Who awards blue ribbons? And where can we get one?

The AP reports that a “blue-ribbon panel” in Carson City, Nevada, voted 18 to 2 to place before Nevada voters in 2010 a constitutional change to scrap the direct election of judges with a political selection process.

Similar plans have been put before the voters and state legislature before—and have been routinely rejected. Two skeptics on the Article 6 Commission formed by the state Supreme Court succinctly described the doubts voters are going to have about this proposal.

The panel’s co-chair, Paula Gentile, doubted that the appointment of judges “adds anything to the equation.” She supported, instead, an approach that would put more emphasis on evaluating the performance of judges on the bench.

Another panel member, Frank Ellis was more blunt. He said he was worried the change would create a perception of “good old boys and good old girls” in cahoots in Carson City.

What did proponents for the change say? They naively cited materials from the so-called “nonpartisan” Justice at Stake Campaign. Maybe they don’t know that this is one of the far-left “public interest groups” funded by hedge-fund billionaire George Soros. They also bought the line that an appointment process with “retention elections” some time down the road takes the politics out of the process.

The good news is that the Legislature will have to follow the Commission in approving this constitutional change. Then another blue-ribbon panel—the voters of Nevada—will get to have their say.