Projectible Roberts

It's been quite entertaining to watch the radical sheiks twist and turn with each revelation about Bush's pick for the Supreme Court.

The most ardent supporters of John G. Roberts Jr. have had a few moments of heartburn in the month since President Bush nominated him to the Supreme Court, but conservative advocacy groups say that nothing they have learned during the public dissection of his record has dampened their fundamental support.

In a sign that the backing remains solid on the right despite the revelation last week that he helped gay rights activists win a landmark Supreme Court case in 1996, organizers said Roberts's cause will be repeatedly and energetically embraced by speakers at "Justice Sunday II," a Family Research Council production that will be broadcast live to churches around the country next weekend from Two Rivers Baptist Church in Nashville. Speakers include House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) and Charles Colson, the former Nixon administration official who heads Prison Fellowship Ministries.

Christian activists had been forced into a snap reassessment when the Los Angeles Times revealed on Thursday that Roberts had taken a limited pro bono role as a coach for gay rights groups involved in the 1996 case, Romer v. Evans , when he was working at the Washington law firm of Hogan & Hartson.

The case was one of three that James Dobson, founder and chairman of the conservative Focus on the Family, singled out when he said on his nationally syndicated radio show two years ago that Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who wrote the majority opinion, is "the most dangerous man in America."

I mean, what gives here? Have they been given Roberts' double-super-secret real opinions of gay rights, Roe, the Clean Air Act, etc.? Or is he merely a blank canvas on which they can project their own opinions and beliefs? Or, has Karl Rove put a gag order on the cultural sheiks -- some combination of carrot/stick -- to keep them at bay during the confirmation process?

Perhaps they figure that if it doesn't work out, they can still round him up along with Justice Kennedy when they finally form the torch-bearing mob to storm the Court.

And I have to say, truer words have never seeped out of Grover Norquist's mouth:

Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, constantly monitors the mood of a broad spectrum of economic and social conservatives. He said they remain "generally happy" with Roberts.

"Everyone who knows him says he's fine, says he's good," Norquist said. "I don't know anyone in the movement who isn't pleased." As for the 1996 Colorado case, Norquist said, "Anyone who reacts poorly to that is telling you more about themselves than about Roberts." [my emphasis]

That's often the case with homophobics, Grover. Glad to see you're coming around.