Sometimes, When The Stars Align Just So...

The editorial boards at the P-G and Trib editorialize on the same subject.

Thus it is today - the subject is the schedule for the confirmation process for Sonia Sotomayor.

The Trib sez slow down:

Here's a question regarding U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor that the Obama White House needs to answer: What's the hurry, especially when Democrat [sic] control of the Senate virtually guarantees her confirmation?

And:

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, has set Sotomayor's hearing to start July 13, just 48 days after her nomination; for Chief Justice John Roberts, it was 55 days. Again, GOP senators' desire for more time is legitimate, particularly because the Supreme Court's next term doesn't begin until Oct. 5.

As I am sure the good folks on the Boulevard of the Allies had no idea what Scaife's gang was going to write, we can't really call the P-G's editorial pre-emptive. Though it's tempting.

Even by the rancorous standards of recent Supreme Court nomination battles, federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor has been the subject of a gross level of partisan attack.

This disgraceful campaign, stooping so low as to accuse her of racism or reverse racism, is a by-product of a dispirited Republican Party trying to energize its base. Critics of Judge Sotomayor's nomination clearly view this as a political opportunity, not a chance to delve honestly into her qualifications. After all, most of them have already made up their minds.

That is why Americans should be wary of Republican complaints about a mid-July date to convene the nomination hearings. When Sen. Patrick Leahy, the Democrat who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced this week that the hearings would start July 13, Republicans were reportedly surprised and angry. They wanted more time to prepare -- in reality, more time to make political hay.

Considering the Republicans floated an idea that, if taken to its logical conclusion, would require almost two years of review, I find the P-G's argument a bit more, uh, valid.

My best guess is that the GOP is hoping that if they stretch out the time between the nomination and the confirmation hearings something embarrassing to Sotomayor will pop out of the sky to help them further obstruct the Obama administration.