Wasting Time on Roberts

Mario Cuomo got it right when he said the key to whether or not Judge Roberts will make a good Supreme Court judge is easily ascertained by asking and answering one simple question: will Roberts use the Constitution, or the Bible as his guide?

Based on Robert's own comments, five years ago, when he was not aware of the fact that today he'd be the very judge President Bush would choose to take a seat on the high court, I'd say he's very aware of his responsibility to put the Constitution before the Bible. That being the case, Judge Roberts is likely the very best conservative we are going to find for this job--given the sad fact that any nominee to be considered for this position will be hand-picked by George W. Bush.

While the democrats nitpick at Roberts this week, they are once again forgetting the most important thing: if they ask Roberts to affirm his commitment to the Constitution, over the Bible, they risk losing the Republican support of this candidate. In the end, they may satisfy their desire to feel better about Roberts as either a justice or even Chief Justice, but at the same time they will alienate all the hardcore right-wing folks who currently support him but will not if they fear Roberts will fail to push their Christian agenda.

If the Democrats were smart (alas, how can such book smart folks be so practically challenged?) they would stop trying to make Roberts prove his unwillingness to overturn precedent and his commitment to the Constitution; rather, they would listen to Robert's own words from five years ago and draw their conclusions from that. And if they still don't feel comfortable with John Roberts as a member of the Supreme Court, they should ask themselves whom Bush will pick next. If that doesn't scare the bejesus out of them, they're not awake.

To listen to both Roberts, and Cuomo on Roberts, check out http://www.notfittoprint.com/InTheirOwnWords.html.