When we go through this ritual of Supreme Court nomination and confirmation, the brainier publications look at the interest groups and great legal questions. But there's another part of the story -- in some ways bigger in terms of the result and often more gripping to my attention-- that is everywhere but too little discussed. And that is, the cast of spinmeisters and freakbots on the cable shows either smearing or carrying the water of the nominee.

And right out of the gate the chief anti-Sotomayor rabble rouser seemed to be a woman named Wendy Long. You can see her yacking it up on all the shows. You've probably seen her somewhere. In our ed. meeting this morning Brian Beutler raised the point that Curtis Levey -- another highly visible freakbot -- is not only the chief TV spinner for his group The Committee for Justice but also runs the group. And Long is only the TV yacker for her group, the Judicial Confirmation Network. And he even says that Levey's group has more muscle. So I had to take Brian to task and explain that he shouldn't waste my time with all those details. Wendy Long is the chief freakbot on TV. And really, what else matters?

So if you want to know a bit more about her, here's our run-down.

We want to keep an eye on Long though. So when you see her on TV, pay attention to what she says. And she says anything particularly nuts, drop us a line. And you have any more relevant background, let us know about that too.