Thome Fole v. John Roberts, Jr.

Once upon a time, the name Thome Fole was given to a person who was slow in intelligence and low in intellect. We have one living example in the White House now. His full name is Donald Thome Fole Trump. (More about modern-day Thome Fole later.) John Roberts, Jr. is the sitting Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court. One may or may not agree with his philosophical bend in his legal decisions, but I think most people would say that he is a pretty sharp legal mind.

A few days ago, after being humiliated by a decision in a federal district court that ruled illegal Fole’s order to ban asylum applications from refugees who entered the US illegally, Fole told the public that the presiding judge, Jon S. Tigar, was an “Obama judge.” In a reaction that was unusual from a judge, let alone from the Chief Justice, Roberts released a rebuttal scolding Fole, although not by name: “The country doesn’t have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges… an independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.” Trump doubled down: “Sorry Chief Justice John Roberts, but you do indeed have Obama judges, and they have a much different point of view than the people who are charged with the safety of our country.”

I have a feeling that Fole, being Fole, is not giving up on this quarrel that he started. If it continues and escalates, who do you think the winner is going to be? (Hint: That’s a rhetorical question.)

Let’s look at the two key players here. Fole writes like an 8th grader – just look at his tweets. He talks like an 8th grader who tries miserably to sound educated. Watch how rich his vocabulary is when he repeats describing a certain situation: “it’s a disgrace”; a certain person: “may or may not be dead (or some other adjective)”; or on relations with foreign heads of state: “he likes me, I like him.” If he told us he emigrated with his parents from Germany to this country in his twenties and he learned English as a second language, I would have believed him. I don’t even need to see his German birth certificate for proof, because he writes and talks incoherently just like me, a fellow immigrant who’s coming along in years.

Roberts, on the other hand is a top legal scholar and a fairly good speaker. He was appointed Chief Justice to the Supreme Court by former president George W. Bush in 2005. Before he became a federal judge and later the Chief Justice, he was in private practice and argued an impressive 39 cases in front of the high court.

I looked up Roberts’s background briefly just a few minutes ago on the internet. Back in 2005, I watched his confirmation hearing after being nominated to the Supreme Court, and he impressed me as someone I wouldn’t mess around with when it comes to legal matters. Had Fole done that, or had he talked to his legal staff first for just one minute, he might not have opened his twittering mouth so quickly.

But then again, if Fole was smart enough to do any background check on an opponent before he picked a fight, his name wouldn’t be eponymous for “tomfoolery.”

*** The End ***

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