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July 27, 2005

Fuggetaboutit

John Roberts is answering questions about his prior membership in the Federalist Society with the claim that he "doesn't recall" being a member.

And what's scary--or should I say, insulting--is that this is treated like it's a valid answer.

"He's given speeches at Federalist Society forums. But he doesn't have any recollection of ever paying dues or joining the organization," said White House press secretary Scott McClellan.

Oh, well then. That's good enough. Too bad David Duke had no idea that this was a viable strategy in that tricky Ku Klux Klan snafau.

I mean, who cares if someone gives speeches and is listed on an organization's flipping steering committee? If he doesn't recall joining, it's all well and good, and we should just accept it like good little sheeple.

The nominee himself did not explain Monday how his name came to be listed on the Federalist Society Lawyers' Division Leadership Directory, 1997-1998. The Washington Post obtained a copy of the document and reported that it says Roberts, then a partner at the Washington law firm of Hogan & Hartson, was a member of the steering committee of the society's Washington chapter.

"The Federalist Society has a long-standing practice of not disclosing our dues-paying membership rolls out of respect for the privacy of members," said Eugene B. Meyer, the group's president.

Steven Calabresi, a Northwestern University law professor who helped found the Federalist Society while a Yale law student in 1982, said the organization is loose-knit and hardly rigorous in record keeping. The group has about 35,000 members.

"My impression is that we're fairly informal about who dues-paying members are," he said.

And apparently the steering committee members as well.

If Roberts were a member, it would hardly be surprising. Most of Bush's nominees to federal appeals court judgeships have had connections to the Federalist Society — as do conservative Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. Within the administration, Federalist Society members have included former Attorney General John Ashcroft, White House chief of staff Andrew Card and John Bolton, Bush's nominee to become ambassador to the United Nations.

Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

You know, the thing that infuriates me the most isn't the fact that he was a member--it's the way he and the neocons insult our intelligence.

Posted by at July 27, 2005 04:05 AM