Posted on 08/11/2005 5:42:22 AM PDT by OESY
This week's vicious attack on Judge John Roberts by the abortion lobby was not really a desperate effort to defeat him against overwhelming odds. Rather, it is part of an intricate game that not only determines the occupant of one seat on the Supreme Court but can set its ideological course for the next generation.
The current hard count for Roberts is 60 senators. That would be more than enough to confirm him and barely enough to end a filibuster. But it is not enough to further the grand strategy for a conservative court. At least 70 votes for confirmation may be needed to make it comfortable for President Bush to name somebody at least as conservative as Roberts to the next vacancy, which soon may be in the offing.
The 30-second television ad aired nationally by NARAL Pro-Choice America this week claimed that Roberts as a young Justice Department lawyer supported bombing of abortion clinics. In fact, he worked on a brief intended to protect peaceful picketing. NARAL's approach was not meant to sway the Senate but to pick off nervous Democrats and perhaps a Republican or two, keeping Roberts as close to 60 votes as possible. The president and his closest advisers then would have to ask themselves: If a nominee as squeaky clean as John Roberts cannot do better than this, can we risk nominating another conservative for the next vacancy?
The stakes are enormous for U.S. government policy. George W. Bush seeks the goal that eluded Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and the first George Bush: a conservative Supreme Court extending into the future. That prospect is why conservative action groups, disappointed with George W. Bush, supported his re-election in 2004 and stick with him today. Similarly, the unprecedented filibuster strategy launched by Democrats to block Bush's appellate nominees was in fact intended to inhibit Bush in filling the Supreme Court.
Instead, Bush's opponents have been off balance for more than a month. They expected the first vacancy this year to be created by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, so that, at worst, one conservative would be replaced by another. The next surprise was the selection of Roberts, a conservative who is not easy to assault. With his confirmation unlikely to be blocked, both sides are concentrating on the next vacancy.
Sources close to the Supreme Court thought the ailing Rehnquist's resignation might follow O'Connor's closely, and such public speculation might have prompted the chief justice's declaration that he is staying. Yet the current talk around the court is that Rehnquist is so ill that the vacancy will be created sooner rather than later. Such an opening is the real hope of liberals for a reasonable facsimile of O'Connor to restore the old balance.
Conservative activists would be ecstatic if Bush promoted Justice Antonin Scalia to chief justice, but architects of an overarching court strategy are not so sure. Three separate confirmation fights in a short time might induce enough battle fatigue for an O'Connor-like social liberal to slip in.
The unquestioned favorite for a conservative chief justice is Appeals Court Judge J. Michael Luttig of McLean, Va., in his 15th year on the 4th Circuit. If Bush flinches at naming two white men to the court in succession, two women -- both appellate judges on the 5th Circuit -- pass fastidious muster on the Right. Edith Jones of Houston has been an appellate judge since 1985 and was mentioned for the Supreme Court more than 15 years ago. Priscilla Owen of Austin, a former Texas Supreme Court Justice, recently was seated on the federal appellate bench after a long Democratic filibuster.
Luttig, Jones or Owen going on the court would cement a conservative majority. Any one of them likely would trigger a filibuster, either for chief justice or to replace Scalia, and the ''nuclear option'' might have to be pulled out of the closet for confirmation. Liberal hopes for Bush missing this golden opportunity could depend on how many senators vote against Roberts, and that is reason enough to smear him as an abortion bomber.
Not true at all. When Rehnquist is replaced, Bush will be in the position of replacing a conservative with a conservative. Bush will be able to make the case for a strong conservative to maintain the balance of the court.
I do not know why NARAL and their ilk even try to discredit Judge Roberts because there are plenty of Republicans eager to do it for them.
???? Since when is 4 out of 9 a majority????
(AR) Faced with growing pressure from concerned Democrats, the White House reluctantly released more documents to Democratic which may derail Robert's confirmation to the Supreme Court. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. said his staff's initial review of the documents was 'quite disturbing'.
Highly regarded Senator Schumer noted a gap of 18 days of missing work from Roberts record. "This large gap shows Roberts may have skipped key assignments and perhaps was even AWOL," Schumer stated.
GOP responded by spinning the story as 'old news' and not relevant to anything. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas desperately pointed out, "for God's sake, this was from kindergarten".
Senator Schumer wisely pointed out, 'but everyone knows kindergarten establishes the foundation of the rest of your education, and if Roberts skipped out of assignments then, how can he be trusted to a lifetime appointment? This gap raises serious questions about whether Roberts even graduated.'
A spokesperson for NARAL speculated, "those missing 18-days were spent associating with a kid who later married a woman who had a cousin who knew someone involved in an abortion clinic bombing. This is just another disturbing fact about Roberts that just keep trickling out. Roberts is obviously an extremist who supports killing of innocent post embryonic beings."
Congressmen John Conyers stated he plans to hold hearings, as soon as he finds a location he is not locked out of.
An unknown conservative group never before quoted in the main stream media before, drew huge media coverage by withdrawing their support for Roberts, illustrating wide spread bi-partisan opposition to Roberts.
CBS 60 Minutes memo department is busily obtaining vintage 1950's typewriters off e-bay in preparation for their upcoming damaging expose. Insiders at CBS said, "Our story is not going to be shot down by some pajama-clad blogger this time."
Calls to Roberts office were not returned.
So, what would they do "next" time? Nominate a liberal? He/She would be sure to sail through the confirmation process.
It's called the "Skim Scam."
Organizations like NARAL make frantic calls to their donors. The pitch is; "Give us $ so we can oppose this horrible Nazi that Bush has appointed to the Supreme Court."
They then skim 60 to 80% off the top of the donations for "operations and administrative expenses," run a few ads so supporters see something is being done, and keep the rest for high salaries their leadership gets.
It's much like the movie/play "The Producers."
Also, anyone who tries to make that argument does not know President George W. Bush. He does what he beleives is right, and he wants a conservative SC as much as anyone.
"Abraham Lincoln sold poison milk to school children" - Homer Simpson
Its going to come down to Frist. Is he a leader or just another damned GOP gelding ?
I think Novak is referring to the 'Gang of 14' which hopes to have a decisive role down the road, in relation to the 60/70 question. (and boost McLames presidential chances for '08)
Is this some kind of joke? NARAL has some chutzpah to keep up this charade...They need to realize that they are going down and only making a mess of their already pathetic reputation.
Even the Jane Roe of Roe v Wade has renounced the original decision and admits she lied about the whole gang rape story, which the case was based on.
The entire aborion rights movement is based on lies. The ad is entirely consistent with earlier evil.
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