R.I.P. Robert Bork

I was sad to hear that Judge Robert Bork has died.  What a brilliant jurist and legal scholar. Our country lost out when the Left denied him his rightful seat on the Supreme Court.

The smear campaign that Democrats turned against him was a turning-point for us as a country. The Senate hearings on Bork's nomination and the ensuing spin and coverage,  this was the moment when honor ceased to matter, when any personal attack no matter how baseless became acceptable to Democrats.

What must that have felt like to him, that campaign to keep Bork off the Court at all costs?  What did it feel like to see one's last name become a verb?

Though he never got to sit on the Supreme Court, Bork continued to influence a generation of conservatives.  He was a frequent presence at Federalist Society events and always happy to sign a pocket constitution. Many of his former clerks from the D.C. Circuit carry on his legacy today as conservatives scholars in the Academy, out-numbered but holding their own by sheer intellect.

His books, Slouching Toward Gomorrah and The Tempting of America are must reads for anyone who cares about the rule of law, even non-lawyers.  His many law review articles reminded and encouraged conservative law students that the dribble we were taught by so many left-wing ideologues was not Gosepel; Bork pointed out the weaknesses in liberal legal orthodoxy and gave us the counter-arguments.

As Hot Air notes, the ultimate irony about the timing of Bork's passing is that had he been confirmed to the Supreme Court, Obama would have had the opportunity to nominate a liberal to replace a conservative, thereby shifting the Court to the left.

As we give thanks for the life of this great patriot, let's also pray for the health and safety of Justices Scalia, Thomas and Kennedy.  Live long and prosper!