The High Court

I was running late this a.m., which is what usually happens when you are going to have to leave work early (why is that, anyway?), so instead of catching a glimpse of The Weather Channel crew just before dashing out of the house, today I saw President Bush on Good Morning, America, introducing his latest nominee for the Supreme Court. And at the moment I cannot think of her name, and I am too tired to Google or otherwise research the topic, but what mainly stuck with me was a sound bite I heard later today, during the evening news, when W was saying something about how they (the media, I guess) should trust his opinion on this woman because he knew her. Or, at least, he has known her for 10 years now!

And he said something (and, again, of course I do not remember the exact quote, nor did I write it down, nor am I going to look it up) about how he knew her character and how he knew her heart (all this, after only 10 years!) and how, 20 years from now, she was not going to change!

And I wondered how, exactly, was this supposed to be an endorsement of this particular woman? As if being rigid, incapable of (ever?) changing how you think or feel or believe, is a badge of honor or something?

If I could go back in time, would I recognize the thoughts and feelings and beliefs I had as a 20-year-old? I know for a fact that I would not want to be evaluated, as a person, for all the things I had or had not done, by that point in my life; will I, at age 60, be remotely similar to the person I am at this moment?

Can a person go 20 years, or even 1 day, without changing in some way?