Roberts is a first-class lawyer, even if I haven't been happy with him as a judge. Scalia used to be a first-class lawyer before his ideology drove him outright wacko. Thomas just slipped through the cracks, and I don't know enough about Alito's pre-Court service to have an informed opinion.

I'd like to see Elena Kagan at least vetted, though I don't know what I'd find if I did take a serious look at her scholarship. But she seems to have her head screwed on straight. She's probably a little too much of a novice at that level, though -- she might be better for the next opening, after a few years as solicitor general.