Roberts: dedicated to principles of the court?

Roberts, to Joe Biden:

"You make the point that, 'We stand for election and we wouldn't be elected if we didn't tell people what we stand for.' Judges don't stand for election. I'm not standing for election. And it is contrary to the role of judges in our society to say that, 'This judge should go on the bench because these are his or her positions and those are the positions they're going to apply.' Judges go on the bench and they apply and decide cases according to the judicial process, not on the basis of promises made earlier to get elected or promises made earlier to get confirmed. That's inconsistent with the independence and integrity of the Supreme Court."

I've been generally displeased with Bush nominees to almost every position, because I get the distinct impression that all are ideologues bent on exacting some right-wing agenda. I think we may have a different animal here with Roberts, a real idealist. He's been said to be among the elite of court insiders, serving as a lawyer on firms that argue before the court, and as a government solicitor, and as a clerk. I think it may be possible that is first allegiance is in fact to the court, rather than the party. If this is the case (which is not certain), he may be less dangerous than his individual views indicate. Only time will tell, though.