The Urban Elf

The U. S. Senate has just spent three days attempting to assess whether John Roberts should be our next Chief Justice. Roberts was at best a questionable choice to replace the retiring Justice O’Connor but is a still less appropriate choice for the role of Chief Justice. What has been made available of Roberts’ record is a fractured mirror with serious threats to equal voting rights, reproductive choice, and protections for workers glinting menacingly in the jumbled image. At the end of three days questioning the picture is no clearer. In the course of his confirmation hearing, Mr. Roberts has refused to answer over 100 questions from senators, and ran an Olympic class slalom around a myriad of others reaching the end of three days with several fundamental issues unresolved. This may well have been the last chance for clarity or revelation to enter into this process of choosing someone who could theoretically be the Chief Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court for the next forty years. For in addition to Roberts’ nimble performance before the Senate committee, the Bush Administration continues its tradition of classifying everything short of the J. Edgar Hoover Memorial Hymnals by stamping its feet and refusing to turn over any records from his time as Deputy Solicitor General under Bush the Elder. If nothing else, Roberts’ involvement in Iran-Contra shows an unscrupulous bent and contempt for the separation of powers. The more deeply the president and his nominee hide the facts the more sinister this picture becomes and the less suitable a candidate John Roberts’ becomes. We must ask ourselves who is this shadowy figure and what hidden face will he reveal if and when he is confirmed. Can we afford that risk?