Why Is Everything a Big Fat Hairy Deal?

John Roberts' membership in the Federalist Society is raising eyebrows over at Nashville Is Talking. His apparent inability to recall being a member is throwing up red flags in the easily-agitated Left Of Center camp.

I personally think the answer is a little more Dilbert and a lot less Oliver Stone than folks are making it out to be. I've been a (Insert Fancy Word For Secretary HERE) many times in my life. It works like this: a stack of mail comes in, with bills, trade publications and the odd letter that reads:

"Have YOUR name listed alongside the Premier Members of YOUR FIELD". There's a lot of yadda yadda krep about values and not killing the whales or not killing the constitution or whatever, and then there's a form to fill out and a box where you check what type of membership you want. $65 gets your name listed in a book, $80 gets you the listing and a free subscription to a quarterly newsletter, etc.

Because every office has a subscription budget, it is usually viewed as good publicity to throw the token amount at the organization and get your name on the books. It's just one of the myriad silly ways that the wheels of the business world grind fine and slowly. So, the (Insert Fancy Word for Secretary Here) just fills out the form, charges the company credit card and voila, you're a member of the organization.

I'm not saying this is how Roberts was a member of the Federalist Society and doesn't recall it. But, hey, why not? I think the world tends to be less of a muddle of malfeasance than others would like to suggest.