The Late Senator Orrin Hatch's Utah Senate Seat has been vacated by Mitt Romney

Brent Hatch, the Senator's oldest son is running for the job and would be superb.

Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, 1977 to 2019, was a stalwart supporter of originalist, rule of law judges through many a slugfest Senate confirmation fight. Senator Hatch fought for traditional American values, and, like Donald Trump, he always wanted to Make America Great Again. Sadly, when Hatch retired due to old age, the feckless RINO Mitt Romney, was elected to replace him. Romney voted twice to impeach President Donald Trump, and he was a longtime loser. Romney lost a winnable U.S. Senate race to Ted Kennedy in 1994 in Massachusetts by promising to be more pro-gay rights than Kennedy, and by being unable to defend his outsourcing of American jobs to China when he was a businessman. And, he lost the U.S. Presidency to Barack Obama, in 2012, again because of his outsourcing of American jobs to China as a businessman and because he implausibly claimed to be the leading social conservative in the race never bothering to explain his change of mind from 1994. Mitt Romney always was, and always will be remembered as a big time loser. Now is the perfect time to consider the candidacy of Senator Hatch's oldest and most conservative son, Brent Hatch.

Brent is a first rate lawyer who graduated from Columbia Law School and who was my co-clerk for Judge Robert H. Bork in 1984-1985 on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. After clerking we both had the great privilege of working as political appointees in senior jobs in Ed Meese's Justice Department under President Ronald Reagan. Brent went on to serve as an associate White House Counsel under the senior President Bush. He became one of my closest friends and was a groomsman at my wedding in 1995.

Brent loves to hunt and has many proud trophies including of a huge stuffed Wild Boar that he shot himself. He is as ardent as it gets when it comes to Second Amendment rights. Brent is also a former Bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and he is as socially conservative as was Judge Bork.  Brent is a brilliant trial lawyer who started his own law firm and who built up a fortune in the process of doing so.  He has lived in Utah continuously for the last thirty years in a hill top mansion that overlooks Salt Lake City.  But, what Brent really loves doing is driving his motorcycles, all terrain vehicles, and working in his yard.  When my daughter went out to visit him a few years ago, he signed her up for an axe-throwing contest where you got a prize if you hit the bullseye.   With Brent's coaching, my daughter hit the bullseye and won the prize.  She also had a blast practicing law with Brent at his firm.

Brent has served for three decades as a member of the 12 person Board of Directors of the Federalist Society -- a hot shot legal conservative organization. Brent has been an invaluable member of the Board of Directors, especially when financial matters arise. He is a great and good friend.

Like his Dad, Brent wants to see more lawyers like Judge Robert H. Bork and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court. Brent is a staunch and committed originalist. If he is elected, Senate Republicans should give him back his father's seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Like his father, Brent is a real fighter, but unlike his father Brent cracks jokes all the time and can talk with everyday Americans.  Brent was the first person who told me that he thought Donald Trump was going to win the presidency in 2016. Brent is actually much more conservative than his father, and he is a real populist to boot. The people of Utah have a chance this year to send the best possible Republican Senator to Washington, D.C.  I certainly hope they take advantage of this opportunity to reward talent and conservative principles by electing a man I have known very well and have admired for almost forty years.

Comments

[Estragon]

Gotta be ChatGPT

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

Why dismiss the prospect of a stroke, or perhaps a series of minor strokes?

Given this poor guy’s seemingly enfeebled condition, perhaps it is best that no one reminds him that he and the other culture war casualties have been, are, and will continue to be the losers in a modern America that has passed these clingers by.

Calabresi's bigotry should be remembered and disdained regardless of his condition, of course. Bigots are lousy people in all circumstances.

[grb]

Estragon : "Gotta be ChatGPT"

Face it; this is what sells in today's Right. You have to give the MAGA base an entertaining product, whether you're running a blog or running for president.

