Posted on 10/31/2005 3:12:28 AM PST by kcvl
Regardless, it set the standard, once and for all, to eliminate AG.
Haven't seen Eleanor Clift on FNC in a while, is Marvin Kalb her replacement? He sure is just as much a Dem hack.
Actually, Kennedy has always been more of a swing vote than O'Connor was. I remember reading (and also hearing Rush read the piece on the air as well) way back when O'Connor first resigned and the Dems were first making the argument that the ideological balance on the Court had to be preserved, therefore the President had to appoint a moderate. Someone actually looked at the way she and Kennedy voted and O'Connor voted much more consistently with the conservative block more than with the liberal block. I think our side thinks she was moderate because, when she did join them, it was on a hot button issue that we paid more attention to. In any case, Alito will be a more dependable vote than she ever was. But he won't have a massive effect unless he is able to persuade someone like Kennedy. And I think that there may be more of a chance of that since his reasoning in opinions is more persuasive and logically based than O'Connor's ever was. Time will tell, though.
The National Endowment for the Arts was established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. That was under LBJ and I am virtually positive that JFK would have supported it. In fact the JFK Library received a grant in 2003 from the NEA. The NEA continued under Reagan.
A 60s moderate would be called extreme right wing today.
By whom, the Dems? Having been a voter in the 1960s, a 60s moderate was not, objectively speaking, an extreme right winger today. What would Goldwater be considered today? Probably a moderate. LOL.
Wrong again. It's a simple, mathematical equasion [sic]. Who took more land with FEWER fatalities than GW Bush? Not one US president. And Afghanistan was called 'unconquerable'.
A rather foolish measure to determine the greatness of a President in wartime. I guess Bill Clinton is the greatest wartime President because he defeated the Serbs without the loss of a single American casualty in combat. Gimme a break.
To compare the military threat of Iraq and Afghanistan to Germany and Japan is ridiculous. The scale and intensity of today's conflict is a mere pinprick to WWII where almost 60 million lost their lives. The ragtag, third-world, fourth rate militaries of Iraq and Afghanistan have no chance against the world's lone superpower. You need to develop some historical perspective. By the way, we have not conquered Afghanistan and the fighting continues both there and in Iraq.
How about someone with the guts to go for the jugular? It was a terrible campaign. Bush almost lost and Gore was extremely vulnerable. All Bush had to do was make daily jokes about Gore draining a dam DURING a drought for a canoe photo-op. Easy work
I thought your contention was that the primary was hijacked by some unknown group. Are you saying that Bush should have been the nominee in 2000? You talk a good game about being a political strategist and campaign manager. Any real world experience or did you stay at a Holiday Inn?
I think Miers ultimately realized that she simply didn't have the knowledge of constitutional law necessary for the Supreme Court.
I guess I owe President Bush an apology. I didn't think he'd dare appoint someone who would anger the Democrats this much!
The same as the National Education Association.
TWO guys from Trenton on the court? Is this an Italian-American conspiracy? Where do I sign up?
LOL - most likely a small "l" libertarian.
Also mention that, should they go weak-kneed on Alito, the conservative reaction to the Miers debacle will look like a quiet spring day compared to the firestorm of negative reaction redounding to them.
Yeah, I think they share the same acronym and a person just has to consider the context.
I love it and hope we all vigerously get behind him on this candidate.... for some reason Chuckie thinks the President is 'weak' and can't get this candidate through. The libs simply do not understand the Republican Party.
I don't think voters pay as much attention to Supreme Court nominees as some people think.
I think he finally realized that he didn't have a choice.
Probably true, but I would imagine that the ones that contribute money do.
Ban on Gays is Senseless Attempt to Stall the Inevitable
By Barry M. Goldwater
The following is a transcript of Barry Goldwater's commentary on the military gay ban that appeared this week in the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times.
