"Oppo researchers digging into Elena Kagan's past didn't get the goods on the Supreme Court nominee -- but they did get the Thurgood.

As confirmation hearings opened Monday afternoon, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee took the unusual approach of attacking Kagan because she admired the late justice Thurgood Marshall, for whom she clerked more than two decades ago.

"Justice Marshall's judicial philosophy," said Sen. Jon Kyl (Ariz.), the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, "is not what I would consider to be mainstream." Kyl -- the lone member of the panel in shirtsleeves for the big event -- was ready for a scrap. Marshall "might be the epitome of a results-oriented judge," he said.

It was, to say the least, a curious strategy to go after Marshall, the iconic civil rights lawyer who successfully argued Brown vs. Board of Education. Did Republicans think it would help their cause to criticize the first African American on the Supreme Court, a revered figure who has been celebrated with an airport, a postage stamp and a Broadway show? The guy is a saint -- literally. Marshall this spring was added to the Episcopal Church's list of "Holy Women and Holy Men," which the Episcopal Diocese of New York says "is akin to being granted sainthood."

With Kagan's confirmation hearings expected to last most of the week, Republicans may still have time to make cases against Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa and Gandhi.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (Ala.), the ranking Republican on the panel, branded Marshall a "well-known activist." Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said Marshall's legal view "does not comport with the proper role of a judge or judicial method." Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) pronounced Marshall "a judicial activist" with a "judicial philosophy that concerns me.""

Get the Story:
Washington Sketch by Dana Milbank: Kagan may get confirmed, but Thurgood Marshall can forget (The Washington Post 6/29)

Also Today:
Kagan says she would take a 'modest' approach on Supreme Court (The Washington Post 6/29)
Kagan Promises ‘Modest’ Approach as Hearings Open (The New York Times 6/29)

Related Stories:
Senate Judiciary Committee takes up Elena Kagan nomination (6/28)
Supreme Court nominee dealt with tribal issues on tobacco (6/4)
Turtle Talk: Elena Kagan's 2006 speech on Navajo judiciary (5/26)
Turtle Talk: Supreme Court nominee hostile to tribal tobacco (5/21)
Indian law group wants to brief Supreme Court pick on tribes (5/17)
Supreme Court nominee never filled Harvard Indian law post (5/14)
Turtle Talk: What a Justice Kagan means for Indian Country (5/11)
Obama to nominate Elena Kagan as Supreme Court justice (5/10)
Turtle Talk: Indian law record of a potential high court pick (5/5)
NARF to discuss Supreme Court nominee at White House (4/21)
Native lawyers press Obama about Supreme Court pick (4/15)
Turtle Talk: Indian law and possible Supreme Court picks (4/14)
Turtle Talk: Indian law and potential Supreme Court picks (4/13)
Justice John Paul Stevens to step down from Supreme Court (4/9)
Stevens plans to leave Supreme Court with Obama in office (4/5)
Tribes working to keep cases away from Supreme Court (3/31)