As for what's next, who knows? I don't think Professor Volokh is ready to bring Dr. Ed on board as a Conspirator just yet, so there's that consolation at least....

[Dr. Ed 2]

What makes you think Dr. Ed's available?

[grb]

Be careful:

You play hard to get and Volokh might settle for Bumble or Theendoftheleft. And neither of them can deliver the pure unadulterated crazy you can!

[Bwaaah]

"Gotta be ChatGPT"

My feeling exactly.

[LoganMankins]

Really funny seeing Calabresi losing his mind in real time. To start, he calls Romney a loser but neglects to mention he's worshipping the most recent loser in Republican presidential politics: Donald Trump. That is of course if he thinks the 2020 election wasn't stolen but I think he's lost his mind so much that he legitimately believes it was stolen.

I'd like to think Calabresi punched a hole in the wall when Obergefell was decided going by his drive by pot shots at gay rights.

[Kazinski]

Calabresi is a never Trumper, but he might be coming around now that Haley has cratered.

I can’t imagine him seeing Biden as an option, or RFK.

[LoganMankins]

Like RINO, Calabresi is a NRINO. Never Trumper In Name Only.

His puff pieces defending Trump, while appearing to just totally lose all pretenses of mental stability, doesn't back up the notion he's a never trumper. At the end of the day, he cares about the judges that will advance policy and Donald Trump is the only candidate who can serve that for him.

[Estragon]

“never Trumper”

Oh please, the random capitalization is an obvious paean to the former guy

[Jon S]

This is some funny shit:

"Brent loves to hunt and has many proud trophies including of a huge stuffed Wild Boar that he shot himself."

"He has lived in Utah continuously for the last thirty years in a hill top mansion that overlooks Salt Lake City. "

"But, what Brent really loves doing is driving his motorcycles, all terrain vehicles, and working in his yard."

"When my daughter went out to visit him a few years ago, he signed her up for an axe-throwing contest where you got a prize if you hit the bullseye. With Brent's coaching, my daughter hit the bullseye and won the prize."

Each one of these pasages is just hilarious. I mean . . . WTF?

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

Why would an ostensibly educated person capitalize Wild Boar?

One possibility: Stroke.

[Randal]

It reminds me a little bit of Dr. Strangelove's heiling hand.

[Dr. Ed 2]

You realize that was a reference to Wernher von Braun, don't you?

[MoreCurious]

Moved.

[Dr. Ed 2]

Actually, I'm impressed.
He -- not the guide -- shot the Boar. Compare that to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVYlakHX1H0

Like Reagan, he lives on a hilltop and enjoys working in the yard.
He's got my vote for riding a motorcycle alone.

I'm of two minds about throwing axes but I suppose it could be as safe a sport as target shooting is, and if so, how many Democrats can you see doing that? And what's not being said is that he trusts his daughter with him -- Biden probably not so much.

What he is saying is that he is a man who sometimes has dirty fingernails, and that if you handed him a chainsaw or snow blower, he at least wouldn't do something stupid with it -- and ask if he didn't have experience using it.

That's not true for most of Congress. It means that his feet are solidly planted on the ground, and we need that.

[Estragon]

Perfect, no notes

[grb]

Dr. Ed 2 : “… he trusts his daughter with him — Biden probably not so much….”

As opposed to your hero Trump ?!? That creep has repeatedly talked about his own daughter like she’s just meat, described her as a “piece of ass” on national radio, and discussed whether she has or hasn’t gotten breast implants with his bud Howard Stern during the show. On multiple occasions the sicko has pretty brazenly bragged how he’d do her if it wasn’t for the whole fatherhood thing. Live on a TV show with Ivanka, the host asked what father and daughter had in common. The poor woman tried “real estate or golf”, but a leering Trump jumped in with, “Well, I was going to say sex, but I can’t relate that to her.” Can you imagine Ivanka’s mortification?

