Boxing In the “Ultraconservatives”

Monday’s Times features a stark case of political slant in its capsule profiles of the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will hold hearings on John Roberts’ Supreme Court nomination starting today.

Pro-abortion Republican Sen. Arlen Specter is described as a “maverick” who is “reviled by the right.” Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas is a “darling of conservatives.” Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma is “ultraconservative.” Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona is a “pro-business conservative.”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the aisle, Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts is not a liberal but merely a “Democratic elder statesman” ( business as usual at the Times). Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York isn’t liberal either, and neither is leftist Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin.