Posted on 07/29/2006 8:21:02 AM PDT by BRUMama
I have had the honor of serving on the Senate Judiciary Committee for 43 years, during which I've participated in confirmation hearings for every one of the justices who now sit on the Supreme Court. Over that time, my colleagues and I have asked probing questions and listened attentively to substantive responses. Because we were able to learn a great deal about the nominees from those hearings, the Senate has rarely voted along party lines. I voted, for example, for three of President Ronald Reagan's five Supreme Court nominees...
But the careful, bipartisan process of years past -- like so many checks and balances rooted in our Constitution -- has been badly broken by the current Bush administration. The result has been the confirmation of two justices, John G. Roberts Jr. and Samuel A. Alito Jr., whose voting record on the court reflects not the neutral, modest judicial philosophy they promised the Judiciary Committee, but an activist's embrace of the administration's political and ideological agenda.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
In my mind I see that fine piece of Photo Shopped work on a large billboard in Boston or around DC with the caption "Chappaquiddick Fats" at the bottom. It could never happen, but it's fun to think about.
Roberts and Alito misled Ted? Bush misled him and the rest of the democrats about the war? How misled can you get? The democrats have been complaining about being misled since 9/11. Poor, weak-willed, uninformed, overpaid, misled, whining, convenient idiots.
The fact that the Chappaquiddick Chowderhead has been on the Judiciary Committee for eons is beyond comprehension and a blot on the senate and the people who continue to send him there. FatTed should have been rotting in a jail cell since 1969.
MaryJo was the one who needed an "exit strategy."
We can only hope.
POST OF THE DAY!!
They are.
Exemplified by the hearings for Bork ? Thomas ? Where Teddy himself led the charge.
I guess I didn't realize he was on the Judiciary Committee before Chappaquiddick, how did he keep his seat ?
:-)
Teddy's dad lobotomized the wrong kid.
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| If you load this article into Word, do a 'replace' for Roberts with Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Alito with John Paul Stevens & conservative with liberal, you'd think this article was written by a dumb downed version of Charles Krauthammer. In short it's just Ted Kennedy pretending to have an epiphany and wanting to be philanthropically engaged with the common folk by explaining all this to us. |
"Is Teddy drinking again?"
Waddaya mean 'again'? He has awoken to two bottles of gin since he was 25. He is a freak of medical science to be alive. His liver is like concrete. He only has 3 functional neurons left!
However, Roberts joined a startling dissent by Justice Antonin Scalia, stating that the administration's actions were "unquestionably permissible" because the federal government can use the Constitution's commerce clause powers "for the purpose of protecting public morality."
Just a wild guess - Roberts said this because it is TRUE. Kennedy's position is that the Govt *must* interfere with state redistricting using VRA (although the Texas redistricting met the basic legal reqts) but *cant* utilize the commerce clause to regulate produce commerce, despite clear FDA laws etc. Kennedy is the one begin hypocritical here, looking to the results not the law.
One clear loser is the environment. In Rapanos v. United States , the court was asked to interpret the definition of wetlands under the Clean Water Act. Four justices deferred to the Army Corps of Engineers' expertise in implementing the statute. But Roberts and Alito joined an opinion that describes wetlands as "transitory puddles" and criticizes their colleagues for "giving that agency more deference than reason permits." For Roberts and Alito, protecting the environment -- unlike "protecting public morality" -- is clearly not a top priority.
Kennedy, you idiot: it's not that 'wetlands' were being dissed as 'transitory puddles', it was that transitory puddles were being labelled as under Clane Water Acts that were - under law - supposed to cover 'navigable waterways' ... please, try tooling around in one of your boats in these drainage ditches and transitory puddles. And it's not the Justices' priority, it was is written in the laws.
In the very recent case of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld , Alito signed on to a dissent by Justice Clarence Thomas that asserts a judicial "duty to accept the Executive's judgment in matters of military operations and foreign affairs" as grounds for allowing the administration to use military commissions of its own design to try detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Wow. It is a startlingly *correct* viewpoint. The Constitution *does* clearly make the President Commander in Cheif and there is clearly a need for unity in the conduct of foreign policy, hence traditional defence to the executive branch.
Kennedy writes this as if there is something wrong with it. There is something wrong: Kennedy and the Liberals don't recognize the rule of law and basic Constitutional principles when it bites em on the butt. They keep trying to undermine the war on terror and undermine our ability to manage the terrorists we have in our custody. Perhaps we *should* close down Gitmo and move them all to a commandeered facility in Hyannisport, Ma. I am sure the Kennedy compound meets Geneva conventions.
THIS ARTICLE IS GREAT PROOF THAT ALITO AND ROBERTS ARE EXCELLENT JUSTICES. The Liberals that hoped to win via the courts what they cant win in the ballot box. Alito and Roberts are Judges, not advocates for one side or the other.
Kennedy says: "Instead, the Judiciary Committee, the Senate and the American Bar Association need to work together to return to an honest confirmation process." His one admission that makes sense. Kennedy and the Democrats hav been quite dishonest in campaign after campaign of asking for "Judicial modesty" but looking for a results-oriented Justice who would 'deliver' the kind of decisions they want.
There are reasons why we must NEVER let the Democrats control the Senate OR White House again. This is one of them.
Yeah, and Teddy lead the filibuster of Alito. Teddy complaining about too much partisanship in Supreme Court confirmation process is like Hitler complaining about too many concentration camps.
"Edward M. Kennedy (D) has represented Massachusetts in the Senate since 1963."
Way too long for for a piece of crap to hang around.
Well, we have to put some stock in what Ted Kennedy says when he charges someone "misled" us, because he's the Rembrandt of "misleading" if anyone remembers Chappaquiddick, July 1969.
Be happy Ted... your side got that goof known as Souter.
"Teddy's dad lobotomized the wrong kid."
You may have a point there, ya know.
Teddy has served on the Senate Judiciary Committee 42 years, 11 months, and 29 days too long.
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