Ya know, Ed, the mere thought of voting for such a sick f**k as Trump should roil your stomach. If you have any standards left, that is…

[Dr. Ed 2]

Trump is a NY AHole -- it's all talk and posture and while I neither approve of nor really like to hear stuff like that -- and NEVER listen to Howard Stern -- I can live with it. It's a locker room mentality and why I prefer not to hang out in locker rooms.

And women can be every bit as crude and disgusting.

[grb]

Dr. Ed 2,

Six points :

1. Trump is a sleazy unprincipled asshole – period. I’ve know many people from New York. Unlike Trump, all are recognizably human.

2. I haven’t been in a locker room recently (and my waist line shows it) but have many times in the recent past. I’ve NEVER heard anyone talk about their own daughter as a hot piece of ass there (much less on nationwide radio). But Trump has repeatedly.

3. I’ve known a zillion fathers of daughters. Exactly zero are so broken & twisted in the head they are capable of saying this: “She’s really something, and what a beauty, what a beauty that one. If I weren’t married, and, ya know, her father…”

Someone said this about Trump’s comment : “And just for the record, when you’re ranking the reasons you wouldn’t bang your own daughter, the fact that you’re her father should be at the very top of that list, not number two after I’m married!”

4. God alone knows when Trump’s freak obsession began, but it was already blazing away when Ivanka was 16. She hosted the Miss Teen USA pageant and Donald Trump made this comment in front of the crowd: “Don’t you think my daughter’s hot? She’s hot, right?”

5. You want creepy? Trump on daughter Tiffany, when she was just one year old: “Well, I think that she’s got a lot of Marla. She’s a really beautiful baby, and she’s got Marla’s legs. We don’t know whether she’s got this part yet [mimes breasts], but time will tell”

6. And just to show it’s not all in the family with this freak pervert, this : “Now, somebody who a lot of people don’t give credit to but is in actuality very beautiful is Paris Hilton. I’ve known Paris Hilton from the time she’s 12, her parents are friends of mine, and the first time I saw her she walked into the room and I said, ‘Who the hell is that?’ At 12, I wasn’t interested… but she was beautiful.”

Excuse me for not taking his “wasn’t interested” at face value.

[Kazinski]

This will explode some heads.

But definitely seems much better than Romney, and Hatch Sr. didn’t help his reputation when he teamed with Ted Kennedy to sponsor an amnesty bill for illegal aliens, but it failed.

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

It appears Hatch's gun nuttery, goofy superstition, and right-wing bigotry secure the disaffected-misfit-who's-a-Ted-Kaczynski-fan-holed-up-in-an-off-the-grid-hermit-shack-far-from-civilization vote.

[Sarcastr0]

Yeah, when the racist worked with Dems on something that was pretty mainstream back in the day, that was the big blot on his character.

[Jonathan Affleck]

Calabresi seems to have forgotten that Romney successfully ran for governor in the People's Republic of Massachusetts, which is the bluest of blue states.

[Riva]

And he conducted himself like just another blue state governor. Like the article notes, a loser.

[Dr. Ed 2]

No, Romney was worse -- it was HE who PERSONALLY gave the US Gay Marriage.

With the exception of the outer Cape, there is no part of Massachusetts that is more than 30 miles or so from another state. So when the Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health, 798 N.E.2d 941 decision came down in 2003, he could have simply said "we're going to stop issuing marriage licenses in six months -- get married now or get married out of state" and that would have been the end of it.

But no, he jumped on board and made things worse. He eliminated "husband" and "wife" -- it's now "party a" and "party b" -- how romantic. Worse, he made notaries that worked in banks and law offices resign their commissions if they would not promise to conduct gay marriages even though they didn't conduct ANY marriages and didn't want to.

I almost vomited when I heard him claim to be a "conservative" at CPAC -- and I wanted to scream when I heard him let Obama pull the "we don't have bayonets anymore" -- we DO -- the M-7 bayonet is also used as a sheath knife and probably more recognizable as that. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M7_bayonet

That's Mitt Romney for you -- people who know him personally tell me he's a nice guy, but he's a rich guy who is totally clueless about anything that doesn't involve a checkbook, and a lot of the people he hired were anything but nice...

