Somebody please take away Ted Kennedy’s keys to the Washington Post op-ed page:

No one has an automatic right to a lifetime position on the Supreme Court. A nominee to the high court must first demonstrate that he has a core commitment to constitutional rights and liberties. He must show that he is in the mainstream of modern judicial thought and that he would not use an ideologically motivated interpretation of our Constitution or laws to reverse the hard-fought gains we have made to make this nation more just.

Thanks for pointing out that no one has an automatic right to a lifetime position on the Supreme Court (as opposed to Kennedy’s automatic right to a lifetime position as a Senator from Massachusetts). But every nominee has a right to be considered for the job even if he disagrees with Ted Kennedy about the meaning of “mainstream” modern judicial thought.