(Originally posted at MyLeftWing.com)
It is clear that Bush may have chosen Roberts early so as to take American minds off the Rove investigation. In the wonderful spirit of jiujitsu, we may as well turn this against him.
During the confirmation process and in the press, folks, whether here or in the Democratic Party, can make a point of asking Roberts what he would do in a hypothetical situation where a presidential aide outs a CIA agent, and whether he, Roberts, would strike down a conviction of that treasonous presidential aide, if it were appealed to the Supreme Court, just because of "executive privilege" or some other nonsense.
Someone can word this more articulately than I can, I hope. But there are multiple benefits:
1. It will keep the "guilt of Rove" idea alive, instead of letting people forget about Rove.
(more below fold)
2. It will tie Rove to Roberts, and not just because of the nice coincidence that their names sound similar. (fratdog has a diary "Rove and Roberts Connection" up right now at
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/7/20/112316/479 , which makes an additional point, i.e., why is a potential felon vetting SCOTUS candidates?)
This all will not make Roberts look any better, now will it?
3. It will put Roberts to the test, and also let us see his views on executive privilege, separation of powers, etc.
And if, nightmare scenario, Rove is convicted but Roberts is in a position on the Supreme Court a couple years from now to overturn his conviction, then stuff Roberts said about the issue during the confirmation hearing can be brought out.
I.e., if Roberts says, "Let's be tough on traitors", then he can be pressed not to let off Rove on some nonsense technicality.
The other side is, if Roberts says now, "Oh, presidential aides should have massive latitude, let's go easy on them", then we can say, "Why is Bush appointing a judge who is soft on treason?"
No-win situation for the Republicans, it seems.
Anyway, I hope for vigorous discussion of this idea. Bush doubtless wants to use Roberts to have us forget about Rove, and I would love to see Bush's face when we turn it around on him completely...