Thoughts on Alito

So everyone is Washington is engaged in wild speculation about Bush's new Sup Ct. nominee -- why not us?

The new guy is Samuel A. Alito Jr., who currently serves on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.

1. Bush looks like a fool. NYT reported:

Mr. Bush this morning described Judge Alito as having an "extraordinary breadth of experience" and as being "tough and fair." Referring to his long career and his current role on the appeals court, the president said Judge Alito now has "more prior judicial experience than any Supreme Court nominee in more than 70 years."

So four days ago Miers was the "most qualified" because she had "real-world" experience and hadn't been cooped up as a judge. Today Alito is qualified because he's been a judge forever.

2. It is mutually exclusive to say Alito is a "grand slam home run" for Gary Bauer, and also "mainstream."

An early signal of conservative approval came from Gary Bauer, a prominent social conservative, who called the choice of Judge Alito a "grand slam home run." Mr. Bauer, interviewed on CNN, called the judge a "mainstream conservative" and predicted that while there would be a battle from Democrats, Judge Alito would ultimately be confirmed. "They'll try to label him as extreme, but when you get into the hearings, you'll get into specifics," he said.

3. It could have been worse.

Republicans close to the selection process had said over the weekend that Judge Alito, Judge J. Michael Luttig of the Fourth Circuit, Judge Alice M. Batchelder of the Sixth Circuit, and Judge Priscilla R. Owen of the Fifth Circuit were leading candidates.

Owen, of Texas, is evil incarnate.

4. But it's still pretty bad.

He has been nicknamed "Scalito" for his ideological similarity to United States
Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia.

We might miss Miers.