Posted on 02/23/2004 5:24:24 PM PST by FlyLow
ABC and CBS on Friday night greeted President Bush’s recess appointment of William Pryor to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals by putting his views on abortion in an unfavorable light (“an opponent of abortion rights”) while the Washington Post, without bothering to mention how he, as Attorney General of Alabama, enforced court rulings to remove a Ten Commandments display from the state Capitol building last year, portrayed him as putting personal religious beliefs ahead of the law: “In 1997, his first year as Alabama Attorney General, he invoked God's will while speaking at a Christian Coalition rally to defend a state judge who posted the Ten Commandments in his courtroom.”
On ABC’s World News Tonight on Friday evening, anchor Peter Jennings intoned: “President Bush bypassed Congress again today and installed a controversial nominee to a federal appeals court. He named Alabama Attorney General William Pryor to a one-year term while Congress was out of town. Senate Democrats were blocking the appointment. Judge Pryor has denounced the legalization of abortion. He called it 'the worst abomination in the history of constitutional law.’”
Over on the February 20 CBS Evening News on Friday night, Dan Rather asserted, after a story on Bush appealing to conservatives on gay marriage: “The President did something today that will likely appeal to those same core Republicans voters. With the Senate out of session, he used what’s call a 'recess appointment’ to put an opponent of abortion rights, Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor, on a federal appeals court. Pryor is one of several Bush nominees who have been blocked by Senate Democrats.”
“Bush Again Bypasses Senate to Seat Judge,” declared the front page headline in Saturday’s Washington Post by Mike Allen. An excerpt from the top of the February 21 article:
President Bush bypassed the Senate on a high-profile judicial nomination yesterday for the second time in five weeks and seated William H. Pryor Jr., the Alabama attorney general and an outspoken opponent of abortion, as an appeals court judge through 2005.
Pryor is among six of Bush's appeals court nominees who have been blocked from confirmation votes by delaying tactics of Senate Democrats who contended the nominees are extreme conservatives.
He took the oath of office in Alabama last night and joined the Atlanta-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, which covers Alabama, Georgia and Florida.
Pryor, 41, has described Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court's landmark abortion rights decision, as "the worst abomination in the history of constitutional law." In 1997, his first year as Alabama attorney general, he invoked God's will while speaking at a Christian Coalition rally to defend a state judge who posted the Ten Commandments in his courtroom.
Senate Democrats said such comments show Pryor is out of the mainstream. But that same history has made him a luminary of the religious right. Bush made the election-year appointment during a weeklong Senate recess. In an e-mailed announcement, Bush said that Pryor's "impressive record demonstrates his devotion to the rule of law and to treating all people equally under the law," and that he "has received widespread bipartisan support from those who know him and know his record."
Bush's recess appointment was hailed by conservatives at a time when the right wing of his party has complained to the White House about issues including record federal spending and a delay in an endorsement of a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.
Pryor can serve through the end of the next session of Congress, which would adjourn at the end of 2005, Senate aides said.
Strategists in both parties said they took the announcement as a sign that Bush is still working to fire up his base voters for the November election. Geoffrey D. Garin, a Democratic pollster, said Bush is finding that "conservatives are angry about a host of things at a time when he ought to be making a turn to focus on the middle of the electorate."
Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, maintained that none of Bush's nominees "is more controversial than Mr. Pryor."...
END of Excerpt
For the story in its entirety: www.washingtonpost.com
Allen’s story left out a crucial point, which Washington Times reporter Charles Hurt raised in his February 21 piece: “As evidence of Mr. Pryor's adherence in the rule of law over personal beliefs, Republicans point to his role in the removal of the Ten Commandments monument from the Alabama state courthouse. Despite his strong beliefs that the monument should remain, Mr. Pryor fulfilled an order by the state Supreme Court to remove the stone tablets.” See: www.washingtontimes.com
The AP dispatch on Friday night, by Jeffrey McMurray, conveyed the same point: “Many Alabama Republicans remain angry at Pryor for leading the charge to oust the state's chief justice, Roy Moore, for refusing to abide by federal court orders requiring him to move a Ten Commandments monument from his courthouse. “Supporters hope almost two years on the federal appeals court will prove to Democrats that Pryor, as they say he showed in the Ten Commandments case, is willing to look at more than one side of an issue.” See: story.news.yahoo.com
A month ago, when President Bush made a recess appointment for Charles Pickering, the January 19 CyberAlert highlighted ABC’s differing treatment of it compared to when President Clinton made a recess appointment late in his term: ABC’s inconsistency on recess judicial appointments. On Friday night [January 16], Peter Jennings, without uttering a syllable about how Senate Democrats have used unprecedented tactics to block Bush judicial nominees or conveying anything positive about Charles Pickering’s qualifications, highlighted how “Democrats accuse Pickering of opposing civil rights” while Senator Kennedy claimed “'the President’s appointment serves only to emphasize again this administration’s shameful opposition to civil rights.’” But back in December of 2000 when President Clinton made a recess judicial appointment, ABC anchor Aaron Brown treated Clinton as the one fully justified in his actions in the face of Senate Republicans opposed to black nominees. Brown trumpeted how Roger Gregory “will be the first African-American on the court. The President has nominated four African-Americans to the 4th Circuit but Republicans in Congress would not hold confirmation hearings.”
For the full contrast: www.mediaresearch.org
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