Judge Alito's mom sounds a lot of fun. I like it that she is irrepresible enough to say the truth about how he must have felt when Harriet Miers got the first nod.

Alito's mother, Rose, who will turn 91 in December, spent Monday fielding congratulatory telephone calls from her home in Hamilton, N.J., a Trenton suburb. ''I'm so excited I can't even express myself,'' she said.

More candid that her son might wish, she said, ''I think he was upset that he didn't get there in the first shot, that Miers got it.'' That was a reference to Bush's choice of Harriet Miers, since withdrawn.

If confirmed, Alito would be the fifth Catholic on the Supreme Court. ''Of course he's against abortion,'' his mother said, another comment supporters in Washington might wish she'd held back.

Todd Zywicki points out that his mother's name is Rose Alito. Say it fast and you'll hear Bruce Springsteen singing in the background.