Today is the birthday, in 1777, of Robert Brooke Taney (pronounced Taw-nee). He was the fifth chief justice of the United States from 1836 until his death in 1864. Taney delivered the majority opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), ruling that African Americans could not be considered U.S. citizens and that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the U.S. territories.
Taney was born into a wealthy, slave-owning family in Calvert County, His family had established themselves as prominent Catholic landowners of a flourishing tobacco plantation powered by slave labor. At the age of fifteen, Taney was sent to Dickinson College, where he studied ethics, logic, languages, mathematics, and other subjects. After graduating from Dickinson in 1796, he read law under Judge Jeremiah Townley Chase in Annapolis.
After gaining admission to the state bar, Taney established a successful legal practice in Frederick, Maryland. In 1826, Taney and Daniel Webster represented merchant Solomon Etting in a case that appeared before the Supreme Court of the United States. In 1827, Taney was appointed as the Attorney General of Maryland. Taney supported Andrew Jackson in the 1824 presidential election and the 1828 presidential election. He was appointed by Jackson to the Supreme Court.
Taney considered slavery to be an evil practice. He freed the slaves that he inherited from his father early in his life, and as long as they lived, he provided monthly pensions to the older ones who were unable to work. He believed, however, that slavery was a problem to be resolved gradually and chiefly by the states in which it existed.
He is most famous, however, for the Dred Scott Decision which he wrote. In the decision he wrote that no African American, free or enslaved, had ever enjoyed the rights of a citizen under the Constitution. He argued that, for more than a century leading up to the ratification of the Constitution, blacks had been “regarded as beings of an inferior order, altogether unfit to associate with the white race … and so far inferior, that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.
Taney died on October 12, 1864, at the age of 87, the same day his home state of Maryland passed an amendment abolishing slavery. He served as Chief Justice for 28 years, 198 days, the second-longest tenure of any chief justice, and was the oldest-ever serving Chief Justice in United States history. Taney had administered the presidential oath of office to seven incoming presidents.
Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, photograph by Mathew Brady
How to keep a secret…
BADA BINGGGGG
They told me if I voted for Harris grocery prices would rise and we would be at war. I did vote for Harris, and they turned out to be right.
Winner of the internet… Q: Have you ever met someone truly evil? Guys answer: My cousin is Stephen Miller.
Good news: my plumber, Markwayne Mullin, from when I managed an Applebees is now in charge of homeland security and that is one of the least crazy things about the current administration so that’s fun for all of us.
Why do Republicans say AOC is “just a bartender” when she has a masters degree in economics, but they don’t say Markwayne Mullin is just a plumber?
I was told there would be a handbasket.
Reports are circulating that Sweden has officially recognized sex as a sport, with plans for a first-of-its-kind championship evaluated by a panel of judges. (Where do I sign up?!)
Back when I was a kid you didn’t need Joe Rogan. Your best friend had a 27 year-old brother who was a fucking loser who would smoke pot in a room with blacklight posters and tell you that the Mayans invented cell phones.
If we’re ever in a situation where I am the “voice of reason”, then we are in a very very bad situation.
I was born in 1951. I’ve walked like an Egyptian, moonwalked, walked this way, walked on the wild side, walked on sunshine, walked the line, and walked 500 miles. I’m tired of walking.
I’m pretty sure I’ve reached my “what the hell??” quota for the year, and it’s only March 17th.
Does Pete Hegseth realize he’s not George C. Scott in Patton? He’s George C. Scott in Dr. Strangelove.
How many countries do you have to bomb to win a Nobel Peace Prize these days? Asking for a felon.
If you put a Jumbotron on the side of a blimp, does that make it an LED Zeppelin? (Bilbo)
Statistics show that teen pregnancy drops off significantly after age 25.
A priest, a pastor, and a rabbit walked in to blood donation clinic. The nursed asked the rabbit, “What is your blood type?” “I’m probably a type O”, said the rabbit.
un Fact: A paper airplane can be in flight yet remain stationery.
Sometimes people ask me how I know all the random shit I know and all I got is, “I have ADHD, an internet connection, really good research skills, and zero self-regulatory mechanisms”.
Here are the Dropkick Murphys https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaPGMUP4P50
