The NY Times headline is “Sotomayor’s Sharp Tongue Raises Issue of Temperament.” I hope conservatives resist the bait in using this to attack Sotomayor. Bogus allegations of temperament were used by Democrats in the Bush administration to sink the Miguel Estrada nomination and delay the John Bolton appointment. There would be no question that two of the leading conservative judges, Antonin Scalia and Frank Easterbrook, have sharp tongues from the bench, but no one sensible would suggest that this is somehow disqualifying. Let’s establish a precedent that there’s nothing wrong with the sharp tongue: Oral argument is overrated, and that an advocate is interrupted is hardly grounds to disapprove of the judge who interrupts.