Norm Pattis posts the news from Butner, North Carolina.

When the nominee stood to address the assembled press corps, there was an eerie silence. The man was on no short list of candidates. Indeed, he was a man few present had ever considered.

“I am flattered and humbled by this honor, Mr. President,” Gerry Darrow said. “In all my years at the bar, I never dreamed that I would be considered for such a post. I’ve represented folks at the margins of society for so long, I had begun to think of myself as an outcast.”

Thus began the improbable confirmation battle of a former plaintiffs’ lawyer turned mid-life public defender.

Court watchers and legal academics were stunned by the nomination.

Norm has captured something truly important in this post, and I implore you to read it in its entirety.  But the last sentence quoted above was the one that got me.  With all the punditry by “right in the center of the box” thinkers, Norm nailed it.  We look to the Lithwicks, the Liptaks, to tell us what we think.  That big pool of possibilities, consisting of federal appellate judges from Harvard or Yale, from which to choose.  Why?  Well, these are the people who know, and that’s what they say.  No one asked Norm what he thinks.

Years ago, Baskin-Robbins announced that it had 31 flavors.  Today, we have a choice of chocolate or vanilla, and both frankly taste the same.  We’ve become a nation of followers and cowards.  Presidents are cowards too.  Senators are cowards.  We are cowards for voting for cowards.  We are cowards for taking the path of least resistance, for indulging ourselves with rationalizations of the practical and predictable. 

“I promised hope when I asked for your trust during the last election. And you heard me. Together we transformed hope into a new and audacious reality. Today I redeem a part of my promise by naming a man who is no stranger to the suffering of ordinary Americans as the next Justice of the United States Supreme Court,” the president said.

It’s my turn to make a prediction.  We will never again have a president with the guts to make this statement.  We will never have a Senate that would consent to such a selection.  How many of you, dear readers, will think to yourselves that you’re satisfied with this future, that vanilla suits you just fine and, besides, it’s the easiest way to go, and, well, why bother since nothing ever changes.

Cowards.

Expect nothing and your expectations will always be met.