Roberts is Confirmed, so Why Does Bush Keep Talking About it?

Less than a week after his nomination for the Supreme Court, it's obvious that Roberts is headed for a successful appointment. The only major issue between him and the bench is the fact that he has almost no public paper trail revealing his judicial thinking, but he has an enormous paper trail in the Executive Branch: 1981-82, Aide to Attorney General William French Smith; 82-86, Aide to White House counsel Fred Fielding; 89-93, principal deputy solicitor general for Bush I. That's 11-12 years writing legal opinions for the Executive Branch -- all of which Bush had access to in making his decision. Compare that with 1.5 years on the D.C. Circuit, which is the paper trail the Senate has to examine his Judicial thinking. Executive privelige will keep the Senate from obtaining copies of Roberts' writings during those 12 years. It's safe to say that Bush knows every nuance of Roberts' judicial bent. The Senate cannot know it.

So, Bush's candidate will get onto the court, and I expect he'll be exactly the kind of Justice Bush's supporters want to see.

My point: this nomination is over.


So why is Bush still talking about it? Answer: to change the subject from the real subject: The Plame Affair.