[arpiniant1]

“we’re going to stop issuing marriage licenses in six months — get married now or get married out of state” and that would have been the end of it.
He had no such power
And that would not have been the end of it.
Romney was a moderately popular governor who, rather than trying to force his beliefs on the public, ran and governed as a fiscal conservative.
Had he run as the former governor of Mass, rather than veering to the right to get the nomination, he could have beat Obama.

[Dr. Ed 2]

““we’re going to stop issuing marriage licenses in six months — get married now or get married out of state” and that would have been the end of it.
He had no such power

The hell he didn’t — the Commissioner of Public Health served at his pleasure and he could have told him to do it.

No where is there a mandate that marriage licenses be issued…

And that would not have been the end of it.

It would because Marshall wouldn’t have dared go further.

Romney was a moderately popular governor who, rather than trying to force his beliefs on the public, ran and governed as a fiscal conservative.

Two words: “Big Dig.” Look it up.

Had he run as the former governor of Mass, rather than veering to the right to get the nomination, he could have beat Obama.

Had the same number of White men in one midwestern state who had voted for McCain bothered to vote in 2012, he’d have beaten Obama.

MITT LOST WINABLE ELECTIONS.

He lost to pre-Vickki Ted (the DRUNK) Kennedy, just after the Palm Beach Trial. That took doing….

Look up "Waitress Sandwich" -- and you couldn't beat HIM????

[David Nieporent]

No where is there a mandate that marriage licenses be issued…

Other than Massachusetts law, you mean. M.G.L. Chapter 207 § 28. Note the words "shall deliver." "Shall" is a word that means mandatory.

[Dr. Ed 2]

Was that the same "Shall" that mandated the referendum to change the Constitution to ban gay marriage "shall" be on the ballot?

Didn't happen.

[David Nieporent]

I have no idea what the fuck you're talking about — which puts me in the same boat as you, who have no idea what the fuck you're talking about either — but you could just try saying, "Yeah, I was full of shit when I claimed that 'no where is there a mandate that marriage licenses be issued,' but instead I'm trying to change the subject."

[David Nieporent]

With the exception of the outer Cape, there is no part of Massachusetts that is more than 30 miles or so from another state. So when the Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health, 798 N.E.2d 941 decision came down in 2003, he could have simply said “we’re going to stop issuing marriage licenses in six months — get married now or get married out of state” and that would have been the end of it.

But no, he jumped on board and made things worse. He eliminated “husband” and “wife” — it’s now “party a” and “party b” — how romantic. Worse, he made notaries that worked in banks and law offices resign their commissions if they would not promise to conduct gay marriages even though they didn’t conduct ANY marriages and didn’t want to.

Literally none of the above is true.

Well, I guess it is true that Romney did not abolish all marriage in Massachusetts.

[Dr. Ed 2]

YOU LIE.

[Brett Bellmore]

Just checked a map of Massachusetts; He is, in fact, right about that: Almost the entire state, except for the Cape and the coast South of Boston, IS within 30 miles of another state.

But you do have a habit of just declaring to be untrue all sorts of things you could easily verify were true, so that's par for the course.

[Dr. Ed 2]

As had Weld and Cellucci before him -- the Republicans had the corner office since the 1990 election, a dozen years earlier. They had the power of the incumbency and the Democratic party was badly split. Shannon O'Brien really wasn't that strong a candidate, and she'd defeated four men, each of whom had significant support that she didn't get.

And even with this, Romney only won by 49.7% to 45%. And the MassGOP lost seats in the General Court (legislature) -- giving the Dems a 2/3 veto-proof majority in both bodies.

