WORKS FOR ME

One might think from the tone of THIS ARTICLE in the New York Times that being a conservative is a character flaw instead of a virtue.

Judge Roberts was a law clerk for Chief Justice Rehnquist during the 1980-81 Supreme Court term. At that time Rehnquist was still a indian, not the chief.

"John's conservatism was in fact a sign of intellectual courage, coming out of Harvard and being surrounded by law clerks from mainly liberal, East Coast, Ivy institutions," said John A. Siliciano, a law professor at Cornell who clerked for Justice Thurgood Marshall at the same time.

His was "a very solid, rigorous, coherent view of very important social questions," Professor Siliciano said, "about the relations between courts and legislatures, about the relationship between the federal government and the state, between the public sphere and the private."

To me these are kind words coming from Professor Siliciano, especially since his old boss, Judge Marshall was never accused of being a conservative and was considered one of the more social liberal of the Supreme Court Justices of his era. Judge Roberts may well be the conservaive that we small 'l' libertarians and fiscal conservatives have been waiting on but then again, who knows. The one thing that I do know is that if he buckles to the senate and tells them how he will vote on an issue before it ever comes before him I DON'T WANT HIM!

The senate is required by the constitution to confirm a nomination and questions about character, education, and experience seem fair game. However, questions about his political leanings should be off base. A judge is paid to determine the facts of a case and make a decision according to law and to determine if the law as written meets the requirements of the constitution. Bush nominated this guy so he obviously has some faith in him. The voters elected Bush, with more hope than faith, that Bush would nomminate a conservative judge for the court. If the democrats and republicans in name only (RINOS) obstruct the confirmation then they should be remembered and targeted with a bulls eye on the ballot next time they are up for election. But, the public has short memories and the politicians have selective memory. Charmin', just charmin'