Judging from the spin

I’ve been a Court watcher for years. I’ve done a lot of legal coverage, and have been tempted to go for a law degree. An opening on the Supreme Court always provides compelling opportunities to deliberate over the Constitution and original intent. If only politicians and media seized them…

So we need to sort things out ourselves with available information and critical thinking skills. Like….what would the coverage be like if a nominee for the Supreme Court with the exact same profile as Elena Kagan were named by a conservative Republican president?

It likely wouldn’t be ‘It’s actually a good thing that she’s not a judge and doesn’t have much of a paper trail.’ Honestly.

The other eight justices on the Supreme Court all served on the bench at some point in their lives and came to Capitol Hill with a portfolio of opinions to present to the Senate before answering questions.

But Kagan has none of that. The material she submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee last year for her solicitor general nomination covered about a dozen articles, including two book reviews. The rest of the background material was made up of e-mails and a slew of speeches and interviews she gave.

In that case, maybe I qualify.