In the 2004 midterm, Romney promised to win back enough seats to at least sustain a veto. But his hand-picked candidates sucked (there is no other word), every one of them lost, the party lost even more incumbents -- so Mitt instead decided to start running for President. He'd split the party by forcing the selection of an unpopular candidate as his Lt. Governor and sent her out to lose in 2006. She was beaten badly and that was the end of the MassGOP holding the corner office for 16 years.

I don't want to get into the damage that Romney did to the Mass GOP. It was all about him and his personal ambition and I can see why Trump wants to get rid of Roma ROMNEY McDaniel.

[Jaypd]

"I'm Eugene volokh defender of free speech! I have this neato blog with great guys like orin Kerr, will baude, Jonathan Adler, and more!"

Calabresi, peaking through curtain and hissing "tell them about me! Tell them about the mole people!"

[Rev. Arthur L. Kirkland]

We have passed the point at which Profs. Kerr, Adler, Somin, and Baude can claim a pass on this blog's wingnuttery and bigotry. They are complicit, especially because not one has the courage or decency to say a word about this blog's incessant right-wing bigotry.

They are not nearly as bad as the genuine right-wing freaks who contribute most of this white, male, movement conservative blog's content, but their silence and continued association with this flaming clustermuck damns them.

[Kazinski]

Don't forget Blackman and Somin.

[Noscitur a sociis]

Sad!

[mydisplayname]

Yes, but if your mascot is a masturbating eagle... https://www.virginiabusiness.com/article/liberty-university-fined-14m-for-clery-act-violations/

[Martinned2]

Ah yes, the great originalist Clarence Thomas, who unreservedly joined the majority in [checks notes] that great originalist judgment Trump v. Anderson.

[Kazinski]

The controlling opinion is much more rooted in originalism than the concurring dissent.

The concurrence hand waves about principles of federalism, but doesn't cite anything in the way of controlling or even relevant authority.

The main opinion is based not just on Section 5, but Chase's opinion in Griffin. Its certainly not anti-originalism to give weight to the Chief Justice at the time the amendment was ratified, and Congress' acceptance of the decision.

[Martinned2]

If you say so. https://reason.com/volokh/2024/03/05/michael-rappaport-on-the-originalist-disaster-of-the-supreme-courts-ruling-in-trump-v-colorado/

[David Nieporent]

The controlling opinion is much more rooted in originalism than the concurring dissent.

It is not. It does not even purport to be.

[SRG2]

I don't think winning a governorship counts as being a loser. Nor is making a fortune legitimately.

Orrin Hatch was a sanctimonious prick.

[Dr. Ed 2]

He had it handed to him because no one wanted Jane Swift.

He didn't "win" it --- it was handed to him. And he couldn't keep it.

[SRG2]

OK, so he won an election but it didn't count as a win because someone else had previously been governor. Gottit.

[Bruce Boyden]

Wow.

[steeltown lad]

Raised in the woods so he knew every tree.
Killed him a b'ar when he was only three.

[SimonP]

In-kind campaign contribution?

[Bored Lawyer]

And this has what to do with law?

[Sarcastr0]

The Federalist Society ain't gonna take you back no matter how much dignity you sacrifice.

[Kazinski]

Take him back? What happened?

The Federalist Society still has him listed as a co-chair of their board on their website.
https://fedsoc.org/board-of-directors

[Sarcastr0]

He is not allowed to tell people that he is either the founder or a co-chair of the board.

Even though he is both.

I think this has broken his brain.

[Jason Cavanaugh]

I believe you're mistaken on that. It is my understanding that he cannot say that he was a co-founder, nothing more.

[Randal]

Gross yet funny! A heart-shaped dog turd.

[dwb68]

“Brent loves to hunt … He is as ardent as it gets when it comes to Second Amendment rights. ”

2nd amendment is not about hunting lol. Sounds like a real FUDD to me. An “ardent” supporter of the 2nd amendment would know not to claim hunting boar as bona fides so im calling him fake.

