Judge Wars: The White House Strikes Back
The ASSociated Press reports that, "President Bush on Monday sent the Senate 20 judicial nominees, including several who were blocked in his first term, signaling a new fight with Democrats."
They can't even get the summation right. This isn't a "new" fight with Senate Donks, it's the same one that's been ongoing for the past four-plus years.
The rafter reiterated by the President includes:
4th Circuit: Terrence W. Boyle and William James Haynes II.
5th Circuit: Priscilla Richman Owen.
6th Circuit: David W. McKeague, Susan Bieke Neilson, Henry W. Saad, and Richard A. Griffin;
9th Circuit: William Gerry Myers III.
11th Circuit: William H. Pryor, who received a recess appointment from Bush after Democrats blocked his nomination. That appointment expires at the end of this year.
District of Columbia Circuit: Janice Rogers Brown, Brett M. Kavanaugh and Thomas B. Griffith.
Contrast the respective positions of the two sides:
PRESIDENT BUSH: "Every judicial nominee deserves a prompt hearing and an up-or-down vote on the floor of the United States Senate."
Is GDub demanding that the Senate approve all his choices? No. Is he denying that the Senate has an advice/consent role in the process? No. He is, in fact, "upholding and defending the Constitution of the United States" by reminding the sullen, disgruntled political jihadis in the minority party of precisely what the Senate's constitutional role is as it pertains to judicial confirmations.
SENATOR EDWARD MANATEE KENNEDY: "The President looks like he is still more interested in picking fights than picking judges," Kennedy said. "The last thing the federal courts need is reactionary judges bent on rolling back basic constitutional rights."
All wrong.
First, the President is interested in picking the judges he wants. That's his perogative as President. It is Teddy and friends who are "picking fights," up to and including subverting the Constitution to deny up-or-down votes on nominees they know have the votes to win confirmation. That's the equivalent of the team trailing in the Super Bowl hiding all the footballs at halftime so the second half can't be played.
Second, it is the ironically named Democrats who are the reactionaries, trying like zealots to preserve an imperial oligarchy alone through which they can make a mockery of representative government and continue imposing their runaway radicalism over the democratically-expressed will of the people.
Lastly, the last thing the federal courts need is robed tinpots bent on illegally amending the Constitution without the assent or permission of Congress and the ratifying legislatures of "the several states."
What the federal courts do need is to be restored to their proper constitutional function of interpreting the law rather than usurping its legislation from their current state as the last redoubt of left-wing extremism.
And seeing as how Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) says he has the votes to outlaw filibusters of judicial nominations, it looks as if the federal courts are finally going to start getting what they need.
And there won't be a damn thing Senator Splash can do about it.
They can't even get the summation right. This isn't a "new" fight with Senate Donks, it's the same one that's been ongoing for the past four-plus years.
The rafter reiterated by the President includes:
4th Circuit: Terrence W. Boyle and William James Haynes II.
5th Circuit: Priscilla Richman Owen.
6th Circuit: David W. McKeague, Susan Bieke Neilson, Henry W. Saad, and Richard A. Griffin;
9th Circuit: William Gerry Myers III.
11th Circuit: William H. Pryor, who received a recess appointment from Bush after Democrats blocked his nomination. That appointment expires at the end of this year.
District of Columbia Circuit: Janice Rogers Brown, Brett M. Kavanaugh and Thomas B. Griffith.
Contrast the respective positions of the two sides:
PRESIDENT BUSH: "Every judicial nominee deserves a prompt hearing and an up-or-down vote on the floor of the United States Senate."
Is GDub demanding that the Senate approve all his choices? No. Is he denying that the Senate has an advice/consent role in the process? No. He is, in fact, "upholding and defending the Constitution of the United States" by reminding the sullen, disgruntled political jihadis in the minority party of precisely what the Senate's constitutional role is as it pertains to judicial confirmations.
SENATOR EDWARD MANATEE KENNEDY: "The President looks like he is still more interested in picking fights than picking judges," Kennedy said. "The last thing the federal courts need is reactionary judges bent on rolling back basic constitutional rights."
All wrong.
First, the President is interested in picking the judges he wants. That's his perogative as President. It is Teddy and friends who are "picking fights," up to and including subverting the Constitution to deny up-or-down votes on nominees they know have the votes to win confirmation. That's the equivalent of the team trailing in the Super Bowl hiding all the footballs at halftime so the second half can't be played.
Second, it is the ironically named Democrats who are the reactionaries, trying like zealots to preserve an imperial oligarchy alone through which they can make a mockery of representative government and continue imposing their runaway radicalism over the democratically-expressed will of the people.
Lastly, the last thing the federal courts need is robed tinpots bent on illegally amending the Constitution without the assent or permission of Congress and the ratifying legislatures of "the several states."
What the federal courts do need is to be restored to their proper constitutional function of interpreting the law rather than usurping its legislation from their current state as the last redoubt of left-wing extremism.
And seeing as how Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) says he has the votes to outlaw filibusters of judicial nominations, it looks as if the federal courts are finally going to start getting what they need.
And there won't be a damn thing Senator Splash can do about it.
posted by JASmius at 9:16 PM
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