ConfirmThem

By Carol Platt Liebau Posted in SCOTUS — Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Writing in The Weekly Standard, Bill Kristol worries that President Bush may settle for a woman or minority Supreme Court nominee who can't be counted on to move the Court in a constitutionalist direction.

Everyone, of course, shares his concern. But there's good reason to have confidence in the President. Everything he has done -- from urging the ouster of Saddam Hussein to trying to reform Social Security -- has indicated he's a person who intends to make his term matter. Note the quote from a Bush aide in this piece by Weekly Standard executive editor Fred Barnes: "The difference is between polls in the 40s and changing history and being in the 60s and twiddling your thumbs. We'll take the 40s. That's our motto."

Presumably, President Bush realizes that political tempests (a la federal response to Katrina) pass, but Supreme Court justices stay on the bench forever (or as close to it as mortals come). Happily, he's also in his second term.

So as long as his personal affection for Alberto Gonzales doesn't get in the way, there's every reason for optimism.