Posted by: Fred Thompson at 9:50 AM
Monday, May 19, 2008

Nowadays everyone feels entitled to their Andy Warhol-esque "15 minutes of fame." Fairly normal people will bust a gut to get a few seconds on television. Physical harm is likely for anyone standing between a camera and blow-hard politicians desirous of hawking legislation they and everyone else know will never be enacted. The rich and vacuous, seeking to make a difference, weigh in against the world's problems to great fanfare amidst black ties and eco-talk press conferences.

And all of them seem to be making lots and lots of money.

Now, consider the plight of the poor jurist in all this, especially appellate judges. Often a lot smarter and making a fraction of the money than the lawyers who appear before them, they labor in obscurity with only their clerks and a handful of others in the legal community appreciating their brilliance and understanding how truly important they are.

Picture them as they retire to their chambers to study some obscure point of law that nobody cares about but the litigious ingrates in the case before them. His Honor has little opportunity for grand gestures or heroic initiatives.

The judge's job is simply to apply to the circumstances of the cases that are brought to their court the laws that have been written by lesser mortals. The job requires restraint, modesty, and reverence for the established rules of society. The judge is obliged to uphold the status quo until the people decide to change it. Where is the glory in that, for Pete's sake?

Then, like manna from Heaven, "The Case" comes before his court - the case that can change his ignominious plight. With a few of his like-minded colleagues, he can, in effect, reshape the legal landscape, become a leader of a great cause, get the publicity equivalent to the cover of Rolling Stone, and be hailed be the mainstream press. It dawns on him that he and his buddies on the court can do things that those politicians could never achieve - things that the unenlightened, unwashed herd, otherwise known as "the people" would probably never choose to do.