Real Kato Blog: John Who?

Um, where did this John Roberts guy come from, anyway?

I've had a day to think about Bush's nominee for the Supreme Court, John G. Roberts.

It seems there's no question that he's smart and well-qualified. He was at the top of his class at Harvard law school (no small accomplishment), and he's earned all kinds of praise for his eloquence and legal skills.

He's also noticeably white and male. He looks like he came right out of a 1950s Gleem advertisement. Geez, like we need more of that in our government.

The question on everyone's mind is, will he be a Scalia-like ideologue, or will he be an O'Connor-like centrist? No one knows. The guy has practically no paper trail, no record of controversial opinions, no BLOG to let us know what kind of judge he would be.

To me, that makes him scary. And at 50, he's a relatively young guy, so he'll be influencing the tilt of the Court for several decades. He's a wild card that will be played over and over again for the next thirty years.

What also scares me is how Republican senators are falling in line to support this guy so quickly. Most of us hardly know anything about him, but it's as if he's already getting fitted for his robe. What do the Republicans think they know about this guy? Do they have some insider information, some reassurance that he will further their conservative agenda?

I take comfort in the fact that at least one Republican doesn't think so. I'll do something that I've never done before and I'll probably never do again, and that's refer you to an Ann Coulter article.

Normally I can't stand Ann Coulter. Okay, yeah, she's hot. Yeah, I'd probably Bork her if I had the opportunity. But that's not the point. The point is, I usually disagree with every single word that comes out of her mouth. In this case, though, she raises essentially the same concern that I have: that nominating a blank-slate of a candidate for a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land is just begging for trouble.

But for all the whining Ann and I might do, I'm guessing it's just about certain that Roberts will get confirmed, short of some earth-shattering scandal. The guy is like teflon. He's untouchable.

That Bush... verrrry sneaky, nominating this guy. Very sneaky indeed.

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