Bad Memories - Roberts & Alito

Something seemed familiar about Sam Alito's insistence that he could not remember having been a member of Concerned Alumni of Princeton, even though he boasted about it in a Justice Department job application.

I had forgotten that his predecessor in the judiciary committee hot seat, John Roberts, had similar problems remembering his membership in a right-wing organization. During his own confirmation process, Mr. Chief Justice Roberts claimed he could not remember having been a member of the Federalist Society, even though he was listed as having been on the steering committee of the Washington, D.C. chapter.

Now, fair warning: I am linking to this from RNC Talking Points (07/25/05), a sparkling (though very infrequently updated) jewel of wingosphere.

He said he had no memory of membership!

Don't even get started, liberals!

Don't try to spin your ways out of this one. Judge Roberts said he had no memory of having belonged to the Federalist Society. He didn't say he never was a member.

Even your Washington Post admits that:

Over the weekend, The Post obtained a copy of the Federalist Society Lawyers' Division Leadership Directory, 1997-1998. It lists Roberts, then a partner at the law firm Hogan & Hartson, as a member of the steering committee of the organization's Washington chapter and includes his firm's address and telephone number.

Yesterday, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Roberts "has no recollection of being a member of the Federalist Society, or its steering committee." Roberts has acknowledged taking part in some Federalist Society activities, Perino said.

You people make me sick, liberals. It is almost impossible to believe that you would trash the good name of a good man for your petty, partisan motives. This is what we have come to expect from you, though.

The blogger's defense of Roberts notwithstanding, how interesting is it that two of Bush's SCOTUS nominees claimed not to remember having belonged to extreme right-wing organizations? How could this be a coincidence? Is traumatic brain injury one of the president's core criteria for the Supreme Court? If their denials are true, then we have people with debilitating cognitive disorders nominated to the highest court in the land. If their denials are not true, then we have liars nominated to the highest court in the land.

You also have to wonder what it is about these right-wing cliques that fills its members with so much shame that they must deny ever having been associated with them.