Studebaker in exile
By Beldar on Law
Mickey Kaus claims, somewhat aghast and disapprovingly (albeit in a guilty, conflicted sort of way), that "Supreme Court nominee John Roberts appears to drive a Chrysler PT Cruiser." Likewise, MSNBC reports that "No black limousine for John Roberts on his first day as a Supreme Court nominee. He drove his Chrysler PT Cruiser to the White House for morning coffee with President Bush."
The New York Times insists, however, that the car belongs to Judge Roberts' wife, Jane Sullivan Roberts:
Among her only complaints is that the air-conditioning in her PT Cruiser, which she is driving to strategy sessions at the White House, stopped working during this, the hottest week so far in a very hot summer. So far, she has said, she has managed to weather the heat.
And "[n]o less a Democratic stalwart than Senator Edward M. Kennedy said, at a breakfast meeting with reporters on Friday, that Mrs. Roberts' work 'ought to be out of bounds,'" says the NYT.
So my question is this: Will the Dems seek to smear Judge Roberts using his wife's retro — dare we say "neo-conservative" — selection of the PT Cruiser? Or will they take the chance that the independence of mindset, the willingness to buck conventional Republican country-club mores, demonstrated by the family's ownership of the Cruiser displays a quirky independence that should comfort concerned liberals? Or does it say that Judge and Justice-to-be Roberts has a hidden Happy Days streak? Does he really like Ike? Will we see a Justice Roberts "grow" while on the Court, perhaps to the point of embracing tailfins that have no appreciable affect upon interstate commerce?
What, precisely, does this vehicle say about Judge Roberts' views on stare decisis? Is this the series of questions, or the mechanical disfunction, that will finally give Sen. Kennedy the power to make this nominee sweat? Or is this a nominee who will cooly, affably stare down challenging Dems on the Judiciary Committee and say: "Pimp my ride!" |
