Confirmed and Sworn In

John G. Roberts has been confirmed and sworn in as the seventeenth Chief Justice of the United States. Praising his credentials and qualifications at this point would be repetitive on my part, so I’ll simply state that John Roberts will be a fantastic Chief Justice and his confirmation insures our government’s third branch will be in good hands for many years to come. Congratulations to Chief Justice Roberts on his ascension to the Supreme Court’s center seat and to President Bush for nominating the most qualified man for the job.

The occasion of Chief Justice Robert’s overwhelming confirmation vote also warrants a tip of the cap to the one-half of the Democratic Caucus that voted for the chief, including my state’s senior senator Patty Murray. Granted, Thursday’s Democratic "yea" votes probably weren’t so much an affirmation of support for John Roberts as a strategic move intended to pay dividends in the next confirmation fight, but all that really matters in the end is that Democrats voting in the affirmative did the right thing, not why they did the right thing.