Now that John G. is up for Chief Justice instead of associate, there are a lot more questions to be asked of him as a leader.

For the non-legal nerds: chief justice isn't just a title. As Chief Justice, every time that you are in the majority, you get assign the decision. That means that if you want the whacko ideology of Scalia to go down as the law of the land that's the way it's going to be.

With only TWO years on the federal judiciary and very few penned decisions (all of those documents we are seeing are legal memos and advice offered to various administrations), Roberts is a complete guessing game. His even demeanor could mean one of two very different things.

1. He is calm and sensible. He is willing to weigh issues and gives the Supreme Court it's proper deference and respect as an institution of equal weight to the congress and the executive branches

2. He is skilled at the art of diplomacy. He advised O'Connor, during her confirmation hearings, on how to avoid stating her opinions on controversial topics. He is flying under the radar in order to land himself the most powerful post in the judiciary. Remember, if Roberts becomes Chief Justice he won't be around for four or ten or fifteen years -- but thirty or forty years writing (or unwriting) the laws of the land.

And after these hearings, George gets another pick. The options are abyssmal and the general concensus is that since he didn't pick Gonzales for chief, he's going to try and place someone far to the right of even Roberts.

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