Washingtonian Magazine has included me among the most influential persons on public policy … and made public a terrible secret that I wanted to address before it triggers an extraterrestrial scandal.
This has proven a week of embarrassing self-disclosure. On Sunday, I revealed my ineptitude at taking selfies.
Now the Washingtonian background statement has revealed one of my long concealed deficiencies: I cannot do the Vulcan salute. It has been a point of humiliation with my children who could all join the Vulcan Ni‘Var Science Institute.
I take some solace in reports that Zachary Quinto, who played Spock had to use glue while Celia Lovsky, who played T’Pau, the Vulcan Minister, had her fingers taped together for the movie.
I feel better having come clean. So for those of you with Vulcan dexterity, I will simply say “Live Long and Prosper.”
Thanks for all you do, Jonathan. I love to read your columns and see you on FNC.
After 42 years of being a lawyer, I get charged up by intellectual legal (and political) analysis, which is why one of my highlights of the year is going to FedSoc in Washington, DC, where they present excellent debates among law professors.
I appreciate the joke about the Vulcan salute, but the following is a much better bio:
https://www.law.gwu.edu/jonathan-turley
Congratulations Prof. Turley.
Your daily offerings make my day, and by all accounts, I’m not alone.
Live long and prosper!
Your non-dominant hand does it better.
The next time you feel challenged, trying to do the Spock hand sign, just channel your Mork from Ork knowledge and lay a “Nah-nu Nah-nu” on them!
And please video it. The idea of Mr Turley as Mork is quite entertaining ….
Leonard Nimoy is the the real Spock just as Sean Connery is the real James Bond and Basil Rathbone is the real Sherlock Holmes.
END OF DISCUSSION!
I suspect you gladly follow the meaning of that statement from Scripture for it says, “?Honor your father and mother so you may live long and prosper.
Thats pretty funny
Im giving up politics and dont want to hear another word about it, dont want to hear about Trump, or Biden, or who got caught doing what, the dog story was over the oine, politicians are worthless enemies of us all, off to the gravel pit
over thr TOP, …..thping woth my thumbs….this whole business is stupid, got kicked off twitter for telling a moron to drop dead, why am I even on this social media, wasting my time tweeting to pathetic morons, why any of it.
The Vulcan salute is the posture of priests (not rabbis) in the Orthodox Jewish religion when they bless the Congregation
Often used by Orthodoxy when presiding over Reform Congregations, and Leonard Nimoy was asked to make a hand salute and thats all he could think of. i know my Star Wars trivia too
The reason you’re one of the most influential people is because you are one of the few truly unbiased individuals out there commenting and of course are an expert on Constitutional law.
It is extremely difficult today to find anyone who hasn’t drunk the koolaid being handed out by one political side or the other, as a quick peruse of the daily comments section in here attests to.
Currently the bulk of your fans are conservatives, but most aren’t old enough (or coherent enough) to remember that it wasn’t that long back when you were considered the darling of the left.
Most don’t remember that you were an avid outspoken opponent to the actions of the “neocons” post 911, and stood up for the principles you still stand up for back when it was the republicans pushing “the Patriot act”, and the removal of Constitutional protections over the events of 911. Most don’t recall how you warned about the dangers of offensive war and bypassing Congress with “Signing Statements”, or even the creation of the Dept of Homeland Sec.
That’s because today its the liberals pushing those sorts of totalitarian violations of the Constitution and the removal of our civil liberties, so the republicans crowd to your corner. But few if any are astute or cognizant enough to recognize you are definitely NOT “siding” with the republicans or anyone else, but merely staying steadfast in your lifelong defense and position on the protections afforded us by the Constitution.
I don’t know when people are going to really wake up and stop moving to one side or the other, and recognize its the PRINCIPLES that matter, regardless of “which side” is doing what, but I am glad to see that “someone” out there recognizes your value to our republic.
Its why I’ve followed your blog now for 20 years, myself just being a simple lowly blue collar layperson but I have always held out that the principle matters more than politics and party loyalty and why I still follow you today. Personally I think you’re a national treasure, and will be recognized long after we’ve left this world as one of the countries few stalwarts of the liberty provided us by our Constitution.
Hear hear Chris! I wish that everyone thought as clearly and as fairly as the Professor.
prole ” live long and prosper.” spock.
The only question is: why did it take so long? As one of the very few well balanced (and articulate) scholars in legal matters it was long overdue! Your crusade for free speech is a beacon of hope that the most important thing that made this country such a great one will not be lost in the “age of rage”. Congratulations Professor. Well deserved.
I don’t even know what a ‘Vulcan Salute’ is…
You.ve missed nothing but don’t ask about Amok Time!
mespo727272, thanks for the warning!
