Roberts @ MindSay

I think its clear that Judge Roberts believes that the Constitution defines the strike zone and the Democrats think that either polls or some sort of "fairness" measure defines the legal strike zone.

From the LA Times comes a report that Judge John Roberts, President Bush's nominee to the US Supreme Court, provided pro bono assistance to gay rights activists in the landmark Roemer v. Evans case.  While this may not be good politics for a nominee who's future is dependant on the likes of Rick Santorum, Jim DeMint, Jeff Sessions, Trent Lott, Tom Coburn, and so forth, it is a good sign that Judge Roberts places the legal process above partisan politics.  Great quote from the full article 

The lawyer who asked for Roberts' help on the case, Walter A. Smith Jr., then head of the pro bono department at Hogan & Hartson, said Roberts didn't hesitate. "He said, 'Let's do it.' And it's illustrative of his open-mindedness, his fair-mindedness. He did a brilliant job."

In reading the various websites I frequent, I am noticing a pattern in liberal thought regarding the nomination of Judge John Roberts to the US Supreme Court.  There are two complaints against the nomination. The first is that  Judge Roberts is an out-of-the-mainstream right winger who will overturn Roe v Wade.  That's pretty typical and I won't address the merits of that argument since I don't know much about Judge Roberts' judicial philosophy.

The second line of attack goes like this: the only reason President Bush announced the nomination of Judge Roberts at this moment was to divert attention away from the brewing scandal surrounding Karl Rove and the leak of Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA operative to the media.

This line of reasoning is inane and says a lot about the critical thinking skills of extreme partisans on both sides of the aisle.  Fact: President George Bush did not orchestrate Justice Sandra Day O'Connors retirement from the US Supreme Court.  Fact: The time elapsed from the retirement announcement to the nomination announcement was one of the longest in modern history.  It seems clear that if President Bush intended to bury the Rove story, then this announcement should have appeared about a week earlier.

There's no denying that the nomination of Judge Roberts will be the top new story for several weeks, but to suggest some nefarious intent behind the process is a sign of a lazy thinking.