CBS' Schieffer to Justice Souter: "I'll be honest: I didn't care for his attitude ... I've never known anyone who ever saw him outside the court"
Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer's "weekly commentary":
Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer's "weekly commentary," as posted on the CBS News website:
Don't Let The Court House Door Hit You
(CBS) Weekly commentary by CBS Evening News chief Washington correspondent and Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer.
David Souter may be the quietest and most low-key man ever to serve on the Supreme Court. He has made it official: He is retiring to return to the New Hampshire woods from whence he came.
By all accounts, he was a good Justice, thoughtful, reasonable.
For sure he was the surprise to the man who nominated him, the George Bush, who thought he was picking a conservative only to discover he had chosen a liberal. But these things happen sometimes when people get jobs for life.
I had no problem with the Justice's legal work. But as one who has lived 40 years in Washington, I'll be honest: I didn't care for his attitude.
He made it no secret that he hated the city, once describing his work as the best job in the world in the worst city in the world.
Another time he called life here "akin to an intellectual lobotomy."
Really? Our nation's capital? One of the most beautiful cities in the world?
Call me corny, but I have to confess, I've run into some pretty smart people here over the years, but then again I tried to get to know the city and its inhabitants. Who wouldn't if you were going to live in a place? Justice Souter, obviously.
I've never known anyone who ever saw him outside the court. But now he's leaving. I take it he won't miss Washington - but my guess is Washington will hardly miss him.
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Now Bob, as a fellow lone wolf and misanthropic scalywag myself, I admire Souter's independent mind in particular, and his unwilliness to be a part of the beltway horde of whores in general. You and your beltway cohorts could well use a page from his book.
Bob Schieffer sees himself no doubt as an old fashioned news reporter but reading his autobiography, I was struck by the last chapters in which his excitement about the Monica dress story made him appear to really have lost his perspective, unconscious of what people outside the beltway need to hear about.
nowadays, the cynical beltway reporters worry about their makeup and which tuxedo to wear at the next important function. And, let's see...which right-wing talking point shall we discuss tonight?
LOL, we remind me to never take anything Schieffer was to say very seriously if he honestly was not able to detect that Souter was talking about the poison political environmnet in DC.
Seemed like that was pretty low-handing intellectual fruit to be picked but Schieffer missed it.
The beltway hyper-partisan mentality and media obsessives like Schieffer is what he was referring to.
So it is no suprise that someone who has been there for 40 years like Schieffer would take offense.
Point is, that Schieffer taking offense is probably appropriate as Souter was zinging people of his ilk.
Is this really something that trumps his actual performance? Seriously, this reads as "you're great at what you do, but you don't care for the city I've lived in for forty years, so good riddance." Brilliant work, Bob.
Imagaine that!! Bob Schieffer doesn't know anyone who's seen him outside the court!! Ooh, alert the media.
Well.
And we thought you were just some tired old fart form Face The Nation. We had no idea of your gossip potential.
What a petty thing to say about Souter. As an attorney, I admired Souter. So what if he doesn't like Washington D.C.? I don't really like it either: too many politicians, too many phonies and never a place to park. I think Bob needs to retire. Talk about somebody that knows nothing but his work; maybe Souter was the same way.