More On Roberts' Scoffing

I've noticed in Supreme Bias that John Roberts scoffs a lot ... three times in 35 listings, as a matter of fact. What are we to do with a nominee who spends nearly a tenth of his time scoffing?

Scoff at the media, of course.

Here's the latest scoff report, from AP, courtesy of Nexis:

As a lawyer in the Reagan White House, John Roberts scoffed at the notion of elevating Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor to chief justice as a way to close a political gender gap, calling it a "crass political consideration." ...

In an Aug. 2, 1984, memo, Roberts responded to a former member of the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors, John E. Sheehan, who had written President Reagan to suggest an election-year strategy that Roberts described as closing the "so-called 'gender gap."' Reagan was more popular among men than women.

Sheehan's plan called for then-Chief Justice Warren Burger, who was nearing retirement, to step down soon after the 1984 Republican convention and be appointed as an ambassador.

"The president would elevate Justice O'Connor two weeks later, and then name yet another woman to succeed O'Connor two weeks after that. Presto! The gender gap vanishes," Roberts wrote.

"Any appointments the president may make to the Supreme Court will not be based on such crass political considerations," Roberts advised in a memo to his boss, Fred Fielding.

Where is the scoff at O'Connor? Not to be found.

Roberts was not scoffing at the elevation of O'Connor. He was questioning the wisdom of a transparent, pandering political two-step of elevating O'Connor and nominating another woman.

Further, the language is scoff-free, at least as far as O'Connor is concerned. The media would like women to think he was scoffing at the ability of women on the court. He was not, although it is clear that he holds to the quaint idea that qualifications do indeed count.

If there was any scoffing going on, it was directed toward Sheehan, for coming up with so crass a strategy. This is so clear it should be evident to anyone ... except an AP reporter, apparently.