Posted on 07/20/2005 7:33:31 AM PDT by Babu
After pretending to consider various women and minorities for the Supreme Court these past few weeks, President Bush decided to disappoint all the groups he had just ginned up and nominate a white male.
So all we know about him for sure is that he can't dance and he probably doesn't know who Jay-Z is. Other than that, he is a blank slate. Tabula rasa. Big zippo. Nada. Oh, yeah...we also know he's argued cases before the supreme court. big deal; so has Larry fFynt's attorney.
But unfortunately, other than that that, we don’t know much about John Roberts. Stealth nominees have never turned out to be a pleasant surprise for conservatives. Never. Not ever.
Since the announcement, court-watchers have been like the old Kremlinologists from Soviet days looking for clues as to what kind of justice Roberts will be. Will he let us vote?
Does he live in a small, rough-hewn cabin in the woods of New Hampshire and avoid "women folk"?
Does he trust democracy? Or will he make all the important decisions for us and call them “constitutional rights.”
It means absolutely nothing that NARAL and Planned Parenthood attack him: They also attacked Sandra Day O’Connor, Anthony Kennedy and David Hackett Souter.
The only way a supreme court nominee could win the approval of NARAL and Planned Parenthood would be to actually perform an abortion during his confirmation hearing, live, on camera, and preferably a partial birth one.
It means nothing that Roberts wrote briefs arguing for the repeal of Roe v. Wade when he worked for Republican administrations. He was arguing on behalf of his client, the United States of America. Roberts has specifically disassociated himself from those cases, dropping a footnote to a 1994 law review article that said:
“In the interest of full disclosure, the author would like to point out that as Deputy Solicitor General for a portion of the 1992-93 Term, he was involved in many of the cases discussed below. In the interest of even fuller disclosure, he would also like to point out that his views as a commentator on those cases do not necessarily reflect his views as an advocate for his former client, the United States.”
This would have been the legal equivalent, after O.J.'s acquittal, of Johnnie Cochran saying, "hey, I never said the guy was innocent. I was just doing my job."
And it makes no difference that conservatives in the White House are assuring us Roberts can be trusted. We got the exact same assurances from officials working for the last president Bush about David Hackett Souter.
I believe their exact words were, "Read our lips; Souter's a reliable conservative."
From the theater of the absurd category, the Republican National Committee’s “talking points” on Roberts provide this little tidbit:
“In the 1995 case of Barry v. Little, Judge Roberts argued—free of charge—before the D.C. Court of Appeals on behalf of a class of the neediest welfare recipients, challenging a termination of benefits under the District’s Public Assistance Act of 1982.”
I'm glad to hear the man has a steady work record, but how did this make it to the top of his resume?
Bill Clinton goes around bragging that he passed welfare reform, which was, admittedly, the one public policy success of his entire administration (passed by the Republican Congress). But now apparently Republicans want to pretend the Party of welfare queens! Soon the RNC will be boasting that Republicans want to raise your taxes and surrender in the war on terrorism too.
Finally, lets ponder the fact that Roberts has gone through 50 years on this planet without ever saying anything controversial. That’s just unnatural.
By contrast, I held out for three months, tops, before dropping my first rhetorical bombshell, which I think was about Goldwater.
It’s especially unnatural for someone who is smart and there’s no question but that Roberts is smart.
If a smart and accomplished person goes this long without expressing an opinion, they'd better be pursuing the Miss America title.
Apparently, Roberts decided early on that he wanted to be on the Supreme Court and that the way to do that was not to express a personal opinion on anything to anybody ever. It’s as if he is from some space alien sleeper cell. Maybe the space aliens are trying to help us, but I wish we knew that.
If the Senate were in Democrat hands, Roberts would be perfect. But why on earth would Bush waste a nomination on a person who is a complete blank slate when we have a majority in the Senate!
We also have a majority in the House, state legislatures, state governorships, and have won five of the last seven presidential elections — seven of the last ten!
We're the Harlem Globetrotters now - why do we have to play the Washington Generals every week?
Conservatism is sweeping the nation, we have a fully functioning alternative media, we’re ticked off and ready to avenge Robert Bork . . . and Bush nominates a Rorschach blot.
Even as they are losing voters, Democrats don’t hesitate to nominate reliable left-wing lunatics like Ruth Bader Ginsberg to lifetime sinecures on the High Court. And the vast majority of Americans loathe her views.
As I’ve said before, if a majority of Americans agreed with liberals on abortion, gay marriage, pornography, criminals’ rights, and property rights –liberals wouldn’t need the Supreme Court to give them everything they want through invented “constitutional” rights invisible to everyone but People For the American Way. It’s always good to remind voters that Democrats are the party of abortion, sodomy, and atheism and nothing presents an opportunity to do so like a Supreme Court nomination.
During the “filibuster” fracas, one lonely voice in the woods admonished Republicans: “Of your six minutes on TV, use 30 seconds to point out the Democrats are abusing the filibuster and the other 5 1/2 minutes to ask liberals to explain why they think Bush's judicial nominees are ‘extreme.’" Republicans ignored this advice, spent the next several weeks arguing about the history of the filibuster, and lost the fight.
