HMM: OBAMA INTERVIEWS MONTANAN FOR SUPREME COURT. “President Barack Obama on Thursday interviewed federal appeals court Judge Sidney Thomas of Montana for an opening on the Supreme Court, a person familiar with the conversation told The Associated Press.”

And it looks like Obama may be taking my diversity advice: “The court is dominated by justices with ties to the Northeast and the Ivy League; Thomas’ career is rooted in the West — he lives in Billings, Mont., and got his bachelor’s degree from Montana State University and his law degree from the University of Montana.”

UPDATE: Reader E.L. Core writes: “Mainstream media treated Sarah Palin’s degree from the University of Idaho as an indication of her inferiority to Ivy League graduates: she couldn’t hack it in the big leagues. Think they’ll do the same with a graduate of the University of Montana if Obama nominates him to the Supreme Court? (Yes, that’s a rhetorical question.)” Yes, it is.