Burris says farewell

He'll especially miss Senator Ralph Feinberg.*

Otherwise Burris's recollections are entirely accurate: Senators Feinstein and Feingold were indeed the first two to buck the Democratic opposition (following this blog, of course).

* cf. "Get me that clown, Renchburg." — Richard Nixon

Visit the Ronald Burris archives-mausoleum.

Coincidentally enough

A Wisconsin tank-thinker recalls the storied* career of Milwaukee-born former Chief Justice of the United States William H. Rehnquist (who is hardly "forgotten" by anybody, incidentally):

Conservatives may have some gripes about some of the cases his Court refused to overturn (Roe v. Wade, Miranda v. Arizona), although Rehnquist personally dissented in many of the cases upholding those controversial opinions.

Well, no, actually. In fact Chief Justice Rehnquist authored the majority (7-2) opinion affirming Miranda in 2000, which just happens to be among the subjects of this here blog's forthcoming entry.

* One of the better ones concerns Rehnquist's penchant for crazy wide lapels and flamboyant neckties while working in the Nixon Justice Department, prompting the president's call to "Get me that clown, Renchburg." Rehnquist, C.J., later decorated his robe with a set of golden stripes, reportedly inspired by a Gilbert & Sullivan operetta.

Other tales of Rehnquist, however, are considerably less savory, in particular those related at both of his Senate confirmation hearings, having to do with his activities as a poll watcher in Arizona.

h/t WisOpinion.com.