I sometimes can't decide whether comments like this are supposed to be funny (which they admittedly are) or whether they're an honest expression of deep self-loathing.

Well, cougar do pose a greater risk to family safety than most daddies.

Personally, I would have preferred Diane Wood as well. Kagan is too anti-civil rights and too pro-corporate for my taste.

But how a single episode of temporary nerves is supposed to indicate an incompetence to ask pertinent questions, I don't get.
I imagine rising to the position of Dean of Harvward Law School is one hellishly competitive endeavor that would require the amounts of assertiveness and competence a SCTOUS nominee should have.

I'm willing to discuss (and conceivably concede) the judge vs. lawyer point though: What exactly is it that a judge has to be able to do that a good lawyer/law professor doesn't?

This is of course not really worth replying to, but I'm feeling masochistic today, so:

- Kagan is the current Solicitor General of The US
- Kagan was the Dean of Law at Harvard

--> Now imagine having that on your CV and people telling you "Nah, that's not enough experience for us, sorry."

Really? You think we're unaware of the American-heavy story selection around here?

The point here is clearly that a purely political story is misplaced on /.

That said, I would love for somebody to analyse Kagan's positions on tech issues here (or provide some pointers to places doing that).

As spiegel.de, where I first read about Guenter Verheugens plans, says: "It's a nice idea, but 7 years too late, and your doing it for publicity only!" This commissions' term is nearly over (or at least close enough to being over for this plan to not have a rat's asses chance of being implemented while Guenter is still in office). Thus I can only agree with spiegel's assessment: Verheugen wants to go out with something attentiongrabbing (hereby accomplished) and those plans will be put back into a drawer once he leaves office.