Roberts to be Chief Justice

Well, President Bush, as we all know, went to his guy…John Roberts, for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

How this will affect the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings, at the moment, is anybody’s guess. I expect the Democrats to continue to stall as long as they can. The vote, in the end, will most likely, be along party lines with Republicans voting unanimously for Roberts and Democrats voting unanimously against Roberts. If this turns out to be the case, Roberts will receive the blessings of the committee as Republicans outnumber Democrats 10 to 8.

That leaves us holding our collective breathes as we wait to see whom the President will choose for the O’Connor slot. Word has leaked out that Gonzales has quietly removed his name from consideration, so those in the know, feel the President will stay with those already on the short list, Luttig, Clement, Jones, Owens, and possibly one, or two, we know little about.

The feeling is… that the President will choose a woman this time around. If that is the case, it will narrow his selection list even more, to Clement, or Jones. Either of these splendid conservative judges would satisfy those of us here at “Insight”. But, then, we have come to learn that this President has a mind of his own, regardless of what the Democrats would have you believe. Bush may yet choose a name we have heard nothing about. That is certainly a possibility, but with time as short as it is (only a month) it is not likely he will go outside his known list. There is no use to make this process more painful than it already is.

Democrats are expected to drag their feet and try desperately to delay these proceedings as long as they possibly can. If they were against Roberts before, they will have even more reason to be against him now. So it is expected that the hearings will get “down and dirty”, as they say.

It’s a shame, really. It doesn’t have to be this way. The hearings could be completed in two days, max. (One, even.) But, more time and more tax money MUST be wasted in this ritual Kabuki Theatre production.

In any event, the hearings will be interesting to watch, if no other reason than to see just how loopy the Democrats, on that committee, are willing to become. Since the extreme left wing of their party is in the driver’s seat these days, it ought to be a real hoot! I don’t think they have a clue as to how embarrassingly funny they have become to serious minded people.

The President has vowed to make his second choice known in “a timely manner”. If he moves as quickly on this nomination, as he did on Roberts’ nomination, it will be in a day or two. Let’s hope so.

“Longstreet”