President Nominates Roberts to be Chief Justice
It is the simplest move. It is the politically expediant move. But it wasn’t the move I wanted to see.
Last night, President Bush nominated Judge Roberts the job of Chief Justice. This ensures a full court, barring any unforeseen issues with Roberts’ confirmation, come October. Recall, Justice O’Connor’s resignation is contingent on the confirmation of her successor. By moving Roberts to fill Chief Justice Renquist’s seat, O’Connor is on the hook to start the term . . . much to her chagrin, I am sure.
This the simplest move President Bush could make. This keeps the confirmation hearings to two: Roberts as Chief Justice and one other for the candidate to replace O’Connor.
It could have played out differently, however. Many, including yours truly, wanted to see Antonin Scalia elevated to to Chief Justice. Scalia is a brilliant justice. He is an originalist. He is thought-provoking. If one took the time to actually read his opinions and, more important, his dissents (Lee v. Weisman:
As its instrument of destruction, the bulldozer of its social engineering, the Court invents a boundless, and boundlessly manipulable, test of psychological coercion, which promises to do for the Establishment Clause what the Durham rule did for the insanity defense.
for instance), one cannot but find Scalia to be a legal scholar. Spend some time watching the Cynthia McFadden-produced, Fred Friendly seminars from Columbia that used to be shown regularly on PBS. You will see Scalia’s brillance, along with others, in these wonderful series.
Had President Bush nominated Scalia to be Chief Justice, it would have added a third confirmation hearing. Scalia would have been roughed up during the process, but I have no doubt he would have been confirmed. He handled Senators Leahy and Kennedy masterfully during his 1986 confirmation. I am certain he would run circles around them again had he had a chance. Roberts would have still been confirmed and the next candidate would have been dealt with harshly, most likely.
Bush would have had the same Court he will end up with, but would have expended a lot of political capital to get there. He chose the simpler path. He may need to expend that capital helping the war or perhaps cleaning up the mess in the South right now. But for a presidency that was almost certain to have two Supreme Court nominations from the beginning, the statesmanship of the decision leaves me a bit wanting.
Update:
SayAnything has a piece that makes similar points. Be sure to check out their site.
Also blogged on this date . . .
- Crashed - 2008
- Katie & the News - 2006
- Penn Sinks Boat Trying to "Help" - 2005