Posted on 05/07/2008 9:47:32 PM PDT by The_Republican
There is no mystery to the missing lightning rods. John McCain neglects to volunteer the names of Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas as model jurists for an obvious reason.
The acid-tongued Scalia and the silent-but-no-less-extreme Thomas tend to scare the sort of moderate, swing voters upon whose good will the presumptive Republican nominee's reputation as a maverick -- and chances for the White House -- rests. So the straight-talker hit the delete button on Scalia and Thomas when he gave his speech on the federal judiciary at Wake Forest University on Tuesday. He inserted instead the names of Chief Justice John G. Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito as his judicial icons.
This has all the significance of substituting Pepsi for Coke.
President Bush appointed Roberts and Alito to placate the partisans of the right, who fixate on the courts as the branch of government through which they can further their agenda for decades to come, regardless of those unpredictable elections that determine control of Congress and the White House. Roberts and Alito have been stalwart partners of Scalia and Thomas, the two justices candidate Bush held up as models in 2000. Together, they've pushed the high court further rightward. The four have voted together, for example, to make it all but impossible for a woman to bring a successful pay discrimination suit, and for school districts to voluntarily promote racial diversity in their schools.
The history of Alito's ascension to the Supreme Court reveals the meaning of the epithet "Scalito." After the right wing pummeled Bush for having nominated White House counsel Harriet Miers to replace Sandra Day O'Connor -- the first woman justice who incensed conservatives with her center-right moderation -- the Miers nomination was withdrawn and Alito was put forward.
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
I agree.
I don’t trust McCain to appoint conservative judges. In fact, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him appoint LIBERAL judges, and whine that’s part of “being fair” or “reaching out” to the other side.
Of course, on the other hand, there’s NO possibility that the RATS are going to appoint anyone other than the most extreme, leftist pig they can find... so it’s Ravin’ John McCain or the highway.
The only thing I can hope for now is that he finds an acceptable VP. :-(
Ninety percent of Americans couldn't name more than one or two sc judges. Many could not name even one. The idea that moderates are scared by Thomas and Scalia but not by the Baders on the court is risable. Once again a lib columnist is projecting her biases into the mix.
McCain, and a lot of Reublicans, have convinced themselves that the winning formula is to be Democrat Lite. A slightly less filling alternative to traditional Democrats.
Instead of recognizing that the 06 debacle was a result of the abandonment of conservative principles, the Repugs have convinced themselves that it was their failure to match the Democrats pander for pander that brought about their downfall. And so we get John Kerry’s running mate as our standard bearer.
I think he might go through half-hearted motions once or twice,and then say he tired, but the country needs “unity.” I still have not seen any names of judges who are now on the bench, who he would nominate. He simply says things like, “in the character of” or “like” Roberts and Alito.
I want to see names. This man is sneaky.
Wrong. "Who fixate on the courts as the branch of government that has betrayed the Constitution for 60 years and needs to be changed."
I’m not sure why folks keep saying that. Look, it may look nice to have some Conservative hitch their wagon to McCain, but what possible good can come from it. John will be President. The VP can go suck eggs. Read up on Lyndon Johnson vs John F. Kennedy if you want to know what power the VP has.
IMO< the only thing a person gains by becoming McCain’s VP is to totally destroy their own credibility.
I couldn’t agree more NavVet. Good call.
“I’m not sure why folks keep saying that”
Because McCain is OLD. Even if he doesn’t drop dead in office, it seems unlikely that he’ll run for a second term. Therefore his VP choice will have a leg up on the nomination for 2012.
This, of course, presumes that McCain can actually win — which I doubt, considering he has a deep aversion to actually saying anything negative against the people who are running against him.
I agree. What McCain’s losing in alienating the far right (i.e., us) he’s probably more than cancelled out by attracting moderates and moderate Democrats, so we might have a chance there.
Unfortunately, with McCain, even if we win, we lose. We just lose less.
We will see. If you lose your spine, do your legs get stronger?
John will short circuit the Conservative movement.
I don’t see that as the lesser of two evils.
McCain gave us the Gang of 14
McCain gave us McCain-Feingold
McCain gave us Shamnesty
McCain is such a giver. What a benevolent guy to give SCOTUS judges to us pesky conservative peons.
You got that RIGHT, NavVet!!!!
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