a half-idiot who spouts stuff (Latin, logical fallacies) that he doesn't even understand.

H*ll, the other day he accused me of making an "ad hominum" [sic] attack.

[DiogenesLamp]

[Jeff Winston]

That’s a nice picture. Which one is you? Are you on the right?