Blacks at home support a judge liberals assail [NYT - Re: Charles Pickering]

The NYT ^ | Feb 17, 2002 | DAVID FIRESTONE

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Re above article: NATIONAL DESK | February 17, 2002, Sunday
Blacks at Home Support a Judge Liberals Assail

By DAVID FIRESTONE (NYT) 1641 words
Late Edition - Final , Section 1 , Page 22 , Column 1 ABSTRACT - Judge Charles W Pickering, whose nomination for US Court of Appeals for Fifth Circuit is being opposed by liberals, is widely admired figure in his small and largely black hometown, Laurel, Miss; not many black residents subscribe to Pickering's staunchly Republican politics, but a lot praise his efforts at racial reconciliation, which they say is highly unusual for white Republican in Mississippi; photos (M)

This national article, NYT 2002, is the only one I've ever read where the black residents and black leaders in the town who know Judge Pickering best are quoted - and their support for him is unwavering.

That's why I've now reposted it.

And, BTW, for some of our lurker friends -- Clinton also used his judicial appointment powers during a Congressinal recess.

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Congressinal = Congressional

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Judge Pickering, now a federal district judge in the nearby city of Hattiesburg, was praised by black city officials for helping to set up after- school youth programs here, and for directing federal money to medical clinics in low-income areas when he was a state senator. Black business leaders say he was influential in persuading white-owned banks to lend money to black entrepreneurs, helping to strengthen the city's black middle class.

When Dem presidentical candidates criticize a judge who did this, these candidates look silly to me.

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FYI.

[MEG33]

Kerry sounded so bad calling Pickering a supporter of cross burners or some such complete distortion of the facts.

[ThirstyMan]

We need to get some of these Mississippi blacks like Rev. George L. Barnes on national TV to challenge Julian Bond and his ilk.

Come on Fox!!! Fair and balanced please!

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I know what you are saying. Here these Dem candidates were actually getting some momentum in their 4-way tie, and they made all these stupid statements about Pickering. The candidates seem not to have enough time to investigate facts on their own. But, they should.

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Being on national tv may or may not be something of interest to people in a small town. Frankly, I think the NYT deserves some credit here, because no one else in media reported the positive reaction and black support in Pickering's hometown.

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RE your post #5 - It's interesting to me that local residents remember something very different than what Kerry said:

But they [local residents] do remember that in 1967, Judge Pickering testified against Sam Bowers, a Ku Klux Klan leader based in Laurel who was on trial for the firebombing death of a black civil rights worker. Several said that just as the judge broke with prevailing white opinion in the state to do so, they have no trouble differing with black opinion.

[ThirstyMan]

Agreed. The NYT does deserve credit for allowing this story to even see print.

[xsmommy]

here is some information on the judicial appointment process from the Federalist Society website.

[MEG33]

Kerry was referring to a distorted discription of a case where the judge thought an injustice in sentencing had occured in a cross burning case of one of the perps vs the other two perps..You don't think they will use any of the truth and good things said,do you?

[baltodog]

It's this simple: If Bush does it, it's bad.

What is the reasoning that the dems have for trying to distort this man's record.

I want to see Effin Kerry in that little town talking to those "little" people. He won't have the b#lls, though.

This whole issue just tears me up.

[em2vn]

Would you imagine that this article is fall out from the Jayson Blair and the strong bias that was exposed at the Times?
Think of what this article would have been if Jayson Blair had written it.

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Agreed. The NYT does deserve credit for allowing this story to even see print.

Thanks for saying so, ThirstyMan. I think the NYT has done plenty of things that understandably get some people upset, but, when the NYT or any other media is actually fair, it is only right to point that out, too.

And, that's why I think conservatives deserve credit, too. Because most conservatives, in my view, are more likely to cross the line and give credit if deserved, than the other side of the aisle -- which only seems to know how to scream.

This whole matter reminds me a lot of how the national left leaders always treat FL Gov Jeb Bush - and believe me, FL swing voters tune out to all that screaming. Voters draw their own conclusions about matters like One Florida and Election 2000. And, voters here decided to make history by re-electin Gov Bush as the first GOP FL gove to ever win a 2nd term.

Now, with Pickering -- some of these so-called national "leaders," I am finding, must be ignored if one has any interest at all in discovering the actual facts.

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Thanks for posting that link, xsmommy.

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I meant to type: re-electing Gov Bush as the first GOP FL gov....

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Think of what this article would have been if Jayson Blair had written it.

Yikes!!!

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I want to see Effin Kerry in that little town talking to those "little" people.

I would tune in to see that as well. But, here's the bottom line: The Dems will lose Mississippi, that's all. (And, a lot of other voters, elsewhere, who are watching all this will be wondering why "politics" gets priority billing over a person's actual record. They won't vote Dem either.)

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Re your post #12 - I will guess not.