Posted on 10/08/2005 11:35:48 AM PDT by quidnunc
With the selection of John G. Roberts Jr. as the 17th chief justice of the United States and the nomination of Harriet E. Miers for associate justice, President Bush's presidency has the potential to be defined by a decades-lasting conservative shift in the Supreme Court.
And Bush may have the chance to name two more Supreme Court justices in the remaining three years of his second term.
In the long term, the type of justices Bush has selected and will continue to select if given the opportunity — well-qualified, traditional conservatives who believe in judicial restraint rather than judicial policy-making — may do more to change the course of our nation than the presidency and Congress combined.
Shorter-term effects already are being felt. There are four political, cultural and legal issues upon which Bush's nominations have placed an indelible mark:
• Elections matter: Democrats groaning about Bush and the GOP Congress will not override the fact that Republicans have won the past two presidential elections and the past five congressional elections. But for the missteps of Al Gore and John Kerry, and the agenda-less campaigns run by congressional Democrats, Roberts would still be sitting on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and Miers would be an attorney in private practice.
-snip-
• Qualifications out, ideology in: A seismic shift has occurred on what constitutes the basis for suitability for service on the U.S. Supreme Court, courtesy of the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. Previous nominees (with the exception of Judge Robert Bork) were confirmed on the basis of judicial experience, temperament, intellect, honesty and knowledge of the law. Under the new standard, it is now ideology all of the time. All other considerations are secondary.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at sltrib.com ...
bttt
It is deeply frustrating that we don't have the ability to motivate the "blues" to be more cautious and "red."How is it possible that intelligent people comprising a large fraction of the population have so dedicated themselves to the arrogant and superficial proposition of liberalism that a non-leader like Kerry can hold the president to 53% of the popular vote, and come within a quarter million votes in Ohio of unseating President Bush? We know that there are things about Bush that drive many of us crazy, yet on those things the opposition is even worse.
It just seems to be a case of parallel universes. Conservatives see the definition of the public interest in the Constitution and laws of the United States. Liberals act as if they believed that nothing actually matters except PR.
What the Forrest Gump punditocracy doesn't realize is that Bush's legacy will likely end up being like this father's after he appointed David Souter to the court. There is very little chance the overall direction of the court will change with the Roberts and Miers replacing Rehnquist and O'Connor.
Your "nuts and sluts" defense is getting tiresome.
Hear, Hear. Lets hope they will remain intellectually honest and never, ever listen to or read these members of the so called "Daffy Duck punditocracy" EVER again. After all, who wants to listen to a bunch of elitists? Right?
I don't understand this comment. What are you talking about?
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