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On Judge Alito, the San Francisco Chronicle is Unfit to be a Newspaper
Special to FreeRepublic ^ | 17 January 2006 | John Armor (Congressman Billybob)

Posted on 01/17/2006 3:20:20 PM PST by Congressman Billybob

Today (Tuesday) the San Francisco Chronicle ran an editorial entitled, “Why Alito is the wrong choice.” Instead of demonstrating what it says, it demonstrates why the Chronicle has failed to do its homework as reporters, in preparing its editorial. Here’s why:

The editorial begins with this statement:

In some ways, Alito's taciturn approach to questions about the great constitutional issues of our time was similar to that of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. But the distinction between the history of the two judges -- and the role of the justice they were nominated to replace -- are important.

First, this fails to note that the “taciturn approach” followed by Judge Alito was exactly the same as Justice Ginsberg’s. It is a gross violation of judicial ethics for any judge on any bench to comment publicly on any issue likely to come before him/her in a case.

As for the Justice that a nominee will replace, if all Justices should mirror the ones they are replacing, many of the current Justices would have been disqualified. If such a policy had always been in force, the Dred Scott case would still stand, upholding slavery.

The editorial continues:

Of the two, Alito had far more explaining to do about his past, and his answers fell short of satisfying concerns about his record of advocating repeal of Roe vs. Wade, highlighting his membership in a Princeton alumni group with retrograde views of women and minorities and all too frequently siding with government and businesses against individuals seeking redress.

Only laws can be “repealed.” Decisions of the Court, like Brown v. Board of Education which outlawed segregation, can only “reverse” prior decisions of the Court. Or, is the Chronicle just revealing its core belief that the Court is just an unelected supra-legislature with a roving commission to do whatever strikes its fancy on a given Friday (the day that Justices conference and decide the cases argued that week)?

Apparently, the information has not reached the editorial offices of the Chronicle that the anti-minorities and anti-women article from the Concerned Alumni of Princeton that Senator Ted Kennedy quoted from ad nauseam was a SATIRE. One of the tip-offs was that the article claimed for homosexuals “the right to bear children.” Helloooo. Didn’t anyone pay attention in high school biology?

The editorial next attacks Judge Alito’s suggestion as a staff attorney in the Reagan Administration that

Presidents... put... caveats with their signature on legislation. President Bush has been doing just that -- using ‘signing statements’ more than 100 times to essentially reserve his right to ignore a law he might find unduly constraining.

Apparently, the Chronicle missed the Supreme Court case which denied President Nixon the “right” to conduct “hold-backs,” refusing to spend money as authorized by Congress. Both President Nixon and the seminal case he lost were in all the newspapers, presumably in the Chronicle as well (unless it happened during the baseball season, as Tom Lehrer said at the hungry I.) Presidents can issue whatever statements they choose when signing legislation, but none of that changes anything about the laws just passed.

One last point. Apparently the Chronicle wants Alito to be a “moderate” or “centrist” like the departing Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. What do those words mean, in the context of a Justice of the Supreme Court? Based on the example of Justice O’Connor, it means not going overboard in enforcing the Constitution. Enforce it sometimes; rewrite or ignore it in others. A Justice who thinks that way is in violation of his/her oath of office. The Justices are supposed to obey and enforce the Constitution in EVERY case that comes before them.

No one wants a “moderate” policeman, who will capture some of the criminals if he feels like it. No one wants a “centrist” surgeon, who will correct some of the patient’s physical problems, but not others. And perhaps no one wants a newspaper which attempts to write authoritatively about the role of the Justice of the Supreme Court in total ignorance of facts readily available to any competent researcher.

[The author is not merely an opinion writer about the Court and its Justices. He has practiced First Amendment law in the Supreme Court over a span of more than three decades.]

John_Armor@aya.yale.edu


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy; US: California; US: North Carolina
KEYWORDS: alito; brownvboard; chronicle; dredscott; johnroberts; judgealito; justiceginsberg; justiceoconnor; roevwade; unfit
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The Chronicle is typical of most of the lib-Dems both in and out of office in this editorial. It demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of what it means to have a written Constitution, and why that is rendered a nullity if Justices pick and choose whether they will obey and enforce it.

John / Billybob

1 posted on 01/17/2006 3:20:22 PM PST by Congressman Billybob
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To: Congressman Billybob

"....the role of the justice they were nominated to replace..."

Irrelevant, your honor!


2 posted on 01/17/2006 3:26:12 PM PST by SwinneySwitch (Here's my strategy on the Cold War: We win, they lose. ~ Ronald Reagan)
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marking for later read....


