Why, asked Senator Chuck Schumer of New York before Elena Kagan’s confirmation today, were so many conservatives opposed to the nominee, despite her record of achievement and mainstream credentials? Because conservatives are attached to right-wing judicial activism, and see Kagan as a threat to the current hegemony of conservative ideology on the highest court. Said Schumer:

The supposedly staunch opposition to judicial activism on the right has shown its true colors in this debate over a truly moderate and mainstream candidate. They themselves want right wing judicial activism to pull this country into the past. I’ve always said that the far right is using the only unelected branch of government to do what it cannot do through the two elected branches: turn back history to a time when corporations and large special interests had more say in our courts than ordinary people.

As Senator Schumer reminds us, our society has made tremendous progress over the last century – but that’s not the way the right sees it. A case in point for Senator Schumer’s argument was the memorable exchange between Senators Coburn and Klobuchar during Kagan’s hearing, in which Sen. Coburn suggested that Americans were “freer” thirty years ago and Sen. Klobuchar reminded him of the astonishing progress women have made during that time.