Eight o'clock of a lazy Labor Day morning

"It serves the interests of the nation and of the court to have a chief justice on the bench on the first full day of the fall term," says the President this morning in a strategically timed announcement of his nomination of John Roberts as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

We knew we loved this Roberts fellow -- in Dick Cheney's phrase, "big time" -- ever since we read his reply to history-challenged members of the other side of the aisle with a rapier wit that takes no prisoners. In reponse to a House Democrat's proposal that the White House and Congress convene a "conference on power-sharing" to codify the duties of each branch of government, he replied:

There already has, of course, been a "Conference on Power Sharing" . . . It took place in Philadelphia's Constitution Hall in 1787, and someone should tell Levitas about it and the "report" it issued.

Great choice, Dubya, and superbly "strategeric" move. Eight o'clock of a lazy Labor Day morning, while the the nation is still rubbing its eyes and sleepily waking up to the usual suspects all achatter about the President's having lent "too little too late" to the Federal response to the horror spawned by Hurricane Katrina -- not to mention the tidal surge of Inside-the-Beltway gossip re whom GW would nominate for Chief Justice following the passing Saturday of the magnificent  William Rehnquist -- a sneak attack to catch the enemy off guard. Totally awesome.  It was our blogfriend Thomas Lifson of The American Thinker -- blogged here -- who attended Harvard Business School at the same time GW was there, that figured it out way back when:

By reputation, the President was a very avid and skillful poker player when he was an MBA student. One of the secrets of a successful poker player is to encourage your opponent to bet a lot of chips on a losing hand. This is a pattern of behavior one sees repeatedly in George W. Bush’s political career.

It's Lucie pulling the football away at the last minute as Charlie Brown attempts yet another kick.  Like Charlie Brown, GW's nemeses still don't know what hit them.

Technorati tags: John Roberts, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Comments

[Rick Ballard]

Who do you like for the second pick, Sissy? I agree that moving Roberts to Chief is great but now I'm beginning to believe that the second pick is rather crucial.