His swing is fine for 74 but I doubt he can break 100 playing by the rules.
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I just took a quick spin through her Wikipedia, and it seems like
(a) she worked her way through the clerkship farm system. She clerked at a Federal District Court in Florida, then the 11th Circuit, then for Thomas. So, she got her foot in the door with someone local, made a good impression, and rode the good word of mouth up the pyramid.
(b) She was in the Federalist Society and her Jones Day profile talks about her work at the DOJ included, “protecting free speech on college campuses” so it sounds like she might have been one of those types to run around the Fed Soc mixers begging to be groomed for a leadership positions. That type of hustle can really be a rocketship, particularly as the Conservatives have tried to latch onto anti-elite messaging.
As far as the money goes, she’s leaving a good chunk on the table, but being a judge pays pretty well and she already got a fat SCOTUS bonus when she signed with Jones Day. And it’s a gig that she can have as long as she wants and then go back to private practice as an equity partner if she really needs to cash a check.
And as far as clerks go, there will always be folks begging to clerk for a federal judge.
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As someone who didn’t go to a t14 law school, I will say that the elitism is really dumb. I work with morons who went to Harvard or whatever and geniuses who went to bottom tier schools.
Still, the idea of someone like me being a federal judge (I have roughly the same experience as her other than the clerkships) is hilariously ridiculous and just because she clerked that doesn’t really mean anything. District judges are so different than appeals courts where she got the majority of her experience.
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Yes. This is solution number 768 that has been figured out in other countries. Some kind of open commision that investigates but doesnt charge. Get that shit on the record and then move on.
Truth and reconciliation commision.
He’s deluding himself into believing these things to protect his fragile ego.
Also, just to add some more info
-She was number 1 in her class and editor of the law review.
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The Distric Court Judge she clerked for is an UF alum
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Thomas apparently has done several guest teaching gigs at UF over the years, so it’s not a totally random school in his eyes.
https://www.law.ufl.edu/alumni/alumna-makes-history-uf-laws-first-scotus-clerk
Being a federal judge is a huge deal. It’s a lifetime appointment.
You make like $200k, have a very easy job for life and are accountable to absolutely no one. Clerks do all the real work, and you’re free to supplement your income in very easy ways (teaching, writing, speeches).
The story here is how quickly you catapult to the top of the legal profession by being a Federalist Society ghoul. It’s so indefensible on the merits that anyone willing to play ball vaults straight to the top.
Edit: the Jones Day partnership she’s passing on is a miserable job. You have to work constantly and your clients are the absolute worst people in the world, which wears on all but the most sociopathic lawyers.
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I think the law equivalent of what you are describing is actually more like the job she is leaving (mid level associate at a big firm):
You work super long hours subject to the whims of clients, partners, supervising junior associates and paralegals and dealing with shenanigans from attorneys on the other side.
On the other hand, being a federal judge has some constraints, but, in many ways you get to run your courtroom like a little fiefdom. You get to manage your calendar, have some hiring control, and even if you get overruled frequently by higher courts, you are unlikely to suffer personal consequences.
[Note that federal is a much sweeter gig than local judges, who get paid less, have less job security, and probably have a bigger case load]
We should all go to law school, join the Federalist Society, get our lifetime appointments and then be like lol fuck you I’m a progressive.
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You guys have convinced me. Charges are definitely being brought against Trump!
And he will concede the election.
And we will get single payer health care.
And enact sensible COVID restrictions.
And gun laws.
And…
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Your pony had a nice call with the glue factory before conceding.
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Laughable, twisted self-serving logic.
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The $$$$$$ you can make (if $$ is your single goal) as a doctor and especially as a lawyer in America is sooo fucked up.
To make it to high earning doctor status you have to work your ass off and be very smart.
Any mediocre asshole can graduate from a shit law school and make a fortune as an ambulance chaser or defense lawyer.
The two are not comparable.
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Meh. You guys are hyper-tuned into this so it seems that way, but the general public have moved on at this point. Nobody’s even really paying attention anymore except for the hypertrumpers. I think everyone can relax a bit.
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Edit: deleted rambling post as I didn’t want to cause some derail on merits of the profession and I don’t want to speak for American doctors but I’ll just say my experience with, at least young, doctors in Australia hasn’t left me intellectually bewildered.
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Yeah this is especially accurate for AG. I’d have to look it up but there’s a bunch of stuff that only senate-confirmed appointees in the DOJ can sign off on in criminal investigations.