Logic Times

Brilliant Selection

Posted by Aslan, July 20, 2005.

Few question that this round of SCOTUS nominations will stagger the imagination as to the level to which the Left sink to defend activist courts, the greatest bastion of liberalism in this country. We have seen this on display with the appellate courts over the last four years, and that was the minor leagues compared to what lies ahead:

“Roberts faces a potentially contentious confirmation battle in any case, given the significance of O'Connor as the swing vote in many of the court's most important cases. There was no more important seat on the court than O'Connor's and outside groups on the left and right began drawing lines last night even before Bush appeared in the East Room of the White House with Roberts and his family. They have been ready for months for a noisy and lengthy argument over the future of the court.” Washington Post, 7/20/05.

The selection of Roberts must be the selection of a jurist that can stand the heat. And not just any heat, but heat of a variety that can cook the most seasoned legal mind (i.e., Bork) in a flash. Here, Judge Roberts brings a critical skill: thirty-nine appearances arguing cases before the SCOTUS. In selecting Roberts, Bush has chosen someone with nerves of steel, someone who can prepare and execute on the highest of stages. If he can avoid surprises such as illegal domestic help and other such nonsense, Roberts’s skill in this regard will ease him through the committee and see him quickly confirmed. Bush chose Roberts, I believe, as much for his ability to withstand the confirmation process as for his conservative legal credentials. Some of the other justices, particularly the likes of Edith Clement, Pricilla Owen and Janice Rogers Brown, would have been uncertain commodities in this regard.

'"He's the best witness I've seen testify in judiciary committee," said [Jeff] Sessions, a member of the Judiciary Committee.' Newsday, 7-20-05.

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