"Borking Ted Olson"...and Erwin Chemerinsky

Harry Reid and Co. threaten to block Ted Olson if he's nominated for Attorney General, and some Republicans need to grow a spine.

I say, bring it on.

This attempted blocking -- or Borking -- of an eminently qualified candidate from an influential government position, strictly based on politics and judicial philosophy, is exactly what Erwin Chemerinsky advocates all the time. Which is why I'm having trouble getting worked up over Chemerinsky being bounced from his new job as head of UCI law school because of his own political beliefs. (The latest can be read at Patterico and the L.A. Times, which reports the law school's planned 2009 opening may now be delayed.)

A number of conservative legal figures have come to Chemerinsky's defense, partially on the grounds that without academic freedom, conservatives will also find themselves unable to hold certain jobs, but aren't conservatives dealing with that already? (Miguel Estrada is one name that comes to mind...and there are too many others.)

A side note that's been on my mind: where was Chemerinsky when there was a legal outrage perpetrated against students at his own university? He was interviewed by KC Johnson in August 2006 and said he hadn't followed the Duke "lacrosse" case closely. Why not? That strikes me as odd. Chemerinsky advocates for terrorists and Valerie Plame, but not students from his own university who are being unfairly treated by the legal system?

Friday Update: Patterico writes this morning on Republicans "preemptively surrendering" on a prospective Olson nomination.