I'm not a big fan of Alan Dershowitz, but he has a good piece on HuffPost today about Rehnquist's legacy.
Here on DKos, when the news broke about Rehnquist's death there was quite a bit of debate in the comments - criticism of Rehnquist, some of it in very harsh language, was met by requests to be respectful and consider his family etc.
When Reagan died, the media went into overdrive to whitewash his awful legacy. I think we are seeing the same with Rehnquist, and Dershowitz thoroughly debunks this nonsense by recounting some of the lowlights of Rehnquist's career.
My mother always told me that when a person dies, one should not say anything bad about him. My mother was wrong. History requires truth, not puffery or silence, especially about powerful governmental figures. And obituaries are a first draft of history.
So here's the truth about Chief Justice Rehnquist you won't hear on Fox News or from politicians. Chief Justice William Rehnquist set back liberty, equality, and human rights perhaps more than any American judge of this generation. His rise to power speaks volumes about the current state of American values.
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