By now the entire blogosphere is talking about John G. Roberts. Both sides have read up on their talking points and are searching for any piece of information that will sink or pass his nomination. But what most people don't know about is the real force behind virtually all of Bush's judicial nominees...
...The Federalist Society. Started by a small group of radically conservative law students at the University of Chicago Law School in the 80s, the Federalist Society has since grown to thousands of members and hundreds of chapters across the nation. Members include influential Bush administration officials (Rumsfeld, Norton) and prominent conservatives (Scalia, Bork).
In 2001 Bush dropped a long standing tradition of consulting with the historically non-partisan American Bar Association and switched allegiences to the FS. Since then nearly 40% of all Bush judicial nominees have been FS members and the FS has very likely had input on 100% of the nominees.
The Federalist Society is just one tool that the extremist right-wingers have used in the attempt to accomplish their most important goal; the control of America's judicial system. So far conservatives control 7 out of the 14 circuit courts, and the right-wing will pull out all the stops to finally conquer what they see as their last obstacle to complete domination of the American political landscape.
For more info check out my article at Thought Mechanics
Cross-posted at Confessions of a Liberal Yankee