While Andrew Sullivan -- whose penchant for ridiculous gossip reminds me of the lead nemesis from Mean Girls -- speculates hysterically about Elena Kagan's sexual preferences, and the media in general focus on irrelevancies, more serious voices like Glenn Greenwald have noted how dissapointing this Supreme Court nomination is, especially for the liberals who voted Obama in.

Writes Greenwald,

 It's anything but surprising that President Obama has chosen Elena Kagan to replace John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court.  Nothing is a better fit for this White House than a blank slate, institution-loyal, seemingly principle-free careerist who spent the last 15 months as the Obama administration's lawyer vigorously defending every one of his assertions of extremely broad executive authority.  The Obama administration is filled to the brim with exactly such individuals -- as is reflected by its actions and policies -- and this is just one more to add to the pile.  The fact that she'll be replacing someone like John Paul Stevens and likely sitting on the Supreme Court for the next three decades or so makes it much more consequential than most, but it is not a departure from the standard Obama approach.