The Right Wing Supreme Court

So, Elena Kagan will probably get on the Supreme Court soon. She would follow recent Obama nominee Sonia "Wise Latina" Sotomayor, who got on last year, in the midst of a ridiculous nomination process. Lots of people, especially on the left, are applauding these picks. Both are women, both are moderate, and both will make it through the nomination process - it'd be shocking if Kagan didn't get through. However, there's a big problem here. I know, you have to pick your battles, but...do people realize that moderates will not save the Supreme Court? Because justices are appointed for life, every nomination is a big deal...so if the court is drifting far to the right, it should be worth the battle to make sure it moves back to the center (something I suspect most Americans would actually want). Appointing moderates will not do that.

The American Mystique

Betty Friedan, in her 1960's classic _The Feminine Mystique_, describes a problem by which women would not speak of "the problem that has no name." Women, Friedan found, had all the modern comforts of home- the washing machine, the floor waxer, the white picket fence, and yet they were unhappy. "Is this all?" they asked. In 2010 America, we might speak of an American Mystique, which in no way demeans the still prevalent Feminine Mystique but expands her core concept.