Habemus SCOTUS

Whoops - more like t-minus 80 seconds...

Federal Court of Appeals Judge John G. Roberts, Jr. is Bush's first Supreme Court nominee.  Our condolences to Judge Roberts and his family.

Roberts is just 50 years old and the newest member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.  He is a former Rehnquist law clerk and has argued 39 cases before the Supreme Court, of which he has won 25.

Via Drudge, Roberts has a clearly articulated stance on Roe v. Wade:

No support in the text, structure or history of the Constitution [for legal reasoning in Roe vs Wade].

...we continue to believe that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided and should be overruled.

White, male, and a pair of Harvard degrees - not who I'd've predicted.  Daniel Larrison got it right.  So did Bradford Berenson (as Malkin notes).  Erick at RedState.org suggested a couple weeks back that Roberts might be the eventual nom, given his presumed esteem in the eyes of the Senate's seven dealing dems.  Via The Messenger at The Minefield (who'd also picked Roberts), his law.com profile contains some high praise and prescience:

At a recent discussion before the local chapter of the Corporate Counsel Association, Roberts got considerable mention when a panel of Supreme Court experts was asked to handicap possible nominees.

"I think it will be John Roberts," said Latham & Watkins partner Maureen Mahoney, who is on some lists herself. "He has the brilliance, dedication and temperament to emerge as an intellectual leader of the Court," she said afterward.

For further edification, see Roberts' bio, resume, and support from esteemed colleagues, all available courtesy of the DOJ's Office of Legal Policy.

Update: Appearing on Fox News Channel at 8:55 pm, "Gang of 14" Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR) said of Judge Roberts (nearly verbatim except as noted):

"I don't know very much about him... I look forward to letting him go through the normal process.  [We will give him] very serious consideration... The last thing we need is another 52-48, knock-down, drag out vote... I hope Roberts will be a consensus candidate... I'm glad the President consulted with a number of Senators on this nomination."

Update: In a brief address after being introduced by the President just after 9:00 pm, Judge Roberts noted the honor and humility of receiving the nominiation.  He acknowledged his parents, Jack and Rosemary, his sisters, Kathy, Peggy, and Barbara, and his children Josie and Jack, who "remind [him] every day why it's so important to work to preserve the institutions of our democracy."

Class act.

Update: Almost, almost amusing, if only for its stupefyingly predictable verbiage, is Give 'Em Hooey Howie's reaction (via Ankle Biting Pundits):

"It is disappointing that when President Bush had the chance to bring the country together, he instead turned to a nominee who may have impressive legal credentials, but also has sharp partisan credentials that cannot be ignored."

Are those fiirst 15 words simply engraved at the top of Howard Dean's letterhead?  And if so, why he did buy so much of it?