John Roberts

The president has nominated John Roberts to be the 109th member of the United States Supreme Court. After two presidential campaigns in which the president indicated that his nominees would be jurists in the mold of Justices Scalia and Thomas, he has kept his word. Roberts is by all indications a superb lawyer, having served as assistant solicitor general and argued numerous cases before the Supreme Court, and for the last two years served as a judge on the D.C. Federal Court of Appeals. His wife, interestingly enough, has served as executive vice-president of Feminists for Life.

Already the attacks on Roberts and calls for opposition to his nomination have begun, some from even before his nomination. Likewise, Democratic Senators are demanding that Roberts answer all questions posed, a standard not required of Clinton nominees: "Then-chairman Sen. Joseph Biden told Ginsburg, 'You not only have a right to choose what you will answer and not answer, but in my view you should not answer a question of what your view will be on an issue that clearly is going to come before the court in 50 forms probably, over your tenure on the court.'" It is also a standard that places a candidate in the awkward (and unethical) position of essentially prejudging a case.

It should certainly be an interesting summer for political junkies.