Pride Goeth Before the Court

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao welcomes President Bush to the Diaoyutai state guesthouse in Beijing. (Pool Photo By Jason Lee)

Liberals went into high whine mode when the Supreme Court agreed to hear Republican George W. Bush 's appeal in the 2000 Florida vote dispute. They said the high court lacked grounds to agree to hear the case.

But, as it turns out, it had ample grounds, more grounds than anyone knew. Traditionally, the Supreme Court agrees to hear a case to resolve different lower court rulings, if it is of great importance or if there's an important constitutional question involved.

However, as the late Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist noted, granting certiorari is really a "subjective decision," or as the late Justice John Marshall Harlan said, "a matter of feel."

Justice Antonin Scalia cited a heretofore unknown but important criterion: national pride.

Scalia unveiled the new criterion at a supposedly off-the-record chat last week at Time Warner headquarters with Time Inc. Editor in Chief Norman Pearlstine and Time Warner Chairman Richard Parsons and numerous journalists.

On the 5 to 4 ruling in Bush v. Gore that made Bush president, New York Daily News columnist Lloyd Grove reports that Scalia said: "What did you expect us to do? Turn the case down because it wasn't important enough? Or give the Florida Supreme Court another couple of weeks in which the United States could look ridiculous?"

Ah, yes, the old appearance-of-ridiculousness standard.

A Humble Oath

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Freshman Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) created quite a fuss when she called decorated Marine war veteran Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) a coward for proposing a prompt withdrawal of troops from Iraq. She then sheepishly apologized to Murtha.

But this was not the real Schmidt in action, certainly not from her days back in Dayton, where her nickname "Mean Jean" was surely just an affectionate moniker for a likable pol.

We recall her maiden speech on the House floor back in September, "humbly" thanking House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) "for allowing me to address this humble body."

"We will not always agree on the details of that work. Honorable people can certainly agree to disagree," she said in brief remarks.

"However, here today I accept a second oath," she said. "I pledge to walk in the shoes of my colleagues and refrain from name-calling or the questioning of character. It is easy to quickly sink to the lowest form of political debate. Harsh words often lead to headlines, but walking this path is not a victimless crime. This great House pays the price.