Fridayâs political history question: There havenât been many close Supreme Court confirmations over the past century. Brett Kavanaughâs 50â48 margin was the narrowest successful vote on a justice since 1881. During that same period, Amy Coney Barrettâs 52â48 vote is the second closest, which tied her with this other Supreme Court justice who was confirmed on this day in ⦠an unnamed year at some point in the twentieth century. (Canât make it too easy on you!)
Answer: Thirty years ago, on October 15, 1991, the Senate voted to confirm Clarence Thomas by a 52â48 margin. Vice President Dan Quayle returned to Washington in case he was needed to break a tied vote, but 11 Democrats sided with all but two Republicans to confirm Thomas. His three decades on the bench make him the longest-serving member of the current court. While he is well known, at least until recent years, for his general silence from the bench, as our Matt Ford wrote in 2019, heâs âalways one of the courtâs most prolific writers,â and with the post-Trump supermajority on the court, his unorthodox legal views are gaining increasing sway.
Fridayâs bonus pop music and politics question: This week marked the fortieth anniversary of Princeâs classic album Controversy. Three years later, Prince released a dirty ditty that shocked one public figure, leading to the creation of parental advisory stickers on cassettes and CDs. What famous political spouse got upset about which particular Prince song?
Answer: Princeâs late-1970s and early â80s albums were not particularly subtle about their sexual content. (âLittle Red Corvette,â is, umm, not just about a car.) But it wasnât until Tipper Gore bought her preteen daughter a copy of Purple Rain and heard âDarling Nickiâ that his music became a national political matter. The songâs descriptions of masturbation prompted Gore to co-found the Parents Music Resource Center. In September 1985, she even testified before a Senate committee alongside Twisted Sisterâs Dee Snider (also with mellow rock star John Denver on the anti-censorship side).Â
Little did Gore know, 25 years later she would create a parental advisory moment at her husbandâs presidential convention.
Todayâs political history question: Thomas Jefferson was the second governor of Virginia. Who was the first? Hint: You know his name. He was kind of a second-tier Founding Father best known for one famous quote.
Bonus historyâpop culture question: The Clean Water Act became law on this day in 1972. What incident sparked the movement that led to this law, and which recording artist memorialized it in what song?
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