Thanks so much to Jay for such a poignant reminder of Miguel Estrada and the dishonorable way his nomination was destroyed by the very Democrats now touting Sonia Sotomayor’s “historic” ascension. Miguel is a friend of mine, and I imagine he will want to kill me for saying what he is too modest ever to say. But I always thought he was uncomfortable being one of those wonderful American stories. Not because he isn’t one — he is the living, breathing American dream. No, it’s because, like Cardozo and Scalia, I don’t think he ever saw himself as someone whose nomination was cause for celebration because of its ethnic overtones. It was cause for celebration because he is one of the greatest lawyers of his generation. He’s not a member of some tribe who squeezed modern identity politics for all it was worth. He is a patriotic American who scaled the Olympus of merit. That is a wonderful American story.