A Missed Opportunity

John Roberts is a good nominee for Chief Justice and should be confirmed.

Having said that, the President missed a golden opportunity to define a new direction for the Supreme Court. If the President had nominated Janice Rogers Brown, he could have made a statement that the government has far exceeded its constitutional authority and that the era of big government is, in fact, over. He would also have clearly rejected Sandra Day O'Connor's jurisprudential gymnastics and seated another Justice whose record shows a clear understanding of the fact that the Constitution says what it says, not what Gallup's latest poll says it says.

Politically, the nomination of Janice Rogers Brown would have been the play of the decade. Anybody could see the irony of Ted Kennedy complaining about the civil rights record of the fist ever black woman to be nominated for Chief Justice of the United States. Senators Nelson, Stabenow, Landrieu, and others would have been forced to either back a solid conservative or institute a glass ceiling on black women in America. The confirmation of Janice Rogers Brown would have made clear once and for all that judicial philosophy is not justification for filibustering judicial nominees. The hipocracy of the Democrat Party, no matter what it did, would have been bared for all to see.

As I said, Roberts is a solid nominee and deserves to be confirmed. This assessment is not a criticism of John Roberts, whom I had endorsed for confirmation to replace Sandra Day O'Connor. I expect that Judge Roberts will serve well for decades to come. The documents released from his service in the administration of President Reagan suggest that he is a solid consrvative and point to a Scalia without the attitude approach. (I like the attitude.) I will be posting regularly throughout the rest of the process in support of the good Judge.