>>But isn't that the way our system is supposed to work? Parts, like the House of Representatives, were designed to be pretty responsive to the will of the people. The Senate was designed to be less so, and the judiciary even less so. Not even the Jeffersonians really thought the will of the people should be carried out without any checks and balances. It is certainly not the role of judges to implement the will and the passions of the people. It is their role to interpret and uphold the law.
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>Based on your statement above, I'm assuming you don't agree with Obama's supreme court nomination then?

I don't know that much about her judicial rulings or positions yet. Back out of the gutter this week and in 11 hour a day work/commute mode, the news I get is mainly headlines. I will say I think she was a very shrewd choice politically. Just as our buddy Charles predicted, President Obama is getting at least as much heat from the left as from the right. Completely apart from her qualifications, which are apparently substantial, this was the perfect nod to the left side of the dial. She's female and she's Hispanic. (She's two, two, two nominees in one!) Add to it that she grew up poor and she is absolutely going to sail through the Senate approval process IMO. Even if they didn't have the numbers, which they do, this would be an easy sale. Very similar to what happened with Breyer or Ginsburg.

Obama reminds me of the guy who used to come on the old Ed Sullivan show and keep a row of plates spinning on narrow poles. Definitely revealing my age with that, LOL, but I remember it vividly. He came out on stage with a dozen or so narrow poles in front of him, and a stack of plates. He would pick up the top plate, run it over to the pole at the end, and set it spinning. Race back to the pile of plates, pick up the next one, put it on the next pole, spin it. By the time he got to the end of the row the plates were wobbling seriously back at the other end. He raced back there, gave it a new spin, and then on to the next one. Many times there were plates which appeared about to shatter. It was delightful to watch. Satisfying that someone could keep control, barely, of so many things at once.

Likewise with Obama. There are still some unbelievers -- the roughly 20% who remain hard core right -- and there are those on the other side who don't think they are getting the whole loaf they expected. But somehow he is keeping the plates spinning. One week it's Wall Street that needs to be reassured, the next week social conservatives, the next week unions, the next week Europe, the week after that the Israelis. And so on. He is spinning a heck of a lot of plates and so far they are still spinning.

A year or two ago, both in and out of his party, many thought he was too much of a neophyte for the job of President. It sure doesn't seem that way now. As was said of Joe DiMaggio and Jerry Rice, he may be redefining his position.

The only thing that disquiets me is that my visions of him being assassinated have grown again lately after a period of dormancy. Let's hope that has been no more than those wacky 3 a.m. thoughts.