Ezra Klein on the ridiculous process by which seats on the Supreme Court get filled. It's one of those things that has never made a lot of sense to me and I'm skeptical it can ever be changed because no party is going to give up the wish-dream of skewing it their way.
But I agree the system isn't working. There are probably thousands of judges out there who are very well-versed in the law and not beholden to either liberal or conservative ideology — the kind of judge whose vote cannot be predicted or assumed because he/she will decide each question solely on its merits. That's the kind of justices we should have but such folks stand very little chance of getting nominated. Remember the stink when George W. Bush nominated Harriet Miers to a seat on the highest court?
The left wing wasn't too upset about it. The right wing was because she didn't strike them as a 100% reliable conservative vote…and Bush had to withdraw the nomination and name someone more likely to think the right was always right. Left or right, we don't want a justice who will rule on the merits of a case. We want someone who'll always rule our way.