The Dems have begun a filibuster against Priscilla Owen. I'm curious how they'd respond to a comparison of Owen and Estrada to Scalia and Thomas. To say that Owen and Estrada are too conservative to be judges, you've got to say that they are more conservative than Scalia and Thomas or that Scalia and Thomas are too conservative to be judges as well. I suspect they'd say the second, but that claim doesn't really make sense to me. I mean, how can you say that a judicial philosophy that has (at least) two adherents on the current Supreme Court, and is widely shared by many respected lower court judges (like Easterbrook, Kozinski, Alito, Wilkinson, and Luttig, to name a few) is inappropriate for judges? I just don't think you can say it with a straight face. Nevertheless, that seems to be the argument that is being made by, at least, some interest groups like N.O.W.) The Dems may suprise me and say that Owen and Estrada are more conservative than Scalia and Thomas, but then I'd be curious to hear how they know that.

In any case, when Rehnquist retires, I'd like to see Sam Alito on the short list.
- posted by Tom Sawyer @ 9:43 AM