NYT Editorial Page

The Times editorial page can always be counted upon to comment and offer detailed instructions to it's readers on even the most trivial issues so I was awaiting their lofty thoughts on the rescue of Captain Phillips by military force. Not a single word, either yesterday or today.

Instead, more of their usual drivel:

The A.B.A. and Judicial Nominees

President Obama has decided to restore the American Bar Association’s traditional role in vetting judicial nominees. There is a real value in having knowledgeable lawyers who have firsthand experience with the justice system vetting prospective judges.

As the A.B.A. resumes this role, a new study suggests that it may have a liberal bias. There is little support for this claim.

Indeed, there are signs that the group has been cowed by conservative critics in recent years into approving less-than-qualified nominees. The A.B.A. needs to ensure that its evaluators make assessments based on the nominees’ merits, not on political pressure......

....Based on the last eight years, it is especially hard to argue that the A.B.A. has been a liberal force on judicial selection. The group regularly gave “well qualified” and “qualified” ratings to some of President George W. Bush’s most deeply flawed nominees.

The A.B.A. gave its highest rating to Leslie Southwick, a nominee to the New Orleans-based United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. As a state court judge in Mississippi, Judge Southwick signed on to terrible rulings, including one in favor of a white social worker who was fired for calling a black colleague a “good ole nigger”... [To the hell with the law - you can't rule in favor of some who calls a black co-worker a "good ole nigger".]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/opinion/14tue2.html?_r=1&ref=opinion