The history of the SCOTUS has a number of important members who weren't judges beforehand. I think it's actually a good balance to have some folks who weren't Appellate judges.

And it's not like Kagan doesn't know her way around a court room.

How about a patron saint of shredding?

That would be my cat.

And for those of you keeping score at home: Emmett is now home sick from school. Same issue that troubled Matilda.

I am amazed by people with Kagan's level of self-control and drive. People emphasize that about Obama, too, but he wrote a book about being a screwed-up kid. Kagan seems to have had this drive from high school on.

Also amusing that both Kagan and Obama smoke (or maybe she quit, but it was a thing during the tobacco cases).

St. Mark the Evangelist is the patron saint of notaries. That's getting close.

she's been a strong advocate of gay rights

Unless, you know, gays think the constitution's clause on "equal protection" means our families should have the same legal protections that straight families do.

Strictly speaking, there's no explicit right that straights get to be married. I haven't seen a statement where she doesn't believe the equal protection rights don't apply.

She's said that there's no consitutional right to gay marriage. Frankly, there's not constitutional right to straight marriage either, because marriage and family law is not a federal issue. Family law is the purview of the states. The fed only gets involved when there's a conflict between state laws.

I don't think the confirmation hearings themselves are going to be ugly, but there's going to be a lot of ugly in the media. The repubs need to draw this out and make her sound like an irresponsible ultra-liberal activist choice to stir up their base right before the mid-terms.

The fed only gets involved when there's a conflict between state laws.

Or when the state laws prohibit marriage based on a suspect reason. Like race or having paid your child support.