It looks like Bush was right to give the American Bar Association the boot from its privilged place in evaluating judicial nominees.

If you ever want to be a judge on the federal bench, you better have attended Harvard or Yale or Stanford. A state school apparently isn't good enough.

Byron York reports in National Review Online:

In addition, (ABA evaluation committee member David) Weiner was unimpressed with (assistant U.S. Attorney David) Bunning's decision to attend the University of Kentucky for both undergraduate and law-school training. Weiner cited what he called Bunning's "lack of academic achievement" and said his "middle-of-the-class law school record does not speak well for him." Finally, Weiner said Bunning showed "no intellectual spark or legal enthusiasm that carried the day with our committee."

If it wasn't obvious before that the ABA is just an interest group like any other, it should be now.