The nomination of Elana Kagan to the Supreme Court has a few progressive commentators rightly chattering over the cartes blanches the Obama administration is receiving. Glenn Greenwald at Salon provides the most cogent summation of the illogic:

Just think about what that means.  If the choice is Kagan, you’ll have huge numbers of Democrats and progressives running around saying, in essence:  “I have no idea what Kagan thinks or believes about virtually anything, and it’s quite possible she’ll move the Court to the Right, but I support her nomination and think Obama made a great choice.”  In other words, according to Chemerinksy and Yglesias, progressives will view Obama’s choice as a good one by virtue of the fact that it’s Obama choice.  Isn’t that a pure embodiment of mindless tribalism and authoritarianism?

This isn’t the only position or action the administration has taken that progressives should have been up in arms about — provide your own example in the comments! FISA? Afghanistan? Health Care (non)Reform? Cabinet picks? — but today’s announcement and the initial reaction from The Left, particularly in light of the GOPs reduction, like a rustic sauce, to it’s bare (and embarrassing) base, is the latest example of what so many decried among the Republican camp during Bush’s reign:  support without question.  Democrats seem to be playing out the same blind faith and trust that seized Republicans during the last presidency.  Have faith in your Ma?  Sure.  Faith in your God?  Maybe.  Faith in your president?  No way. Faith and trust fundamentally undermine the scrappy version of Democracy laid out in our constitution.

Read more at CommonDreams.org (via Mark Engler); for $99 you can send a fax to God and all 100 senators that protests the lesbian, “pro-abortion” nominee; more on her Upper West Side, brie-eating, Socialist past, read the Faith & Reason blog at USAToday.