From the Papers

A few of the interesting things I read this morning:

- George Will makes what I think is a fair case for the nomination of Fourth Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III to replace Justice O'Connor in his column today. Wilkinson is a model of judicial pragmatism and mainstream conservative jurisprudence, and I too think he would make a more-than-decent choice for the Court. Will: "Wilkinson's conservative sensibility makes him averse to what G.K. Chesterton called 'the clean and well-lit prison of one idea.' And Wilkinson's conservative temperament makes him comfortable with the subtle task of balancing judicial modesty with the judicial responsibility for refereeing, by constitutional principles, the government's behavior."

At age 60, Wilkinson is the oldest among the judges believed to be on the "short list" - but experience should not be a disqualifying factor. Wilkinson has served ably on the Fourth Circuit since 1984, and while I do not agree with him in every instance, his overall record makes him worthy of serious consideration.

- The Washington Post (Charles Babington and Mike Allen) analyzes the state of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the members of which will be responsible for conducting hearings in the upcoming Supreme Court confirmation(s?).

- North Korea has agreed to rejoin multilateral talks over its nuclear program, David Sanger reports in the New York Times. Discussions will resume during the week of July 25, the parties have agreed. This is a good first step; here's hoping there will be some progress made this time.

- In Newsweek, Mike Isikoff reports that Karl Rove told Time reporter Matt Cooper on July 11, 2003 (three days prior to Bob Novak's column was printed, but apparently the same day that the piece went out on the newswires) that Ambassador Joe Wilson's "wife, who works for the agency on wmd issues" who authorized Wilson's trip to Nigeria back in 2003 to report on Iraq-yellowcake reports. Newsweek includes quotes from an email to Cooper to his editor, Trent Duffy that Time turned over to prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald last week. If true, the timing gets very interesting, and Karl Rove could soon find himself in a good bit of hot water. Or, at least, he should.