September 28, 2010

Ron Johnson impugns the founding documents

Too many lawyers in the Senate, complains Ron Johnson.* 57%.

Signers of the Declaration of Independence:

Josiah Bartlett — Judge; William Whipple — Judge; Matthew Thornton — Judge; John Adams — Lawyer; Robert Treat Paine — Lawyer, Judge; Stephen Hopkins — Lawyer; William Ellery — Lawyer, Judge; Roger Sherman — Lawyer, Judge; Samuel Huntington — Lawyer, Judge; William Williams — Judge; Oliver Wolcott — Lawyer, Judge; Lewis Morris — Judge; Richard Stockton — Lawyer, Judge; Francis Hopkinson — Lawyer, Judge; John Hart — Judge; Abraham Clark — Lawyer; Benjamin Franklin — Honorary Doctor of Law; John Morton — Judge; James Smith — Lawyer; James Wilson — Lawyer, Judge; George Ross — Lawyer, Judge; Caesar Rodney — Judge; George Read — Lawyer, Judge; Thomas McKean — Lawyer, Judge; Samuel Chase — Lawyer, Judge; William Paca — Lawyer, Judge; Thomas Stone — Lawyer; George Wythe — Lawyer, Judge; Thomas Jefferson — Lawyer; William Hooper — Lawyer, Judge; John Penn — Lawyer; Edward Rutledge — Lawyer; Thomas Heyward, Jr. — Lawyer, Judge; Thomas Lynch, Jr. — Lawyer; Lyman Hall — Judge; George Walton — Lawyer, Judge

36/56 = 64%

Signers of the United States Constitution:

George Read — Lawyer, Judge; Gunning Bedford, Jr. — Lawyer; John Dickinson — Lawyer; Richard Bassett — Lawyer, Judge; Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer — Judge; John Blair — Lawyer, Judge (U.S. Supreme Court); John Rutledge — Lawyer, Judge (U.S. Supreme Court); Charles Cotesworth Pinckney — Lawyer; William Few — Lawyer, Judge; Abraham Baldwin — Lawyer; Nicholas Gilman — Bankruptcy Commissioner; Nathaniel Gorham — Judge; Rufus King — Lawyer; William Samuel Johnson — Lawyer; Roger Sherman — Lawyer, Judge; Alexander Hamilton — Lawyer; William Livingston — Lawyer; David Brearly — Lawyer, Judge; William Paterson — Lawyer, Judge (U.S. Supreme Court); Jonathan Dayton — Lawyer; Benjamin Franklin — Honorary J.D.; Jared Ingersoll — Lawyer, Judge; James Wilson — Lawyer; Gouverneur Morris — Lawyer

24/39 = 62%**

(Not counting "career politicians.")

So what was Ron Johnson's point again?

Oh, right. There's not enough millionaires in the Senate.

* The lone accountant, incidentally, is Republican of Wyoming Mike Enzi, who has been a "career politician" for going on 37 years.

That is, more than half of his life (Sen. Enzi is 66).

** James Madison is not among these. But he, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay (a lawyer and future Chief Justice), authored the Federalist Papers, so JM knew a thing or three about the law.

2 comments:

Grant said...

Kapow. Well done.

That Don Walker seems to be having a bit of trouble handling Johnson's increased Pearl of Wisdom production rate today.

Display Name said...

Sounds like affirmative action to me. Why stop at representative distribution of professions? Why not ask for half of the Senate to have below-average IQs? Half to be women? 30% to be high school drop-outs? One Republican, one Democrat from each State?

"Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard."