Drunk Ted whines: “I don’t like conservatives”

Jonathan Adler on Ted Kennedy’s tirade against Justices Roberts and Alito: “Senator Kennedy is simply upset that President Bush nominated, and the Senate confirmed, two intelligent, conservative jurists. I don't agree with all of their legal opinions thus far, but it's hard to claim that either Roberts or Alito was unqualified or should not have been confirmed.”

And here’s Matthew Franck on Bench Memos: “From start to finish, this column amounts to one long whine that Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito don’t share Senator Kennedy’s view that Senator Kennedy’s policy preferences should be enacted by the Supreme Court. What Kennedy doesn’t have is anything resembling a legal argument against a vote cast, or an opinion written or joined, by either of these two justices.”

I agree that the painful pas-de-deux called the judicial confirmation process is a sham where one party tries to unearth political leanings while the nominee repeates he/she will be unbiased. But if Democrats (such as Kennedy and Schumer) want to insist that political philosophy is a factor for confirmation, then what reason could they have for denying a President his choice for the federal bench? After all, the President is elected with that Constitutional right and turning down a judge due to political philosophy would amount to a repudiation of the people’s will by proxy.