More on Kagan...

Or not really.  I poked around some of my usual haunts looking for stuff on Elena Kagan, to try and get a bettr sense of this so-called "mystery" that Obama has nominated.  MMFA, and Politifact could do little more than defend her from the outright absurdites that the Right has thrown her way.  It's so infuriating to have an opposition that is so insane that they put you in the position of having to defend someone that you may not really even want; just because to do otherwise is simply an affront to common sense, reality, honesty, sanity, etc...  I swear I just want to punch the next person that I hear say the word "socialist" - in ANY context!  (I'm so sick of it at this point I'd even be willing to punch a socialist!)
I expected some depth from PFAM, but they had little to say other than "Congrats on the nomination, we look forward to learnign more about you."  (Yeah, you and me both!)

I came across this piece, on TAP, which I thnk summarizes both our desires and our frustration with Obama's choice, from the Left pretty well.  As a counterpoint though, this post, on Huffington, summarizes very well what I was trying to say in my own post about Judge Diane Wood.  And while it DOES praise Kagan for having some of those [pursuading Justice Kennedy] qualities, it's pretty thin, highly qualified praise.  And it doesn't really say much about her politics.  This piece, in Slate, paints a different picture. (Disclsure: I'm not really a big fan of Slate, in general.  Just sayin'.)

About the most positive piece, from a purely liberal standpoint was  this other piece from TAP.  It gives some cause for optimism, but admitedly it's pretty thin.  The one thing it has going for it is that is DOES address, head on, the concerns (assuming I understand them correctly) that ClassicLiberal raised about her cheerleading for the executive branch, and the Bush detention practices and policies.  So we've basically got two things to go one, that I've found: a letter she signed onto as Dean of Harvard law which says one things, and her work as Solicitor General which says another.  One thing to remember, and yes, I realize that I'm clinging to every last shred of optimism here, but "cheerleading for the executive branch" is basically the job desciptionof the solicitor general.  I don't dismiss the concern, far from it: it's about all teh information I HAVE about her! And I am still disappointed by this pick (Oh well, boo-hoo, no Judge Wood.)  But between the Huffpo post and the TAP post, I guess I'll hold out some hope (or at least keep an open mind) that this can work.