When I Come Back Like Jordan Wearin' the 4-5

I've been doing some thinking about the Alito nomination and since this is my best avenue to espouse those thoughts, here you go.

Yes, President Bush nominated someone who is an acknowledged conservative jurist. This is not a large surprise. When a Democratic President has the opportunity to appoint a justice to the SCOTUS, he will almost certainly appoint someone with liberal leanings. This is the expected course of action. Part of a president's platform and agenda is the nomination of judges whose judicial philosophy they ideologically support.
If senators begin to expect the president to nominate jurists without known judicial philosophies or leanings, we will enter into an environment full of "stealth candidates" who are nominated simply because of their ability to avoid ideological labels. The next Democratic President should enjoy the same opportunity to appoint a justice who has a known liberal judicial philosophy just as a Republican President should be able to nominate a conservative justice.

Justices who desire to serve on the SCOTUS should not be cautious about forming overarching judicial philosophies or ideologies simply so that they can become more favorable candidates for appointment.

Also, some of the people whom I have heard urging that President Bush should have nominated a more moderate Justice in order to fill Justice O'Connor's "moderate" voice on the Court should ask themselves a question: Should judges be nominated to the Supreme Court simply to fill ideological slots? In response to that question I would answer that they should not. The ebb and flow of political leadership should be able to create its own mark on the landscape of the SCOTUS (Yes, I know. That's the 3rd time I've used that acronym. I like it and I will keep using it. Now, you can go on with your reading.)

After my post yesterday about Theo's exit in Boston, I would like to include the Sports Guy's take on the situation. I especially agree with one of his closing statements that Theo might have just entered his "dream job" and achieved too much success too quickly. After leading Red Sox nation to the Promised Land so early on, he might have wondered why that golden feeling only lasted for so long and when he woke up after a while he wondered what was next. Only Theo knows and he might or might not be talking. We will just have to see.