"Date on which Barack Obama implemented new ethics guidelines restricting former lobbyists' roles in government: 1/21/09.

"Days later that he waived the guidelines for the deputy secretary of defense: 1." -Harper's Index, June 2009.

WHO NEEDS ENEMIES?

As if having Republican lawmakers and conservative groups breathing down your neck were not unsettling enough, hundreds of lawyers and judges have now been tasked with turning over every stone and examining every shred of evidence pertaining to the professional life of Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

Immediately upon her nomination to the Supreme Court this week by President Obama, a peer review of Judge Sotomayor was launched by the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary.

ABA President H. Thomas Wells Jr. explains that every member of the standing committee will participate in the evaluation. In addition, "hundreds of lawyers, judges and members of the community" who have known Judge Sotomayor professionally will be asked to assess her on three key criteria: integrity, professional competence and judicial temperament.

In addition, two panels of legal scholars from respected law schools, and a third panel of pre-eminent lawyers with Supreme Court and appellate experience "at the highest level," will examine her legal writings for quality, clarity, knowledge of the law and analytical ability.

Finally, Judge Sotomayor herself will be interviewed "at length" by members of the standing committee, who will then evaluate the nominee as either "well-qualified," "qualified" or "not qualified." The peer review is then sent to the Senate, where members will weigh it along with whatever they have compiled.

NAVY VS. MARINE

College football fans haven't forgotten one of the 1993 season's more memorable games, when Army beat Navy by 18 inches. Yes, as in just over a foot. Continued...