by Lila Rajiva

Bush's nomination of John Roberts to the Supreme Court is a slap in the face of women. Out of nine justices, there were only two women to begin with -- Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. That is to say, until last week, only a bit more than 20% of the most intellectually weighty branch of government was drawn from the 52% of the population that is female. And if Roberts gets in, the female contribution falls to just over 10%. OK, so the justices are not supposed to be representative; the executive gets to appoint the most qualified candidates, letting the chips fall where they may. It just so happens that the chips fell on eight white justices and one black. And that all except one graduated from Ivy League law schools. And that none are progressive, but come out of the center-right and the far right. So let's not suggest that the Supremes aren't a representative body. They represent one part of the population pretty well: male, white, and middle or upper class...

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/July05/Rajiva0721.htm