John Roberts has been confirmed, 78-22, as the new Chief Justice of the United States.

Here’s the roll call. Senator Lieberman, unsurprisingly, voted yes. Senator Dodd, much more surprisingly, also voted yes. Hooray for the reasonableness of Connecticut Democrats!

From Indiana, Senator Bayh voted no. Boooo. (Lugar voted yes, obviously.)

In addition to Bayh, the other 21 Democrats voting “no” were: Akaka (HI), Biden (DE), Boxer (CA), Cantwell (WA), Clinton (NY), Corzine (NJ), Dayton (MN), Durbin (IL), Feinstein (CA), Harkin (IA), Inouye (HI), Kennedy (MA), Kerry (MA), Lautenberg (NJ), Mikulski (MD), Obama (IL), Reed (RI), Reid (NV), Sarbanes (MD), Schumer (NY), Stabenow (MI).

With both of the Democratic senators from New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts voting no, and Rhode Island’s one Democrat also voting no (the Rhode Island Republican voted yes, of course), Connecticut is an island of reasonableness surrounded by knee-jerk opposition!

In other news, Obama’s vote is disappointing.

Senator Schumer said: “While this nomination did not warrant an attempt to block this nominee on the floor of the Senate, the next one might.” Bold words from one who voted “no” on this nominee! Hint: you’d have a thousand times more credibility if you’d voted “yes,” senator. (My thoughts on this point are here.)

Regarding the “next one,” Schumer added: “I hope and pray the president chooses to unite, rather than divide — that he chooses consensus over confrontation.” Hope and pray, eh, Chuck? And here I thought the Dems believed in separation of church and state… heh. :)

Today is Gay Day at Notre Dame, when supporters of gay rights are encouraged to wear orange t-shirts declaring “Gay? Fine by me,” much to the consternation of some. I forgot to wear mine… d’oh! Anyway, apparently one of the shirts was stolen, though the e-mail we received from the administration was rather vague about the details:

A student has reported a t-shirt delivered to mailbox number 113 lost or stolen. If you have seen an orange t-shirt, size small, in or around the student mailbox area, please turn it in to me. Thanks.

Hmm… “an orange t-shirt,” eh? Way to be straightforward. Anyway, I’m sure we can all agree, regardless of our political views, that stealing people’s property isn’t cool.

From The Onion:

Saying “F**k this sh*t, I’m stopping beating hearts with my bare hands,” Justice Antonin Scalia, overlooked for the vacated position of Supreme Court chief justice, went on a spiteful abortion-performing bender over the weekend. “If I’m not going to be permitted a lasting judicial legacy, to hell with law and order,” said Scalia, the conservative Reagan appointee who has served on the court since 1986. “I worked my ass off for 20 years, and no one cares. So, who gives a sh*t? Safe, legal abortions for all. Who wants one?” Scalia added that 2000 presidential candidate Al Gore “totally won that election, any idiot knows that.”

Heh. (Hat tip: my dad.)

P.S. Also from The Onion: Heh.

…hmm. (Hat tip: Dane.)

The Senate will confirm John Roberts today.

And then, rumor has it Bush will announce his pick to replace Sandra Day O’Connor tomorrow.

Haley Barbour for president?

The International Freedom Center that was proposed to be at the center of the new World Trade Center complex has been scrapped, primarily because of the objections of relatives of 9/11 victims. Perhaps some of you will remember the objections noted here as well.

Gov. Pataki remains a supporter, although he has conceded that the center probably would have been a mistake:

“The celebration of freedom is not inconsistent with the goals of memorializing our nearly 3,000 lost heroes,” Pataki said. “The creation of an institution that would show the world our unity and our resolve to preserve freedom in the wake of the horrific attacks is a noble pursuit.

“But freedom should unify us. This center has not,” he said.

Indeed; while I think that such a center might be A Good Thing, the WTC site is not an appropriate place for it. Nice to see that after four years Pataki et al have finally realized that.

Brian (Briandot)

I haven’t been doing too many law school quotes-of-the-day this semester, but Brooke is picking up the slack.

Well, sh*t. The Red Sox lost and the Yankees won tonight, so Boston now trails New York by one game in the AL East. Tomorrow, the Sox play the Blue Jays again and the Yanks play the Orioles again — and then it’s time for a three-game, season-ending head-to-head battle at Fenway.

If the Sox win and the Yanks lose tomorrow, they’ll be tied again heading into the Fenway showdown, which would thus essentially be a three-game playoff series: whoever wins two out of three, wins the AL East.

