How Senator Leahy Defines an 'Activist' Supreme Court

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

Buyer's Remorse

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Democrat Patrick Leahy who voted to confirm Chief Justice John Roberts, now wishes he hadn't.

In an interview the Politico newspaper, Leahy says — "I think in his actions and the actions in which he has joined, he has made the court an arm of the Republican party ... The Republicans say they don't want an activist Supreme Court, but this is the most activist Supreme Court we have ever seen, running roughshod over the Constitution, like Plessy versus Ferguson did."

Leahy was referring to the 1886 Supreme Court ruling upholding segregated accommodations for blacks and whites on interstate railroads, which would seem an unlikely example of judicial activism.

Commuter Mayor

New York Mayor and prospective independent presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg is taking some heat for revelations that his claims of riding the subway to work "virtually every day" are not quite true.

The New York Times reports that Bloomberg actually rides the train about twice a week — and on those days is driven in an SUV about 22 blocks — past two closer subway stations — to one where he can catch an express train to City Hall.

A spokesman tells the Times the mayor's use of the subway has changed because media members were staking out his home and trying to do interviews as he walked to the station every morning.

Silence or Else

The Council on American Islamic Relations demanded that one of the speakers at today's session of a conservative youth conference here in Washington be pulled from the lineup — and threatened the organizers with legal action if they did not comply.

CAIR accuses best-selling author and terrorism expert Robert Spencer of being a — "well-known purveyor of hatred and bigotry against Muslims." It said his session must be canceled — or he must be kept from making what it calls "false and defamatory statements."

The Young America's Foundation — which organized the conference — replied by saying — "We will not be intimidated by radical Islamic thugs ... CAIR can go to Hell and they can take their 72 virgins with them."

Spencer did go on as scheduled this afternoon.

Watch Your Language

And what was billed as the first-ever "politically correct" baseball game was played Tuesday between the minor league Lowell Spinners and the Brooklyn Cyclones.

The first, second and third basemen were "base persons" — the shortstop became the "vertically challenged-stop" — and the batboys were "bat persons."

No errors were announced so the players' feelings would not be hurt. And the fans who participated in those between-innings contests were all given "good try" ribbons.

But in a stark break with the concept of political correctness — the teams did keep score — and the Spinners lost the game 9-to-5.

—FOX News Channel's Martin Hill contributed to this report.