Like this post if your sick of political family dynasties. Being a politician should not be a career, let alone a family business.

[Voize]

How is it that Prof. Calabresi hasn't yet blogged in support of Trump's bid for absolute Presidential immunity? That's gotta be on the menu judging by the progression of articles he has posted.

[Dr. Ed 2]

It appears that Biden has flown in 300+ K illegals -- flown into the country. I don't think that Trump is going to be the only one caring about Presidential Immunity.
https://americanmilitarynews.com/2024/03/320000-illegal-immigrants-flown-into-us-by-biden-admin/

[David Nieporent]

Once more: amnesty seekers are not illegals.

[David Nieporent]

Sorry, I meant asylum, not amnesty.

[Dr. Ed 2]

Violation of rules regarding ability go get onto a plane -- for which you would go to jail

[David Nieporent]

Can anyone translate this from Dr. Ed to English?

[Dr. Ed 2]

Prohibited persons boarding airplanes.

[David Nieporent]

Can anyone translate this from Dr. Ed to English?

[MoreCurious]

I’m not sure we should be mocking him. After all, Calabresi says, with obvious pride, that Brent, presumably while defending his home and family, shot the heavily-armed boar all by himself. He sounds like exactly the sort of guy that I would want my daughter throwing axes with. And, besides, he lives in a mansion overlooking Salt Lake City. Isn’t that reason enough to keep our fingers crossed?

[Dr. Ed 2]

Laugh all you want to — wild boars are a real problem and they do attack people. often killing them.

And what he's really saying is unlike rich guys who have the guide shoot the trophy for them, HE shot it.

[MoreCurious]

Thanks, Dr. Ed. Now I know how to improve my golf game. I'll hire Scottie Scheffler to play the back nine for me.

[Bwaaah]

This is fascinating. Sentence by sentence, it hits strong "right-wing" points while simultaneously demonstrating, at each opportune juncture, a distinct lack of self-awareness.

It's interesting in that I think this diatribe would match an archetypical Republican to the satisfaction of most partisans, on the left or right. But none of Calabresi's previous posts suggested to me he was some kind of Republican-In-A-Can, which is the kind of rhetoric I see here.

It could be AI. It could be a parody. But I don't think it's Calabresi. (If it is, he jumped the shark.)

[Dr. Ed 2]

He's endorsing a friend for Senate, he admits he is, what more do you want?

[Bwaaah]

For him to sober up and do another read-through before pressing SEND on behalf of my "great and good friend."

[loki13]

Look, I like to make fun of Josh Blackman. But ... that's just kind of funny. Even though I think he is usually wrong (often laughably so), he occasionally produces genuine law-like substance, and I did bother to comment in his recent thread where he was talking about running a high-school moot court tournament. Good for him!

This ... I mean, this is just sad. And it continues a long line of sad posts by Calabresi. I really hope that at some point one of the other VC contributors has a discussion with him about the wisdom of his continued posting.

[David Bremer]

My god, how the quality of this blog has deteriorated. I recall when it was Professor Volokh, Orin Kerr, Dale Carpenter, and other respected legal scholars writing on interesting or important legal issues.

Now it’s rantings of a right-wing crab, defending the biggest huckster to ever grace American politics and cheering for the election of someone whose major qualifications seem to be being born to a popular senator, riding motorcycle, and teaching axe throwing. While I get that Romney was also born to a political family (which surely opened doors), at least he went out and had his own notable successes first. Not to mention he’s shown the ability to actually hold and abide by principles–something that the current republican frontrunner hasn’t done for a second in his life.
Plus, it's absurd for any Trump supporter calling Romney a “loser” because he narrowly lost to an otherwise popular incumbent president–particularly when one considers Trump barely beat an extremely flawed and disliked candidate and has sunk the campaigns of numerous down-ballot republicans.

What an embarrassment.

[Dr. Ed 2]

As opposed to Ilya?