First off, it’s, no surprise, an ad-hominem attack. Before you tell me why the other guy’s wrong, you should show me that he’s wrong. Is Curiel ese making bum calls? Who knows? I wouldn’t take Trump’s word for it. But let’s say he is. Where does “Mexican” come into it? He is an American, certainly, whatever Trump says. But he is connected to some Chicano law associations. If his connections are pro forma, just social niceties, they’re all irrelevant. But if he’s very active, holds high positions, or has an interesting paper trail, it starts to matter.
On tv, some reporter pressed Trump: if he can’t be fair because he’s Mexican, “isn’t that the textbook definition of racism?” Well, yeah, but that wasn’t exactly Trump’s argument—and yes, “Trump” and “argument” have just appeared in the same sentence: yet the universe still stands. Can someone with a strong ethnic identification be dispassionate in judging the country’s foremost disparager of that ethnicity (not exactly true, but close enough for an intellect with a robe)? If, say, somebody charged with sending money to Hamas challenges a judge who is a dual Israeli-U.S. citizen, it might go nowhere, but it’s not inherently objectionable.
On the other side…there has been a general horror that he attacked a…sitting Federal judge. I don’t expect most of Trump’s voters to be heavily swayed. There’s a joke told, apparently, by “Mr.” Trump’s’ employees. Trump’s on an elevator. Babe gets on, sez, Are you Donald Trump? He says, Yes. She: Can I suck your dick? And Trump: What’s in it for me? Now, it’s a joke. It’s meant to get a laugh. But there is a serious point to it, and it is this: Donald Trump has the makings of a Federal judge.
Breyer published a book, which, damn, I forgot to read. He was out on the talk shows plugging it. We do what we do, and you must trust us. You either have a rule of law, or you don’t. A mind so fine, no idea would go near it with somebody else’s dick. And wasn’t Madison’s whole point, Don’t go around trusting guys. The relevance: would it occur to Curiel ese to recuse himself? See also: Dance the Madison at the TCM website.