SCOTUS as political institution?

Ideology Serves as a Wild Card in Senate Debate on Court Pick - New York Times:

"'It presents the issue in a very crystalline form,' said Richard D. Friedman, a law professor at the University of Michigan. 'Alito is superb on all the measures of qualifications. All that's left to oppose him on is ideology.'

Professor Friedman argues that ideology should not have a dominant place in the Senate consideration.

'The aggressively ideological opposition distorts the confirmation process,' he said. 'Treating it as a political matter may encourage a view of the court as nothing more than another political institution.'"

After the "selection" of 2000, I'm not inclined to view it as much else.