Let's Just Hope that Ann Coulter's Wrong

John Roberts has just become the 17th Chief Justice of the SCOTUS. He was overwhelmingly affirmed and will take the oath of lifetime office this afternoon or tomorrow before he takes the bench for the first time on Monday for the new SCOTUS term. So, what do we know about him?

We know that he is brilliant, cool under pressure, and likely to draw much scrutiny in the next few years. The liberal's worst fears are that this new justice will overturn their much-beloved Roe v. Wade and its progeny. My greatest fear is that Ann Coulter could be right. Dark-horse candidates don't very often go the way they are supposed to go. See J. Souter.

We don't really know any of his beliefs or judicial philosophy. And, in today's deeply divided political landscape, getting someone confirmed is near impossible with a candidate who is clearly conservative. Liberals will moan and groan all day long unless that person up for consideration is pro-abortion, pro-public schools, pro-anything-but-Christianity, and Republicans are too gutless to lead as if they won the elections and so will bow to the pressure put on by the Democrats and the media. But I come back to the point that we don't really know anything about Roberts except that he worked for some conservative presidents.

I hope that in the private meetings with Pres. Bush, he was more open and forthright about what he intended to do on the bench. I've liked Pres. Bush's appointments to the cabinet positions and such, so I'm going to have faith.

And, hey! Why can't conservatives ever have a backbone and moan and groan about a liberal nominee who wants to uphold abortion (even the most detestable partial-birth abortion). I think that there is, in fact, a litmus test for getting on the bench. Either be pro-abortion, or do a really good job of keeping your thoughts to yourself, lie that upholding precedent is a good thing, or be lucky enough to face a Republican congress with enough chutzpah to push your nomination through despite Borking yourself.