Many on the left today have twisted themselves into hysterical contortions over a Miami Herald article about - yikes! - John Roberts' work for the Republicans during the Florida recount in 2000:

U.S. Supreme Court nominee John Roberts played a broader behind-the-scenes role for the Republican camp in the aftermath of the 2000 election than previously reported -- as legal consultant, lawsuit editor and prep coach for arguments before the nation's highest court, according to the man who drafted him for the job.
Ted Cruz, a domestic policy advisor for President Bush and who is now Texas' solicitor general, said Roberts was one of the first names he thought of while he and another attorney drafted the Republican legal dream team of litigation ''lions'' and ''800-pound gorillas,'' which ultimately consisted of 400 attorneys in Florida. ...

''He's one of the best brief writers in the country. Just like a good journalist or a novelist, he can write with clarity, concisely and can paint a picture with words,'' said Cruz. Roberts, a constitutional-law expert in a top Washington law firm at the time, is now a federal appeals court judge in D.C. Roberts was a no-brainer for the recount effort: His win-loss record at the U.S. Supreme Court was one of the most impressive. And, like Cruz, he was a member of a tight-knit circle of former clerks for the court's chief justice, William Rehnquist -- a group jokingly referred to as ``the cabal.''

Why would it be surprising that Roberts, one of the most eminent lawyers in the United States, as well as a conservative, was an advocate for the GOP in Florida during the recount? What is shocking about this? It would be highly surprising if he had not been involved. But the left, and their enthusiastic accomplices in MSM, are desperate to drum up something about Roberts and rouse the anesthetized Democratic base, which is yawning because Roberts just does not appear to have anything in his past that is even remotely disqualifying, and he's a likeable and sympathetic character.

(Article via Captain's Quarters and GOPINION)

***

Captain Ed provides some links to lefty blogs which are disturbed by Roberts involvement in Florida and notes: "A word of advice for the port side of the blogosphere: try keeping your powder dry. If you get this cranked up over a "revelation" that Roberts actually did work for the GOP at one point in his career, then no one will take you seriously if at some point Bush nominates a real extremist to the bench."