If the Sox and Yanks either both win or both lose tomorrow, New York would enter the Fenway showdown with a one-game lead, meaning Boston would need to sweep at Fenway to win the division outright, or win two out of three games at Fenway to tie the division and force a one-game playoff. So basically, they’d need to win three out of four, one way or another.

If the Yanks win and the Sox lose tomorrow, the Yankees would enter the Fenway showdown with a two-game lead, meaning Boston would have to sweep the Yanks at Fenway.

Then there is the wild-card race. The Indians and Red Sox are tied for that spot with four games left.

Argh.

I’m at the Cincinnati airport, waiting for my connecting flight to South Bend. If all goes well, I should be home in about two hours. I can’t wait. It’s been a grueling eight days away, and there’s nothing I want to do more than give Becky a big hug. This is the longest we’ve been away from each other since she moved to South Bend in January, and I almost forgot how hard it is being apart — all the moreso under the recent circumstances.

About that… an interviewer asked me yesterday, “What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to do?” I answered without hesitation, “Getting through the past week.” (We ended up spending the entire remainder of the interview talking about Sarah, the website, the musical tribute, the grieving process generally, etc. It was a very unconventional job interview!) On further consideration, I suppose my answer was not entirely correct; there are a few even more difficult experiences that I wouldn’t feel comfortable discussing in the context of an interview (or on this blog). But this eight-day marathon of wake, funeral, and interview after interview after interview, not to mention blogging Rita — with barely a free moment to breathe, let alone grieve — and all of it happening a couple thousand miles away from the love of my life, with the knowledge that I’m falling further and further behind in my classes every day, has undeniably been very rough. I don’t mean to aggrandize it; as I keep reminding myself and others, there are many others suffering much more… in Newington and in Utah, and also along the Gulf Coast and in countless other places around the country and world. Still, that knowledge doesn’t make me any less emotionally and physically exhausted. It just makes me appreciate more how much strength other people have.

I also want to add how much I appreciate the kindness and understanding that everyone has shown me. Professors, attorneys, friends, family, perfect strangers. Everyone. I am really grateful for that.

Anyway… the point of all this rambling is, I can’t wait to get home. I’ve never been so anxious to be in South Bend. :)

(more…)

[CNN Breaking News, 1:15 PM EDT]

In response to his indictment by a Texas grand jury on conspiracy charges related to illegal political contributions, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) will step down from his leadership position. Speaker Dennis Hastert will recommend Rep. David Dreier of California to replace DeLay.

DeLay denies any wrongdoing, and his lawyer has labeled the indictment “skunky”. However, “House Republican Party rules require leaders who are indicted to temporarily step aside from their leadership posts.” (CNN) I’ll at least give him credit for actually following through, though; I half expected him to simply ignore it.

Brian (Briandot)

No, not because of the soon-to-be Chief Justice. Rather, because of the presence of Anna Nicole Smith. Apparently her case against the heirs of her late (90-year-old oil tycoon) husband’s fortune has been accepted by the Supreme Court.

No word on whether Clarence Thomas will send her flowers; still, maybe this means he won’t sleep during oral arguments (as he did the one time I was there).

Brian (Briandot)

The Red Sox, Yankees, White Sox and Indians all lost today. So, with five games left, Boston, New York and Cleveland all remain tied. Barring further collapse by the White Sox (who are two games ahead of the Indians in the AL Central), two of those three teams will make the playoffs; one will not.

A couple more friends of Sarah’s, one from Newington and one from Utah, sent me pictures today. I’ve added them to the photo gallery. (Just scroll down; the last seven photos are the new ones.)

Again, if you knew Sarah and have any photos (or sound clips or anything else) that you’d like to contribute to the memorial page, please e-mail me.

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Guestblogger: David Kreutz

So if the world is about 6,000 years old, how do fundamentalists explain dinosaur fossils? Is it that they were placed there by God as a test of faith? Well according to Rusty Carter of Littleton, CO based Biblically Correct Tours they were created on the sixth day, rode (as babies) on the Ark, although most were fossilized during the flood, and died off due to overhunting and/or climate change. The group offers private tours at The Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

Not to be outdone however, a group of atheists have decided to sue the city of Las Cruces, New Mexico, claiming that the three crosses in the cities logo are violating their constitutional rights and constituting an establishment of religion by the state. For those who don’t speak Spanish, Las Cruces means The Crosses.