Yesterday, we showed how the attempt by National Review Online blogger Ed Whelan to paint President Obama's judicial nominee Goodwin Liu as out-of-the-mainstream has actually demonstrated that Whelan is himself far outside the mainstream.

Today, Whelan lashed out at one of the conservative supporters of Liu's nomination, Richard Painter, the former White House ethics lawyer during President George W. Bush's administration. Whelan -- a former clerk for Justice Antonin Scalia, a former deputy assistant attorney general, and a former senior Capitol Hill staffer -- claimed that Painter has “evidently lost his marbles”:

In addition to failing to confront my actual arguments, Painter relies heavily on the argument-by-authority fallacy. As he puts it:

Now, you can believe the top experts in the areas of Liu's scholarship and prominent conservatives such as Ken Starr and Clint Bolick -- or you can believe National Review Online's Ed Whelan. I know where I would put my marbles.

Set aside that Painter, having evidently lost his marbles, would have to find them first before he could put them anywhere. Painter leaves the false impression that folks like Starr and Bolick have actually responded to my critiques of Liu and of their misunderstandings of his record. So far as I'm aware, they haven't.

As a reminder, in addition to Painter, Liu has the support of Kenneth Starr, Clinton Bollick, John Yoo (who has reaffirmed his support for Liu while criticizing Painter's post), and other conservative scholars.