Tell It Like It Is

Once again, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune--that America-hatin' librul rag--comes out with a cogent editorial taking the Bush administration to task, this time in regards to Mister Roberts' SCOTUS nomination and BushCo's unwillingness to release documents from Mister Roberts' tenure in the office of the Solicitor General:

Despite a long career of public service, involved with many of the times' most controversial legal disputes, Roberts played roles mainly behind the scenes. But there was one period of special interest to the Senate: the years Roberts worked as the top appointee below Solicitor General Ken Starr. Everyone remembers Starr from the central role he played in the Clinton-Lewinski scandal. They should also remember -- and remind the White House -- that Starr pretty much made it impossible to argue that release of Roberts' writings from that period would violate attorney-client privilege, which is one of the legal stratagems being suggested for withholding the relevant materials from the Senate. When Starr wanted materials the Clinton White House sought to withhold, on the same grounds, Starr argued in court that the solicitor general works for the people of the United States, not the White House. A U.S. appeals court agreed with him. Why is Roberts' time at the solicitor general's office important? Because it is there that legal scholarship and reasoning are undertaken to formulate the case the United States will make before the Supreme Court on important cases. Since Roberts was involved in a number of the most important ones, his writings could shed light on what sort of justice he will make. In addition to having an appeals court against them, the White House also must contend with difficult precedents from the confirmation proceedings of Robert Bork, among others. Bork's papers from his time at the solicitor general's office were released. During the Bork period, the Senate acted like a Senate, rather than like an appendage of the White House political machine; both Democrats and Republicans demanded to see the documents they needed to do their job. Today, it is questionable whether the Republican leadership would even let Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter mount a substantial challenge to get the Roberts documents. Such is the partisan time in which we live. But if Specter takes a bye on this fight, Democrats on the committee must follow through.