Empathy?

As most are probably already aware, the media has been in a tizzy this past week over Barack Obama’s statement that one of the qualities he would seek in a new Supreme Court Justice is empathy. Now, as we all know, the ability to empathize with another is the ability to experience his thoughts or feelings. Through empathy, we can understand someone else’s plight and judge it in the context of our own experiences, desires, and moralities. In so doing, we are forced to think of other people not as abstractions but as equals to whom our own fundamental ideas of right and wrong continue to apply, even when we are not directly effected. As a result, the continued functionality of society is taken outside the realm of basic self interest and a communal ideal can foster a civilization governed by mutual responsibility. And, of course, there is only one word for a society governed by a communal ideal: Communism!

As there is absolutely no place for any such sense of common responsibility in our fine legal system, I propose that our president do the only reasonable, rational thing one could do when faced with this difficult nomination: he should refit Peter Weller and make Robojudge our next Justice of the Supreme Court. He and Justice ED-209 should have some interesting and productive discussions when the next seat opens up.
-TC