Trust the law professors to reveal the contours of contemporary liberalism.
Gregory Magarian, constitutional law professor at Villanova and former clerk to Justice Stevens, said Roberts was “a great pick.” (HatTip to Howard Bashman)
Why?
He has the conservative credentials but he is not obnoxious about it so he doesn’t offend liberals as much as a Thomas or a Scalia.
How rare. A conservative who’s not obnoxious. He still offends, mind you, but not “as much.”
I was “heartened” to see that Harry Reid announced that he would vote against Judge Roberts. No, I have not lost my mind (well at least not about this). My whole world-view would be shaken if the Democrats were to act rationally (as the Washington Post urged them to do) and vote to confirm Judge Roberts the same way that the Republicans did when they voted to confirm Judge Ginsberg.
More to the point, the Democrats would have a better argument for opposing the next Bush nominee if they were to vote to confirm Judge Roberts. They could plausibly argue that they were willing to confirm a mainstream conservative, but this next nominee is out of the mainstream and therefore they have a right to oppose him/her. By opposing Judge Roberts they are showing that merely being a conservative is reason enough to oppose a nominee.
“By opposing Judge Roberts they are showing that merely being a conservative is reason enough to oppose a nominee.”
Funny, I thought there were at least one or two other reasons. Foolish me!