Now we come to find out from last Sunday’s New York Times — the enemy’s own playbook! — that the Democrats actually took polls and determined that they could not defeat Bush’s conservative judicial nominees on ideological grounds. They could win majority support only if they argued turgid procedural points.
That’s why the entire nation had to be bored to death with arguments about the filibuster earlier this year.
The Democrats’ own polls showed voters are no longer fooled by claims that the Democrats are trying to block “judges who would roll back civil rights.” Borking is over.
And Bush responds by nominating a candidate who will allow Democrats to avoid fighting on their weakest ground – substance. He has given us a Supreme Court nomination that will placate no liberals and should please no conservatives.
Maybe Roberts will contravene the sordid history of “stealth nominees” and be the Scalia or Thomas Bush promised us when he was asking for our votes. Or maybe he won’t. The Supreme Court shouldn't be a game of Russian roulette.
No, you are wrong on that one. Scalia was a known originalist and sailed through because he was brilliant and the administration handled the nomination really well.
And in a few years, I expect she will have the class to write a column in which she admits she was wrong about him.
I've discussed this more in one radio interview this morning. I have two more radio interviews on this, and an article to write and publish on the same subject. Stay tuned.
Congressman Billybob
As I recall, there was ONE person whose word GWHB and others like Helms were taking their key from : Sununu.
With Roberts, it is clear there are many vouching for his Constitutional credentials. I don't believe that there is a valid comparison, and also trust Ann will change her opinion about him in time.
I don't think the choice of Roberts is anything at all like a crap shoot.
We end how? The only grounds for impeachment are not being in "good behavior". We had a Senate that couldn't impeach a President for committing a felony in office. We have a Senate who didn't have the spine to deny Arlen Specter the Judiciary chairmanship. Do you think there would be any hope of removing Roberts because he "pulls a Souter"? This is why the NOMINATION process is important. Once confirmed he's in regardless of whether he turns out to be a closet activist. Done deal, at least in this universe.
Absolutely ...... NOT NOW!
The Iron is all upstairs be careful not to fall over.
from Redstate.org
http://www.redstate.org/print/2005/7/19/22562/5025
One Pro-Lifer's View
By: Augustine · Section: SCOTUS
there are two things that should encourage all of those who care about the life issue:
1. The close of Roberts remarks this evening - where he said: "I also want to acknowledge my children, my daughter, Josie, my son, Jack, who remind me every day why it's so important for us to work to preserve the institutions of our democracy" - becomes more meaningful when you realize that his children are adopted. This is not a typical thing for a nominee to say, and I do not believe this line was an accident.
2. Roberts is married to the former Executive Vice President of Feminists for Life. This matters, and it cannot be underestimated. Look at Ginny Thomas and Maureen Scalia - one does not sleep in the same bed as someone who has dedicated themselves to this cause without ramifications. The strong opinions of the New York Times will not beat out the strong opinions of a dedicated spouse.
I have an idea, why don't we actually watch the nomination hearings and see how this guy turns out.
She needs way too much attention.......... and a lot of food!
The fact that Roberts has not spent most of his life as a judge ought to be a point in his favor. Maybe next time Bush will go even further out on a limb and nominate a Supreme Court justice who isn't even a lawyer.
This country has already been influenced way too much by a bunch of mediocre, limp-wristed career jurists who have no idea what it takes to earn a real living.
It would be refreshing to see a rancher or a truck driver on the U.S. Supreme Court. You can be sure there won't be too many "penumbras" in his opinions, and to someone like that the U.S. Constitution will mean exactly what it says.
His entire career is working for conservatives fighting the most conservative cases. Any lawyer desiring to become a judge would be stupid not to put a disclaimer on every case they work on, otherwise it would be fuel for the enemy. I can understand having some doubts, but I am not in the doubter camp on this one. The names floated yesterday, I was, but not Roberts. It was a pleasant surprise.
Her own "nominee" proves that she is not serious about this matter.
The point is there is nothing in post 86 that proves he is a rock solid conservative, so we don't know. Why not appoint a sure thing, like Luttig. I like to think he is, but all we have is positions he's taken in legal briefs, which mean NOTHING. In my legal career, I have written some pretty strong language in briefs advocating positions I personally disagreed with.
If the CJ is in the majority he/she can elect to write the majority opinion or choose who to assign it to.
The CJ also gets to preside over impeachment trials
Ann is completely out-to-lunch on this one. Proving once again that she doesn't really care whether she is accurate, just as long as she can ensure that no one gets to her right. While it may be entertaining red meat, when one becomes that predictable there is nothing particularly illuminating about what one has to say.
Well, I'm grateful that you're controversial and all, Ann, but I don't think you should compare yourself to a Supreme Court Justice.
(BTW...I did enjoy Ann's book, "Treason".)
Why should the scrawny girl wait so long?
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