Taking a cue from Ed Whelan, I downloaded and read Stuart Taylor’s cover story

on judges for the National Journal. I agree with Ed that Taylor’s work is

usually perceptive and refreshingly objective. But Taylor’s effort this day is

sub-par; the cover piece is unimaginitive and even predictable. One line

nonetheless really surprised me: I did not know that Barack Obama had named

Earl Warren as his model judge. (Taylor says that Obama did.)

Now, it is not surprising that Obama would be attracted to a liberal icon, and

Warren certainly is that. It is most surprising, however, that the same Obama

who has stated — more than once — that as much as ninety-nine percent of the

Supreme Court’s cases can be, and should be, decided on the basis of technical

legal reasoning would be attracted to Earl Warren. For not even Earl Warren’s

greatest admirer would accuse him of being interested in standard legal

reasoning — much less suggest that he practiced it.