In Re Grammar, Roberts's Stance Is Crystal Clear

[kskiska]

Is our children learning? What must he think?

(snip)

A cheerfully ruthless copy editor over the years, Judge Roberts has demanded verbal rigor from his colleagues and subordinates, refusing to tolerate the slightest grammatical slip, and boasting an exceptional vocabulary and command of literature himself.

Nowhere are Judge Roberts's tendencies as a grammarian more evident than in his memorandums from the Reagan era, when, as a lawyer in the counsel's office, he frequently peppered notes and documents with minor syntax corrections even when the basic legal arguments were sound. If Judge Roberts is confirmed, and his word-consciousness follows him to the court, it will put him in the upper tier of justices who have put a premium on the English language.

(snip)

In a memorandum the next year, responding to a letter from David T. Willard, an elementary school superintendent in Illinois who opposed the administration's education policies, Mr. Roberts again concluded that no legal issues needed to be addressed by the White House counsel. But he took the opportunity to note, "The letter is very sarcastic, although Willard inadvertently proves our point about the quality of public education by incorrectly using 'affect' for 'effect.' "



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http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/29/politics/politicsspecial1/29grammar.html?pagewanted=1

[madrchsod]

1. robby is a prick

[rodeodance]

2. what a snob

[rodeodance]

3. wonder what he thinks of Jr's lexicon?

[CityDem]

4. Good on grammar -- bad on the the constitution

Just what we need in a SCOTUS.

[Endangered Specie]

5. Ich bin ein Grammar Nazi.

[Olney Blue]

6. Maybe he has one of those Bushisms calendars on his desk....

and gets a little chuckle each day.

[TaleWgnDg]

7. I can *see* it now . . . Rob receives a legal memo or a draft

opinion from another SCOTUS justice's office and Robbie writes grammatical corrections in the margins! WTG! Call the spelling police!

.

[wellst0nev0ter]

8. Wait, Doesn't That Make Him An Intellectual Elite?

During the presidential campaign, we were told that's a BAD trait to have, that people prefer a guy they can drink a beer with.

[GCP]

9. Actually, I'm a grammar freak also

It might be fun to watch him battle with Thomas over stuff like this - I can't imagine Clarence is up to this level of grammatical correctness.
However, Roberts does seem like a prick in all other respects and it doesn't bode well for any of us that he's probably a shoo in.

[despairing optimist]

16. I can hear Roberts: "Mind your p's and q's Clarence, or I'll swing liberal

and put a colon on Long Dong Silver for a change."

[UTUSN]

10. "affect" / "effect" Misuse Is One of the Simplest Things to Catch

So he will be in cringe-mode the entire time he is among his future adherents, wingnuts who are language usage criminals? Good.

[meow2u3]

11. He sounds like my mom

My mom was a grammar Nazi too.

[VegasWolf]

12. Wonder what he thinks re Bush and the quality of a Yale education?

[funnymanpants]

13. shows he's narrow-minded, not smart

I have an advanced degree in English, and I can tell you that Robert's correcting the use of "affect" does't show he's smart. It shows he is a snob and narrow minded. Grammatical rules are often arbrirary (as is the one concerning affect and effect) and do not indicate any ability to be able to use language powerfully and accurately. You can know a lot of useless grammar rules and not be able to write at all; and you can be a bit sloppy and be an extremely powerful writer. After all, there are these things called editors.

[VegasWolf]

14. Roberts is laughing at people that can't afford a privately schooled

education. Another Bush elitist. Good grammar, bad humanity.

[DeepModem Mom]

15. They say he's smart -- I say "smart-ass." Smart-ass attitude permeates...

the released memos.