"... rubber stamping a Zelig-like nobody with no written opinions about anything substantial...."
Let me say this again: We had a paper trail on Souter, Stevens and O'Connor. A lot of good it did us. What say ye now?
No once claimed that Souter was an "originalist". Also, we didnt pour through a candidate's background like we do now, given the elevated importance of the court nowadays due to all those recently discovered penumbras, etc.
Nowadays, Souter's background would draw much attention and concern. We are a different country now than we were 15 yrs ago.