yah

Simply, I was just agreeing with your last post and suggesting the form of the question that I would use to get at the same point.

Yes, it would tell us something about his judicial philosophy. It would let us know if he is an originalist or some variation thereof, or if he thought the Constitution was alive.

Originalism is silly for a lot of reasons. Interestingly, Justice Thomas has suggested that he would kill substantive due process but revive the Privileges and Immunities Clause in its place. I'm sure, of course, he would inform it with different content though. I just mean to say that the original intent of the 14th Amendment has been lost through early misinterpretations, but it's still not something the right wing wants to revive for the most part.

My predictions:

1. Everyone will wring their hands about Roe.
2. The Court won't overturn Roe--at least not in the first few years.

Here's what will happen to Roe: There will be increasing limitations on the liberty interest at stake. That liberty will be slowly eroded over several years. Parential Notification? You bet. Spousal Notification? Absolutely. Spousal Consent? Just a little extension here and there. No exception for the health of the mother? Life beats health. And so on. Then, several years from now, in a case that doesn't directly implicate the central issue in Roe, the court will find that Roe has not held up over time, that it's central holding is too complex to administer well, that it is too controversial and much disputed, and that for those reasons, stare decisis aside, the court is justified in washing its hands of subject. The decision will be that the Court is not the proper governmental institution to make the decision about abortion. End of Roe.

I know what you're thinking: That's too far in the future. But I'm sticking with it. John Paul Stevens is 85 years old. He's not going to make it through Bush's term. Bush will be able to appoint another judge to break the pro-liberty coalition on the Court.

But you're right, this guy will be confirmed, and there won't be a filibuster.