From the BBC to Andrew Sullivan to the NYT, we’re hearing the same refrain: “Oh, no, not a conservative Pope!”

The campaign to keep John Bolton from becoming US ambassador to the UN — does anyone seriously believe that has to do with his management style? No, it’s about his ideas, his ideology. Liberals don’t want a conservative representing the US – representing them — at the UN.

I think the same is true about Tom DeLay. He’s a conservative. So liberals don’t want him as majority leader.

And surely the same is true in the controversy over judicial nominations. The liberals’ message there, too, is: “No conservatives need apply (give us Souters and Kennedys instead).”