When I woke this morning, I didn't intend (word we will hear much of in coming months) to focus on Judge Roberts. But then the cartoon on the editorial page of the Boston Globe pointed out just what I'd been thinking: that it's strange for such a brilliant man not to remember what organizations he belonged to just seven years ago.
Well, not strange actually. Seems to me Judge Roberts has made a significant number of other errors in judgement in his brief tenure in the public arena.
The first, of course, was in permitting the announcement of his nomination to be played like that of a candidate for political office, parading his wife and children in hopes that the electorate won't pay attention to his back-room deals.
The second, or perhaps it actually came first, was his co-operation with the Progress for America crew whose great expertise, until now, has been in smearing democratic candidates for the presidency and promoting the piratization of social security.
Though I'm not a proponent of guilt by association, judges should be careful about the people they choose as friends and supporters.
Third, of course, was permitting the White House press secretary to act as his spokesperson when answering questions from the press. While it's quite possible that McClellan could have made it on his own initiative, a statement about what the judge does or doesn't remember is either accurate, or should have been corrected by Roberts himself.
Roberts' retreat into the "I do not recall" mode so early in the process is worrying. On the other hand, it's actually quite consistent with his commitment to the proposition that "intent" has more weight than action and that, no matter how, avoiding responsibility is a good thing. So, we should probably be glad to have gotten such an early clue that when it comes to choosing between right and wrong, Judge Roberts prefers "I don't remember."
Guess that's what he's got in common with his latest mentor.
Posted by Hannah at July 26, 2005 06:56 AM