3 posted on 01/17/2006 3:30:32 PM PST by eureka! (Hey Lefties and 'Rats: Over 3 more years of W. Hehehehe....)
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To: Congressman Billybob
Excellent post!!!!!
4 posted on 01/17/2006 3:30:44 PM PST by Kimmers
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To: Congressman Billybob
BTTT

Nice column John.

Cheers,

knewshound
5 posted on 01/17/2006 3:33:58 PM PST by knews_hound (Now with two handed typing !)
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To: Congressman Billybob

BillyBob BUMP


6 posted on 01/17/2006 3:41:12 PM PST by Christian4Bush (Over THREE THOUSAND PEOPLE lost their 'civil liberties' on September 11, 2001.)
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To: Congressman Billybob
In some ways I actually enjoy reading liberal tripe like that pointed out in this article. Liberal control freaks are hilarious when they aren't in control.
7 posted on 01/17/2006 3:42:12 PM PST by Jaysun (The plain truth is that I am not a fair man, and don't want to hear both sides.)
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To: Congressman Billybob

Tsk, John, I'm sure if we went back and checked the Chron archives, we'd find its editorials decrying the nomination of openly liberal Ginsburg to replace the largely conservative White.

Right? Of course we would!

/sarcasm.


8 posted on 01/17/2006 3:46:48 PM PST by pogo101
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To: Congressman Billybob

San Franciso is unfit to be anything


9 posted on 01/17/2006 3:52:47 PM PST by HarleyLady27 (My ? to libs: "Do they ever shut up on your planet?" "Grow your own DOPE: Plant a LIB!")
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To: Congressman Billybob
Here is the original thread on that editorial:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1559819/posts
10 posted on 01/17/2006 3:56:00 PM PST by SmithL (Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Lift up your gates and sing, Hosana in the highest! Hosana to your King!)
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To: Congressman Billybob

That last sentence summarized the entire MSM, plus detailing why they're rapidly going the way of the Dodo.


11 posted on 01/17/2006 3:56:25 PM PST by Unrepentant VN Vet (I can't really accept a welcome home until the last MIA does.)
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To: Congressman Billybob

As long as they don't claim to journalists or chroniclers, who cares? Oh my!! This rag is named the Chronicle. Perhaps they use a different language that English.


12 posted on 01/17/2006 4:08:38 PM PST by Fielding ("Others have died for my freedom, now this is my mark" Cpl. Jeffrey B. Starr")
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To: Congressman Billybob

I would rather read a back-issue of Pravda.


13 posted on 01/17/2006 4:25:57 PM PST by 04-Bravo
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To: 04-Bravo

A back-issue of Pravda would be more accurate


14 posted on 01/17/2006 4:31:16 PM PST by No Longer Free State (No event has just one cause, no person has just one motive, no action has just the intended effect)
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To: SwinneySwitch

Who exactly was Ginsber nominated to replace?


15 posted on 01/17/2006 4:31:30 PM PST by MiHeat
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To: MiHeat

Byron R. White

Democrat nominated by Kennedy in 1962.


16 posted on 01/17/2006 4:41:25 PM PST by SwinneySwitch (Here's my strategy on the Cold War: We win, they lose. ~ Ronald Reagan)
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To: Congressman Billybob
I just brained myself on a low beam in the basement and have a towel pressed to my head to stop the bleeding.

And suddenly, the points in the Chronicle Editorial make sense.

Maybe if I go back down in the basement and run into that beam a few more times, I can become a liberal.

17 posted on 01/17/2006 4:44:27 PM PST by dirtboy (My new years resolution is to quit using taglines...)
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To: Congressman Billybob

Easy pickin's for today's commentary. Every writer needs a day like that.

I'm surprised the editorial board didn't just keep on digging the hole they were in and criticize Judge Alito for denying the relevance of foreign law in cases before the Supreme Court.


18 posted on 01/17/2006 4:47:43 PM PST by concentric circles
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To: Congressman Billybob
Sorry to wax into a vanity post, but The American Heritage Dictionary definines "Chronicle" as follows: (krŏn'ĭ-kəl) n. An extended account in prose or verse of historical events, SOMETIMES legendary material, presented in chronological order and WITHOUT authorial interpretation or comment. The San Francisco Chronicle, contrary to the definition above contains MOSTLY legendary material presented WITH MOSTLY authorial interpretation and comment. For that matter, how many other worthless rag sheets also carry the name "Chronicle"?
19 posted on 01/17/2006 5:13:24 PM PST by E-2K
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To: E-2K

Houston Chroniclier


20 posted on 01/17/2006 5:47:58 PM PST by SwinneySwitch (Here's my strategy on the Cold War: We win, they lose. ~ Ronald Reagan)
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