The Washington Times:

Solicitor General Elena Kagan is too political, too leftist, too inexperienced and too disrespectful towards existing law to be confirmed for the U.S. Supreme Court. As Ms. Kagan’s nomination hearings begin on Monday, what we now know about her should disturb fair-minded Americans, and should embolden moderate senators of both parties to avoid rubber-stamping her for a lifetime appointment. The pressure should be most intense not on Republicans, but on Democrats who claim moderation and yet try to explain away Ms. Kagan’s history of leftist proselytizing.

From Robert Bork:

“Ms. Kagan has not had time to develop a mature philosophy of judging,” said Bork, adding that the former Harvard dean’s tenure in academia did not offer her the experience necessary to serve on the high court.
“The academic world is not a place in which you learn prudence and caution, and other virtues of a judge, and she has not had experience anywhere else that I know of,” Bork said.

Ron Bonjean:

Writing for the Daily Princetonian, Kagan wrote about “real Democrats” who are “committed to liberal principles and motivated by the ideal of an affirmative and compassionate government.” She added: “Where I grew up–on Manhattan’s Upper West Side–nobody ever admitted to voting Republican. The real contests for Congress and the state legislatures occurred in early September, when the Democratic primary was held. And the people who won those races and who then took the November elections with some 80 per cent of the vote were real Democrats–not the closet Republicans that one sees so often these days but men and women committed to liberal principles and motivated by the ideal of an affirmative and compassionate government.”

Judge Bork’s takes will be mocked and dismissed out of hand by Democrats, but the Times op-ed reveals eight significant points of serious concern. Justice Sotomayor provided two to three sketchy issues for Senators to poke at. Kagen will be opposed on grounds far more significant and demonstrable.

Hearings begin Monday and all of Kagen’s Clinton era documents have not yet been released. Some sort of hold-up could occur this weekend. But as Kagen’s astonishing lack of experience and leftist ideological stands become more public, political pressure on Senate Democrats will increase. Do they want to go to the mat for Obama this close to the November elections?

Aside from Kagen’s thin resume and troubling legal and academic record, Republicans have additional ammunition as support for her nomination has dropped ten points since May. The man that Democrats continue to loathe and hold as a standard in Robert Bork could become relevant again if Kagen’s hearings begin to remind observers of his.

Posted under OBAMA WATCH, POLITICS