Monday, July 25, 2005

I know Noss-sink!

Didja hear the one about the Supreme Court nominee who forgot he was a member of the Federalist Society? No? It's a riot. See, pretty much as soon as Roberts was nominated, the MSM was reporting on his membership in the Federalist Society, which has been noted in public pretty much ever since he worked for the Reagan administration. Roberts' membership was rightly considered a point of interest, since the Society is widely seen as a bellwether of conservative commitment, predicated as it is on fighting the "orthodox liberal ideology which advocates a centralized and uniform society" (Gasp. NO!) that supposedly dominates the nation's law schools. But interestingly, the White House quickly began calling media outlets who had reported this affiliation saying that Roberts "had no memory" of his membership in the Federalist Society. Now, this is an interesting choice of words; it's not a denial as such, but it does look to be a dismissal. Fortunately, the Washington Post is on the job to help Mr. Roberts with his faulty memory, and guess what? Turns out Roberts was a member of the Steering Committee from 1997-1998:

Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr. has repeatedly said that he has no memory of belonging to the Federalist Society, but his name appears in the influential, conservative legal organization's 1997-1998 leadership directory.

Having served only two years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit after a long career as a government and private-sector lawyer, Roberts has not amassed much of a public paper record that would show his judicial philosophy. Working with the Federalist Society would provide some clue of his sympathies. The organization keeps its membership rolls secret, but many key policymakers in the Bush administration are acknowledged current or former members.


Leaving aside that it's sort of creepy that they keep their membership rolls secret, let's take a moment and reflect: Roberts hasn't even started the official confirmation process, and he's already lying. And don't give me that "you don't have to be a member of the Society to be on the Steering Committee" crap - parse words all you want, this is still a bad sign. We need to keep an eye on this bastard. Corrente has more.