Loss of Luttig is Big

J. Michael Luttig was a perfect Supreme Court candidate - he was conservative, very smart, young and he scared the bejesus out of liberals. And now he is gone. Luttig resigned his lifetime appointment to the Fourth District Court to accept a general counsel position with Boeing.

I have no doubt that the Bush Administration's flip flop from holding Jose Padilla indefinitely to its desire to try him in a civilian court helped Luttig with his decision. As noted on the front page of the WSJ this morning, the Administration basically "pulled the rug" from under him.

The American Scene has more. It's a shame that we lost one of the top conservative judges in the country - due to a lack of principled conviction within the Bush administration. No doubt liberals are happy - one more empty judicial seat to filibuster.