That confirms that our trolls are all under 40, i.e. Millennials or younger. How you could expect us to take you seriously is beyond reckoning. I don’t know what the likes of you would do if you couldn’t go home to mom and and dad or the nanny at the end of the day. Absurd, even in the adult years, and almost not worth the conversation but to point out how absurd you are. Enjoy your generational brownstone in a city that is on fire. The rest of us don’t care, we will carry on no matter what your idiocy brings us. That’s what survivors do. You are not survivors. Not even close, and the desperation is as apparent as the sky is blue.
Eventually, even Soros will realize his dollars are useless in the face of human beings being human, a concept that seems to be beyond his grasp. Go away. Come back when you understand that your madness was created by you, right inside your own tiny mind.
James, I am 83 years old.
Peddle your garbage elsewhere.
Im 78, dont be such a fuddy duddy
Shame on you. 83 years on this planet and you have still not learned things most people learn by their 30’s.
We are at this moment seeing in real time how the left is inherently fascist and racist.
We are seeing student “protests” that are barely distinguishable from the political activity of Hitler’s Brownshirts in the late 20’s.
Don;t get me wrong – I fully support the rights of anyone to protest. Including actual Nazi’s.
The right response to Nazi’s protesting is not to silence them, but to jeer at them.
Compare and contrast the J6 protests with what we see on campus today.
The college protestors broke into and took over private property.
The J6 protestors were denied their constitutional right to petition government in the most important public forum for free speech in the world, and only AFTER they were tear gassed did some of them “break in”. Most enter through doors that were opened fo them,
They paraded thoguht the building – amazingly respectfully and then they left peacefully. Contra media claims they did not $hit on the floors or destroy things. They did not cover the Capitol with graffitti. Most stayed inside the rope lines.
In contrast the these pro-hamas protestors broke into private property, are preventing private students from getting an education, and have been doing so for over a week. They have damaged and destroyed all kinds of things in the buildings they have taken over.
They appear to have kidnapped janitors. They are making genocidal threats. They have responded violently to plice when police have been called in.
Every single one of this pro-hamas protestors should be jeered as fascists and racists.
Those who did not obstruct the rights of others – who did not prevent students from atttending classes, who did not take over buildings, who did not destroy private property, who did not kidnap people – the extent of the consequences to them should be the video of them that is already available that will follow them for life. \
The consequences for those who did do any of the things above – should be arrest, expulsion, and in very very rare cases prosecution.
Because in this country when protected first amendment rights and criminal conduct collide we historically have dramatically mitigated criminal sanctions.
Except that is NOT what we did regarding Jan. 6.
There is no doubt these student protestors are political.
They are trying to influence college policies.
They are trying to influence an election.
I think that is backfiring – but they are free to try to do so.
They are also engaged in massively overt hate speech.
But again ALL of that is protected by the first amendment.
Just exactly like the far more sane and rational political efforts of J6 protestors is.
But at 83 you have not developed sufficient critical thinking ability to understand that
the J6 protestors were far less bat schiff crazy, less violent, less dangerous, not racist or facist at all, not engaged in hat speech, and not a danger to private property and very little danger to public property and only because their first amendment rights were violated.
Regardless, if you want to throw the book at J6 protestors, to maintain the slightest claim of critical thinking as well as morality, you MUST do even worse to these pro-hamas protestors.
The rule of man not law, is quite literally when you decide which viewpoints you favor and which you do not and apply the law differently because of what you favor and what you hate.
But worse still – what you favor is hateful and genocidal and fascist, and racist. And what you loath is just politics that you disfavor.
In your 83 years you have learned very little.
James, I myself am 63, have been sober for 41 years and have seen more than a handful of things that would sizzle your eyebrows. But clearly you need to tell yourself something so that can remain in a state of denial about your ignorance.
Probably best for you never to have to deal with me in person.
Party on!!
Congrats Turley, you have made it to the top of the heap in public policy for the right-wing echo chamber. And do you know how you made it to the top of the heap? By feeding the bottom of the heap. And at that level, everybody knows what kind of heap it is.
Turley has been more critical of REP / Conservatives than MSM of ADMIN / DEM
Fishstick, that bottom of the heap you refer to, is called leftist Democrat cult members.
Congratulations, Professor Turley! I regularly check Fox News to see if you will be on a show.
Tell your children that some of your readers are old enough to remember Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock in the original TV series and 70s-90s movies. For them, that will really be travelling back in time!
Congratulations Mr. Turley!!!
Live long and prosper, Turley!
Looks like that social media influencing career is really taking off!! Congrats.
May the force be with you, Dr. Turley!
Not to worry, Professor. you are not Herbert.