Free Republic

Well isn't that interesting: John Edwards is on his way out, so that makes Arlen Specter the trial lawyers' darling in the Senate. The liberal Specter is also in line to become chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. If that happens, we're betting that President Bush's plans for tort reform will be dead on arrival. The real problem, though, will be the Senate approval for Supreme Court Justices. Bush may get to pick three this term, as well as elevate Clarence Thomas to Chief Justice. As Justice Committee chairman, will Specter play ball and support Bush's picks? Many groups around...

A rejoinder to Hugh Hewitt. What did Specter say last week? Specter, with the apparent support of Hewitt, claims that AP reporter Lara Jakes Jordan distorted his words. Specter didn't "warn" the president not to nominate judges who might vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. He merely predicted that such nominees would face filibusters. This explanation will not wash. The senator said that Roe was "inviolate" in his view; that it was settled law, like Brown v. Board; that any nominee who disagreed would face a filibuster; and that he "would expect the president to be mindful of the considerations...

It has been almost a year since President Bush nominated Arkansas lawyer Leon Holmes to the federal bench. Since that time, he has had a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, but his nomination remains stalled. Holmes enjoys the support of his two home senators, Democrats Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor. Even with their support, however, some Senate Democrats were uneasy with Holmes. Sen. Charles Schumer, the hard-core liberal New York Democrat, railed against Holmes, but those attacks began to subside last year. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle has said the Holmes nomination wouldn't be filibustered by Democrats. So what...

<p>Meet Janice Rogers Brown, the latest judicial nominee headed for a filibuster. Senate Democrats would have you believe this black seven-year veteran of California's Supreme Court is somehow not qualified to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.</p>

Congratulations to my two U.S. senators, Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor of Arkansas. And to Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy. And to the whole, solid block of Democrats in the U.S. Senate.You must be very proud. All of you played a key role in blocking the nomination of Miguel Estrada to the federal judiciary. Month after month after month. For more than two years. Until finally he gave up and withdrew his name from consideration.

<p>In the months since President Bush nominated me to the board of the United States Institute of Peace, confirmation etiquette has obliged me not to talk about my nomination. I thus found myself having to remain mute as opponents said what they would about me.</p> <p>For five months, I quietly endured Sen. Edward Kennedy borking me as someone not "committed to bridging differences and bringing peace" and a Washington Post editorial criticizing me as "a destroyer" of cultural bridges, among other slings.</p>

Etiquette called on me, as a nominee of the president of the United States, not to talk about my nomination to the board of the United States Institute of Peace while it was in process. Although the nomination was contested, I found myself having to remain mute as opponents said what they would about me. During five months of enforced quiet, I endured Senator Edward Kennedy borking me as someone not "committed to bridging differences and bringing peace," a Washington Post editorial criticizing me as "a destroyer" of cultural bridges, and other slings. Fortunately, others responded on my behalf; for...

<p>IN the months since President Bush nominated me to the board of the United States Instititute of Peace, confirmation etiquette has obliged me not to talk about my nomination. I thus found myself having to remain mute as opponents said what they would about me. For five months, I quietly endured Sen. Edward Kennedy borking me as someone not "committed to bridging differences and bringing peace" and a Washington Post editorial criticizing me as "a destroyer" of cultural bridges, among other slings.</p>