Saw in my Sunday New York Times this piece about the coming battle over the role of government that will emerge in battles between Barack Obama and John Roberts, "two of the smartest men of their generation":
The debate between the men, by necessity, takes place in this way — indirectly, and soon through the confirmation hearing of a new nominee. Christopher Edley Jr., an Obama adviser and dean of the law school at the University of California at Berkeley, said it was a shame the two could not have at it one on one.
“Televise this chief justice and this president on stage at the Kennedy Center for three hours talking about the role of government and the future of our polity,” Mr. Edley said. “This historic clash of intellectual titans would be the most powerful civics lesson since the Federalist Papers, and we could sure use it.”
Amen to that. It'd be beer and nachos time -- the equivalent of the Super Bowl for editorial writers and other political geeks.
