Federalist Society Inducts Kos Blogger As Newest Member

Jim Lindgren plays a bit with Supreme Court nominee John Roberts' claim that a judge should be an "umpire," rather than one who plays the game himself. Lindgren notes that different umpiring philosophies might translate to different legal philosophies:

First umpire: "Some are balls and some are strikes, and I call them as they are."

Second umpire: "Some are balls and some are strikes, and I call them as I see 'em."

Third umpire: "Some are balls and some are strikes, but they ain't nothin' 'til I call 'em."

Translating roughly to an essentialist "natural law," traditional liberal, and a realist or CLS model, respectively.

Angus Dwyer of the Yale Federalist Society takes it even a step further though. Noting that there is some dispute as to what rules are the "real rules," he asks:

My point is: it's not enough to say "I will neutrally enforce the rules" without answering the question "which rules are the rules?"

To put it differently, does Judge Roberts believe in the wide strike?

Upon reading that, a memory was aroused. What did Kos blogger Armando say on the subject?

It is an interesting analogy Judge Roberts draws. And it seems to me to be an excellent argument for why Judge Roberts must answer the questions put to him by the Senate. As any baseball fan knows, umpires are not uniform in the delineation of the strike zone. Some are "hitters" umpires. Some are "pitchers" umpires. Some call the high strike. Some call the outside pitch.

And when it comes to the Supreme Court of the United States, it is important that we know what Judge Roberts' "strike zone" is.

Basically the same thing.

Who'd have thought that The Daily Kos and the Federalist Society would see the Roberts nomination so similarly? Satan, get your skates on.

Crescat tipped me off originally. De Novo also opines.