An Interesting Series of Commentaries

In this week's reading Tocqueville comments on mediocre legislators issuing uneducated, mediocre harangues in office. This struck me as particularly interesting because in our last essay I wrote about Roman L. Hruska, a past senator from Nebraska (go Cornhuskers! what a fabulous team name) who, in attempt to get Harold Carswell approved to the Supreme Court, said this:

"It has been held against this nominee that he is mediocre," he told the Senate chamber. "Even if he is mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers. They are entitled to a little representation, aren't they? And a little chance? We can't have all Brandeises, Cardozos and Frankfurters and stuff like that there."

Well, Carswell was not approved. And recent critics have argued that today's government is representative of Hruskra's theory on mediocrity--that is, today's government is full of mediocre politicians.

Hope you enjoyed the fun fact. Oh, and if anyone runs for office, please assert your non-mediocrity... or call out the mediocrity of other politicians. Keeping the country's government staffed by intellectuals and entrepreneurs seems like a moral obligation to me.