Sunday, April 18, 2010

Don't Ask, Don't Tell If You're a Supreme Court Nominee?

The left is flipping out because Elena Kagan, a possible Supreme Court pick, might be gay. No, I'm not kidding. In fact, the White House is is in full harrumph mode over the incident, which makes it that much funnier.

The White House ripped CBS News on Thursday for publishing an online column by a blogger who made assertions about the sexual orientation of Solicitor General Elena Kagan, widely viewed as a leading candidate for the Supreme Court.

Ben Domenech, a former Bush administration aide and Republican Senate staffer, wrote that President Obama would "please" much of his base by picking the "first openly gay justice." An administration official, who asked not to be identified discussing personal matters, said Kagan is not a lesbian.

Domenech responds:
Look, it's 2010 -- no one should care if a nominee to any position is gay. The fact that conservative Senators John Cornyn and Jeff Sessions have recently expressed openness to confirming an openly gay nominee to the Court is a good thing. Senators should look at things that actually matter -- evaluating a nominee's decisions, approach to the law, their judgment and ability -- to see whether there are actually good and relevant reasons to oppose the nomination. That's all.

As Allahpundit notes, this is a stupid move on the White House's part over something that most Americans don't care about. Having a Supreme Court justice who is gay doesn't leave most people crying at night, and given the large number of Democrats who support gay rights, you'd think Teh One would be happy about it. But no, they have problems of their own with such a move:
Given the November cyclone that’s on the horizon, the last thing Obama wants to do is give some Dems an extra reason to stay home.

Personally, I would see such a move as tokenism and nothing more, which is to say, typicaly Democrat identity politics. I'm not particularly concerned if a gay person serves as a Justice.

William Jacobson points out that liberals don't mind outing people...if they're Republicans.