Yes, Roberts is very intellegent. But he lacks knowledge!!!
This was originally published as a comment deep in the comments in the John Roberts complains about the sequester thread. There were a number of comments saying he was not intelligent enough to be Chief Justice. I felt the issue held a nuance that was being by those who in their enthusiasm to express their dislike and disdain to diss Roberts were missing.
Roberts Lambastes Sequestration
While based soley on his academic and professional achievements, John Roberts is probably one of the best qualified Chief Justices in over a century, this is my take on why he is not qualified.
Hold your nose and jump....
Yes, John Roberts is extremely intelligent. But he lacks knowledge.
He does not know the world outside his softly padded gilded bubble.
He is the son of a Bethlehem Steel plant manager, no doubt in a strongly anti-union household. He attended a private elementary school and an exclusive, academically rigorous all boys boarding school. Both were Roman Catholic schools. He excelled academically and in most of his extensive extra-curricular activities. He earned his Harvard AB Summa Cum Laude in three years and then went straight to Harvard Law graduating Magna Cum Laude. He was the managing editor of the Harvard Law Review. From there he went straight to his career in elite government service and private corporate practice positions making $millions.
John Roberts is obviously extremely intelligent and gifted. He is a member of not just the lucky sperm club being born to wealthy parents but he is also a proud member of the exclusive Lucky Life ClubTM. The Lucky Life ClubTM where every decision is the correct, optimal decision, where the road is smooth and there are no pebbles, cracks in the pavement or potholes to be seen. He has enjoyed great success in every endeavor.
We should all be so lucky.
He has never experienced the horrible vicissitudes and small and large tragedies of life that most of us deal with in at least parts if not most of our lives. He has never experienced the unexpected loss of a job or the struggles to pay the rent or feed his family. He has been too lucky, crafty or cunning to let a vengeful, jealous co-worker, friend or boss stab him in the back trying to ruin his life. Maybe he was just too good and wonderful for anything to happen to him. Like I said, he is a proud member of the exclusive Lucky Life ClubTM.
He has had a nearly perfect life. Gods and demons may have blessed him but he can still attribute it all to his own hard work.
That is what I mean when I say he lacks knowledge. He just doesn't know what life is like for the rest of us that have not received those gifts. That is what makes him poorly or unqualified to be Chief Justice of the SCOTUS and perhaps even as an Associate Justice.
There may have been justices with similar backgrounds that have found an understanding of the difficulties the ordinary citizen experiences but John Roberts is not one of those.
He's in it for life and we're stuck with him. I only hope he matures and develops the compassion for the ordinary man he lacks today.