I will leave most of the appointment analysis and SCOTUS-blogging to others better qualified than I, but I want to make one point: John Roberts should be confirmed quickly. There isn't a whiff of scandal around him. He is, by all accounts, exactly what he appears to be: a bright, hard-working, successful, conservative lawyer and promising jurist. I would have liked to see a nominee I thought would tend more to the center than I think Roberts will, but I'm not the President and it wasn't my pick.
So I hope Ted Kennedy and Joe Biden and all the rest will ask a few questions, probing what they need to probe, and then acquiesce to a vote. If they don't like him, they can vote no. America needs a fast, uniting, confirmation process. The Supreme Court as an insititution -thus, America as an institution- is deeply harmed by ugly confirmation fights. We don't need that. We need certainty, reinforcement of the role and majesty of the Court as an equal branch of government.
Roberts is completely qualified and should be confirmed immediately.
Bravo Carp!
I admire your intellectual honesty -- noting your political/philosophical preference but acknowledging the truly limited role of the Senate's advice and consent function.
Try this one.
Posted by: wavemaker | July 20, 2005 at 10:22 AM