tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post41031342086499877..comments2023-10-16T07:13:12.123-05:00Comments on A plain blog about politics: Elena KaganJonathan Bernsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-51642720264042586722010-05-10T12:22:57.078-05:002010-05-10T12:22:57.078-05:00Kagan *is* a "pretty reliable, lefty, progres...Kagan *is* a "pretty reliable, lefty, progressive, person." Or at least the clues to that effect have about the same weight as the clues for anyone else, certainly anyone confirmable. Or, at Yglesias put it today, she's a "clearly, she's a Democrat." In that sense, yes, Alito and Roberts, Breyer and Ginsberg, etc. are what they were expected to be. But anything more fine-grained...I don't think we can get that, no. I don't think anyone could have successfully predicted whether Roberts (and/or Alito) would fall a bit to the right of Scalia, or a bit to the left, or exactly where Scalia is. We knew (i.e. had very strong evidence that) they would be conservatives, and vote with the conservatives most of the time. We know that Kagan will be liberal (i.e. have very strong evidence that) and vote with the liberals most of the time. But anything more specific, we really don't know, is what I'm saying.Jonathan Bernsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-78319576940081174022010-05-10T12:00:09.624-05:002010-05-10T12:00:09.624-05:00Dont forget Alito- he is exactly what everyone exp...Dont forget Alito- he is exactly what everyone expected, to a tee. <br /><br />The list of jurists who turned out UNLIKE what we thought we would get is much shorter.... <br /><br />As with American war-crimes, it seems your imagination is not up to the political question at hand.Brave Captain of Industrynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-79954420343123062412010-05-10T08:36:28.698-05:002010-05-10T08:36:28.698-05:00Oh, I think that the Prez could find and nominate ...Oh, I think that the Prez could find and nominate a pretty reliable lefty, progressive, person to fill the vacancy if that was what he wanted to do. Bush certainly had no problem finding and nominating conservative types, that is, members of the Federalist Society.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09958841880141862755noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-53472968310228930142010-05-10T00:04:14.004-05:002010-05-10T00:04:14.004-05:00Well, to be fair, Thomas is probably a bit crazier...Well, to be fair, Thomas is probably a bit crazier--er, more idiosyncratic--than anyone would have predicted. But I stand my ground on the other four.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-61011016478205791592010-05-09T23:59:36.603-05:002010-05-09T23:59:36.603-05:00I dunno. I mean obviously there's no way of k...I dunno. I mean obviously there's no way of knowing how a judge will rule on any particular issue, but I can't really say anyone appointed to the Court since Souter has turned out to be particularly surprising. Thomas, Breyer, Ginsburg, Alito, and Roberts have all been approximately the judges people expected them to be.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com