Roberts' nomination helps Hillary Clinton

On the news this evening, an interview with Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was reported on. She said something to the effect that Roberts is brilliant, highly qualified, excellent in almost every way, but was not a woman.

My feelings on this: as an American, I was disappointed. If Roberts is confirmed, as expected, the court will be 8-1 as far as males and females. Why does this matter; after all, isn't the law, the law?

I admit to not having any legal training. But it appears to me that some of what a judge does is to see if certain "tests" are met and some of these might include, say, whether or not some action or reaction is "reasonable". And what is "reasonable" may well differ between males and females.

So, as an American, I was disappointed that we didn't get a female.

But as a Democrat, I see some possibilities. Remember that Senator Kerry lost by about 2,000,000 votes, and tens of millions of moderate Republican women voted for President Bush. I'll bet that a fair number of these are upset; perhaps they might see it is time for someone who understands.

That brings me to Senator Clinton. She has a demonstrated ability to reach across party lines and is politically savvy enough to keep the vast majority of the liberal "base"; I can't see many Kerry voters leaving her to vote for a Republican or even a Green.

President Bush can take away this effect by nominating a female for the next replacement (and Justice Rehnquist can't live forever; this kind of reminds me of Monty Python and the Holy Grail scene on the plague where they go through a town crying out "bring out your dead"; two guys haul out some old guy who exclaims "But I am not dead yet!")

So, we'll have to wait and see; but this development could well help Senator Clinton, should she decide to run for president.