313. Too tricky

It's infuriating that the Supreme Court considers itself too grand to explain its plans for us.  We just have to wait until they issue the press releases (called "opinions") justifying those plans after they're already put into action.   But from the PR point of view, there's little room to doubt that the justices are better-advised to preserve a silence that the shallow can mistake for profound or principled. 

Consider this object lesson in what happens when a justice tries to explain himself - and does so with unintended thoroughness.  It's from a Washington Post chat with Robert Draper, compiler of Dead Certain, the Bush Administration's weirdly-narcissistic collective self-portrait:

Alexandria, Va.: Given that John Roberts specifically has repudiated your claim that he recommended Harriet Miers for a Supreme Court nomination, why should we rely on the accuracy of anything else in your book?

Robert Draper: I don't blame Chief Justice Roberts for attempting to disassociate himself from an ill-advised recommendation. But two well-placed administration officials told me about Roberts' advice, and I'm confident in their veracity. By the way, his spokesperson's statement was parse-worthy: "Chief Justice Roberts did not recommend Harriet Miers to President Bush." I believe that's correct; according to my sources, Roberts didn't issue his recommendation directly to the president.

I try to think good thoughts about the new Chief Justice, and I'm sure Bush could have done much worse.  Roberts' dabbling in politics from the Court is a throwback to an earlier age, but seems mild enough as such Fortasizing goes.  The prospect of members of the Court selecting their own colleagues is a little more alarming - the last thing we need is an even more insular Court. 

But it's his indulgence in a not-false non-denial that serves as the clearest warning to the rest of us to keep on our toes.  The plan is for this Jack Armstrong to be Chief for a very long time.  But now we know his public words must be examined closely for what they don't say.