I have to admit, I’m not a fan of Roberts on several levels. I don’t like that little is known about his political perspective. This is becoming increasingly important as the bench becomes mired more and more by the political leanings of the justices on the bench.
Some things about him are obvious though, he’s a conservative. He’s so conservative that it gives most good conservatives a bad name, if you listen to what the Democrats have to say about him. I find myself scoffing at those statements with the following rebuke; “Like this is a bad thing? What did they think Rehnquist was, Susan Sarandon?”
They weren’t unhappy with things as they stood under Rehnquist’s term, nor should they have been. Certainly, I also don’t believe that a vote to confirm Roberts is a vote against Roe vs. Wade. The Roe v. Wade decision, while politically charged, is hardly of such critical legal implication that it becomes worthy of note, this is particularly true when circumstances have become such that it is unlikely that Roberts will ever have to come to a decision on that particular matter.
I guess, what I would have liked to have seen… was a woman as chief justice, but I suppose I can’t ask for that. Women on the supreme court are a rare beast, there have only ever been two, and both, while quite different in political leanings, are women to be admired. Condi Rice could be like that.. but she’s not a judge. So I guess that leaves us where we are. I also might have liked to see Roberts get a bit more flak over his joke regarding Sandra Day O’Connor’s appointment to the bench. He really deserves it, regardless of whether the statement has any impact on his confirmation itself.
In the words of the immortal Forest Gump, “And that’s all I have to say about that.”
