What's in a Name?

While most journalists are busy scouring the Supreme Court nominee’s legal writings, attempting to determine what kind of Justice he’d make, Tim Noah over at Slate is trying a different tack. He focuses on the fact that John G. Roberts is a "Jr." And not just any old Jr., but a "John sandwich, positioned between a father and 4-year-old son with the same name." What are the implications of Juniorism? Well, since you asked.

Juniors tend to be smart and wound a little tight--President Bush is a notable exception--and apparently Judge Roberts is, in fact, a pretty tense guy. His college roommate (as quoted by Adam Guren in the Harvard Crimson) reports that as an undergraduate Roberts "was a great consumer of Pepto Bismol." He also says Roberts decided not to apply to Stanford Law School because his interviewer wore sandals.

It’s a funny article, well worth reading.

--Matthew McCoy