After more than 50 years in the military and politics, I am still amazed to see how upset people can get over nothing. Lifting the ban on gays in the military isn't exactly nothing, but it's pretty damned close
Everyone knows that gays have served honorably in the military since at least the time of Julius Caesar. They'll still be serving long after we're all dead and buried. That should not surprise anyone.
But most Americans should be shocked to know that while the country's economy is going down the tubes, the military has wasted half a billion dollars over the past decade chasing down gays and running them out of the armed services.
It's no great secret that military studies have proved again and again that there's no valid reason for keeping the ban on gays. Some thought gays were crasy, but then found that wasn't true. then they decided that gays were a security risk, but again the Department of Defense decided that wasn't so-in fact, one study by the Navy in 1956 that was never made public found gays to be good security risks. Even Larry Korb, President Reagan's man in charge of implementing the Pentagon ban on gays, now admits that it was a dumb idea. No wonder my friend Dick Cheney, secretary of defense under President Bush, called it "a bit of an old chestnut"
When the facts lead to one conlusion, I say it's time to act, not to hide. The country and the military know that eventually the ban will be lifted. The only remaining questions are how much muck we will all be dragged through, and how many brave Americans like Tom Paniccia and Margarethe Cammermeyer will have their lives and careers destroyed in a senseless attempt to stall the inevitable.
Some in congress think I'm wrong. They say we absolutely must continue to discriminate, or all hell will break loose. Who knows, they say, perhaps our soldiers may even take up arms against each other.
Well, that's just stupid.
Years ago, I was a lieutenant in charge of an all-black unit. Military leaders at the time believed that blacks lacked leadership potential - period. That seems ridiculous now, as it should. Now, each and every man and woman who serves this nation takes orders from a black man - our own Gen. Colin Powell.
Nobody thought that blacks or women could ever be integrated into the military. Many thought that an all-volunteer force could never protect our national interest. Well, it has, and despite those who feared the worst - I among them - we are still the best and will continue to be.
The point is that decisions are always a lot easier to make in hindsight. but we seldom have that luxury. That's why the future of our country depends on leadership, and that's what we need now.
I served in the armed forces. I have flown more than 150 of the best fighter planes and bombers this country manufactured. I founded the Arizona National Guard. I chaired the Senate Armed Services Committee. And I think it's high time to pull the curtains on this charade of policy.
What should undermine our readiness would be a compromise policy like "Don't ask, don't tell." That compromise doesn't deal with the issue - it tries to hide it.
We have wasted enough precious time, money and talent trying to persecute and pretend. It's time to stop burying our heads in the sand and denying reality for the sake of politics. It's time to deal with this straight on and be done with it. It's time to get on with more important business.
The conservative movement, to which I subscribe, has as one of its basic tenets the belief that government should stay out of people's private lives. Government governs best when it governs least - and stays out of the impossible task of legislating morality. But legislating someone's version of morality is exactly what we do by perpetuating discrimination against gays.
When you get down to it, no American able to serve should be allowed, much less given an excuse, not to serve his or her country. We need all our talent.
If I were in the Senate today, I would rise on the Senate floor in support of our commander in chief. He may be a Democrat, but he happens to be right on this question.
(Arizona Republican Barry M. Goldwater retired from the Senate in 1987)
Chuckie's just spewing propaganda. As Rush just said on his show, Schumer's fuming because he wasn't able to roll the President on this issue.
From RNC Email:
SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R-PA) ON
JUDGE SAMUEL A. ALITO, JR.
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA): "I've known Judge Alito through the better part of two decades. He sits on the Court Of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which includes my state of Pennsylvania. He brings to this nomination a very distinguished record: was in the Solicitor General's Office, was U.S. Attorney for New Jersey. He has been on the federal bench now for 15 years. We are in the process of assembling his opinions. It is estimated that he has been involved in about 3,500 cases, has some 300 opinions which he has written. So that we have a very good idea as to his approach to jurisprudence." (Sen. Arlen Specter, Press Conference, 10/31/05)
Oh, you get to speak but she has to shut up?
Nice.
Why would the fight over JRB be any worse?
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