Roberts was confirmed and sworn in as Chief Justice today. He definately had the credentials, a lot of things broke his way, and I’m pretty convinced that he is not going to be a Scalia. However, Senator Richard Burr’s statement during the floor debate that I caught on the PBS NewsHour describes my worry about the political process:
If we’re not careful, the best and the brightest legal minds in this country that would serve on the bench and serve with distinction, regardless of what party they’re from, when they get that call, they will say, ‘Mr. President, I want to pass. I can’t put my family through it. I can’t put myself through it. The risk of going through with it is too great to everything around me to serve my country.’
I ask all of us – what message are we sending to our children when the best and the brightest pass, when they elect not to go through the process that we in this body have control of?
I know that it what is happening right now and America is the worst for it.