The Knucklehead of the Day award

I haven't railed at the Post editorial board in some time. Today I'll make up for it.


Today's winner is Palm Beach Post columnist Tom Blackburn. On Monday columnist Tom Blackburn wrote a piece that discussed eminent domain in light of the recent Kelo decision by the court. I blogged two months ago that Kelo was one of the worst USSC decisions in recent memory.

Mr. Blackburn's column proves to be one of the shoddier pieces of journalism I ever seen. Nine mistakes in all, six of them in the first 192 words of his column. Here we go-

First his William Pitt quote

"The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the force of the Crown. It may be frail, its roof may shake, the wind may blow through it. The storms may enter. The rain may enter. But the king of England may not enter. All his forces dare not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement."

I double checked the quote here.

The year is 1763 not 1760. Also the word is forces not force. Three mistakes but that's only the beginning.

Mr. Blackburn writes- "the right to be left alone." Justice Douglas held that the right is implied in the Ninth Amendment to the Constitution.

Mr. Douglas never said any such thing in a supreme court decision. Actually the quote comes from Olmstead v. U.S. 277 U.S. 438 (1928). A dissent written by Louis Brandeis.

"The makers of our Constitution understood the need to secure conditions favorable to the pursuit of happiness, and the protections guaranteed by this are much broader in scope, and include the right to life and an inviolate personality -- the right to be left alone -- the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men. The principle underlying the Fourth and Fifth Amendments is protection against invasions of the sanctities of a man's home and privacies of life. This is a recognition of the significance of man's spiritual nature, his feelings, and his intellect. Every violation of the right to privacy must be deemed a violation of the Fourth Amendment.

Mr. Blackburn also mistakes the 9th ammendment for the 4th in the decision and quote he is using. He was apparently mixing up Griswold vs. Connecticut(1965) and Olmstead. Olmstead wasn't a precedent for Roe, Brandeis opinion in Olmstead was a dissent. That's another two mistakes.

I checked this out here.

The first 192 words of the column have six mistakes. We aren't done yet either.

Now lets gets to the Kelo decision by the US Supreme Court. First Mr. Blackburn writes-

The court divided 4-4-1 in this decision, with Justice Anthony Kennedy concurring with the four who wanted to leave New London unchained, but with somewhat less enthusiasm. Those four, usually in the liberal bloc, primly took a conservative stance. The court, they said, should not second-guess local authorities. Local authorities, as everybody knows, never find themselves in league with private interests against the general good, so it's comforting to see the court wanting to keep its hands and eyes off such takings.

Three more mistakes are found in this.

1- The decision was 5-4 not 4-4-1. A concurrence is still part of the majority. When this case was reported in the news, it was listed as 5-4.

That can be checked here.

2 and 3- 2- The liberals didn't take a conservative stance. If they did they would have upheld the 12 words. nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. The conservatives were upholding their judicial philosophy. It's called originalism, Antonin Scalia calls it that.

Here is quote from a March 2005 interview of the Justice.

I am one of a small number of judges, small number of anybody — judges, professors, lawyers — who are known as originalists. Our manner of interpreting the Constitution is to begin with the text, and to give that text the meaning that it bore when it was adopted by the people. I’m not a “strict constructionist,”

Scalia, Thomas, O'Connor and Rehnquist were obviously upholding what the constitution says very explicitly. Therefore taking the originalist stance, one consistent with their philosophy. O'Connor in her dissent wrote- The Founders cannot have intended this perverse result.

Justice Scalia's interview is here.

In all that adds up to nine mistakes in a column of about 500 words. That is one very shoddy piece of journalism. In the middle of all this I love the following words of Mr. Blackburn.

the ones who do whatever it takes to get their way

Like Mr. Blackburn himself. He misquotes and makes up facts to support his decision. It is apparent Mr. Blackburn did some research for his column, he just used what fit his case and when it didn't he changed it.

For bamboozling the readers of the Palm Beach Post with misquotes and incorrect facts, Mr. Blackburn is today's Knucklehead of the day.

Supper- Basil's blog