Posted on 06/09/2005 10:15:57 PM PDT by ambrose
-snip-
William H. Pryor Jr., now 43, grew up to become the straight-talking attorney general of Alabama, a man who once called the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision "the worst abomination of constitutional law in our history." On Thursday, the Senate voted 53 to 45 to confirm Judge Pryor to the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, covering Alabama, Florida and Georgia, 16 months after Mr. Bush installed him on the bench temporarily while Congress was in recess.
To his detractors, Judge Pryor, the last of three judges whose confirmations were assured by a bipartisan agreement, is "an ideological warrior," in the words of Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York. In a court brief, Judge Pryor once asserted that a right to same-sex relations would also confer a right to bestiality and necrophilia, views that critics say are extreme and make him unfit for a lifetime appointment.
But to his supporters, who include black civil rights leaders in his home state, Judge Pryor is a welcome departure from so many nominees who do the classic Washington two-step, dancing around controversy. When Senator Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania, asked Judge Pryor during his confirmation hearing if he regretted the abomination remark, he did not take the bait.
"No," the judge replied evenly, "I stand by that comment."
Senators appeared shocked. Senator Jeff Sessions, Republican of Alabama, said the room was so quiet "you could hear a pin drop." At that moment, Judge Pryor broke a barrier, daring to talk about what Mr. Schumer described as "fervent personal beliefs" - and clearing the way for future nominees to do so - while advancing the cause of religious conservatives, as he has done his entire adult life.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Damn conservative extremists. Woo hoo!!
God give us men. The time demands
Strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and willing hands;
Men whom the lust of office does not kill;
Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy;
Men who possess opinions and a will;
Men who have honor; men who will not lie;
Men who can stand before a demagogue
And dam his treacherous flatteries without winking;
Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog
In public duty and in private thinking.
-- Josiah Gilbert Holland. 1819-1881
Nice to see him hold his ground and not back pedal or act defensive. 42 years-old, eh? Might make for a Supreme Court pick...
Despite reservations about the "deal," I am gratified that Pryor is now on the benchk. Schumer's attempt to disqualify someone from the bench solely as a result of their traditional religious beliefs was an injustice.
Part of the rats' strategery on the confirmation of any judge who has a whiff of traditional conservative sensibility is to brand such a judge "controversial" and then make sure that the vote is fairly close. They are doing this precisely so that if and when the time comes that that judge is nominated for the Supreme Court, they have a ready-made battle cry.
The days of the routine, near-unanimous confirmation of virtually every judge who was rated "highly qualified" and had no criminal record are over. The rats have driven the process to a level of hostility and cynicism from which it will never return.
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