Obama Touts Humor, History on Kagan Victory Lap

POLITICS -- August 6, 2010 at 4:26 PM EDT

Obama Touts Humor, History on Kagan Victory Lap

One day after the Senate voted to confirm his pick for the Supreme Court, President Obama took to the East Room of the White House with the soon-to-be Justice Elena Kagan for a bit of a victory lap. The 63 to 37 vote confirming Kagan to the high court was one of the most partisan in history.

During his remarks, Mr. Obama made sure to note one of the funnier moments from Ms. Kagan's confirmation hearing when she told the Senate Judiciary Committee that she was most likely doing what many Jews do on Christmas Day, enjoying a meal at a Chinese restaurant.

The president also highlighted the historic nature of her appointment. "When she takes that seat on the bench, for the first time in history there will be three women serving on our highest court," he said. Mr. Obama called it "a sign of progress I relish" that the Supreme Court will now be "a little more inclusive, a little more representative, a little more reflective of us as a people as ever before."

Watch President Obama introduce soon-to-be Justice Kagan:

The PBS NewsHour welcomes your original comments. We reserve the right to remove posts that do not follow these basic guidelines: comments must be relevant to the topic of the post; may not include profanity, personal attacks or hate speech; may not promote a business or raise money; may not be spam. Anything you post should be your own work. The PBS NewsHour reserves the right to read on the air and/or publish on its Web site or in any medium now known or unknown the comments or e-mails that we receive. By submitting comments, you agree to the PBS Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which include more details.