Supreme Timing

"The names have narrowed," announced NBC's Brian Williams. David Gregory said it wouldn't be Clement, and Pete Williams said it could well be Luttig or Roberts.

There were still hours to go, and the TV talkers had to talk. Partisans debated whether whoever-it-was would be a good choice. There hadn't been this much feverish chatter since the journalists gathered at the Vatican weren't sure whether the rising chimney smoke was white or black.

The blogs were rife with speculation all afternoon. Raw Story posted the Democratic talking points (the first of several editions, I'm sure) on Clement. She limited constitutional rights, restricts access to the courts, is cozy with corporate interests, etc., say the Dems.

"Late idle speculation seems now to point away from Clement and toward Judge Edith Jones," wrote Josh Marshall .

Stone Court was onto something: "My inclination is to doubt that she will really be the nominee because, while clearly a conservative, she does not seem to be the kind of social policy extremist that the religious right is hankering for."

Then there was this, from Grace & Civility : "Who the hell is Edith Clement? CNN seems to think she's the nominee. . . . She's probably a hardline conservative (look at who's doing the nominating)." Now that's open-minded.

Observed Kos "Good timing for Bush, allows him to take the pressure off Rove. Too bad (for Bush and Rove) that the special prosecutor doesn't give a damn about the Supreme Court nominee. He's continuing to build his criminal case."

At 7:20, MSNBC's Abrams asked: "Is it possible that Clement's name was thrown out there as a moderate pick to see if Democrats came out and denounced her?" Hmmm.

The reliable leaks made their way to TV at 8.

But somehow I got an e-mail at 7:51 from the conservative outfit Creative Response Concepts, with such quotes as "John Roberts is a superb choice for the Supreme Court" and "The President has made an absolutely first rate nomination."

I happen to think the president is giving the other side an extra month to build a case against his nominee (if that's what Democrats and liberals are inclined to do). But from the administration's point of view, media chatter about Roberts is probably superior to media chatter about whether Rove should be fired.

While I have not exhaustively examined Roberts's record, one very grave concern has arisen, according to The Post: "As a judge on the D.C. Circuit, Roberts voted with two colleagues to uphold the arrest and detention of a twelve-year old girl for eating french fries on the Metro train." Huh ? Guess he's a tough law-and-order man!