Brandon

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Senate Democrats More Concerned with Judicial Politics Than Nominee Qualification

The Alito hearings spectacle is over. Senate Democrat's conduct in the hearings and their straight party line vote on Alito in the Judiciary Committee demonstrates once again that their primary concern for approving nominees is political, not qualification of the nominee.

Thus, another leg has been kicked loose from the foolish stool of moral equivalence upon which those who claim there is no difference between Republicans and Democrats sit.

And South Carolina conservatives concerned with our own Senator Lindsey Graham's participation in the dubious constitutional "gang of 14" deal may have cause to find forgiveness. In his statement prior to the committee vote on sending Alito to the Senate floor for confirmation he made the following observations:


Washington Post Transcript: SENATOR GRAHAM: I also remember President Clinton getting two picks. And Justice Ginsburg -- everything you'll have said about Judge Alito we could say in spades about Justice Ginsburg if we wanted to look at the causes she represented and look at some of her political philosophy or statements she's made. But that was not chosen.

People say it's different because Senator Hatch suggested Ginsburg to President Clinton. Well, I want to compliment you [Senator Hatch] for looking at her qualifications and her being a decent person, and ignoring the huge differences you have with her on the law and life in general.
What's changed? It's not the quality of the nominees, it's the quality of the process.

To my friend, Senator Feinstein, from a pro-life point of view, Justice Ginsburg replaced a vote on Roe v. Wade. Justice Byron White voted against Roe v. Wade. We knew that would be a change, I guess, from the pro-life side and decided not to make our vote dependent upon Roe v. Wade.

Every Democratic [presidential] nominee that I can remember has openly campaigned on the idea that, "If I get to make a Supreme Court choice, I will make sure it will be a judge who will honor Roe v. Wade." There is no hiding that; that's said at the convention.


But Breyer and Ginsburg got 96 votes and got 89 votes.

I really do worry that we're going to take the Supreme Court nominating process and boil it down to abortion. And that won't be good for the country, but that's definitely the direction we're headed.

And let me tell you another thing that's not good for the country. With little chance of stopping Judge Alito confirmation to the Supreme Court, Senate Democratic leaders urged their members Tuesday to vote against him in an effort to lay the groundwork for making a campaign issue of the decisions on the court.

I'll just tell you right now we welcome that debate on our side. We'll clean your clock.

I mean, Judge Alito is closer to the mainstream of America than Citizens for American Way. We'll win that debate, but the judiciary will lose if we continue to do this.

I'm not afraid of the politics of judging. I've engaged in some politics of judging, looking back, that I probably shouldn't have done. I do worry about the independence of the judiciary being eroded.

As to who he [Alito] is and whether or not he's too deferential to the government, after listening to Senator Feingold, it's amazing he would even be considered for nomination.

He should be under house arrest.

Why did seven judges who served on the 3rd Circuit come to his aid? How do you ignore that? How could someone who is that hard- hearted, that bent on ignoring the law and following a narrow agenda, get a well-qualified rating after thousands of cases have been analyzed by the American Bar Association?

Why would these judges come up and embrace such a character, if all that were really true?

I would suggest to you that he [Alito] has not been treated fairly. I would suggest to you he's been treated poorly. And this is a sign of things to come.

Vanguard, if it bothers you, it really is more about you than the facts. What would he gain by intentionally not recusing himself? Nothing. It was a mistake and he said it was a mistake.
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What's going on in the Judge Alito nomination, I think, is not advising and consenting. It's more about politics.
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We're no longer advising and consenting. We're jockeying for the next election. And over time we'll erode the quality of the judiciary.

I welcome the debate in the years to come about what kind of judges Roberts and Alito will be. I think it will be in the mainstream of the law, but more importantly in the mainstream of where the American people are regarding the law.


Senate Democrats have sold their soul to leftwing fringe groups that actively undermine the democratic process with their blind partisanship and obstruction. But make a pact with the Devil and prepare to spend time in hell. The price Democrats pay may be the increasing marginalization of their party and further electoral defeat.

More at:
The Political Teen "Alito Sent to Senate on Party Line Vote."
A Rose By Any Other Name "Alito Confirmed."
Stop the ACLU "Committee Confirms Alito, 10-8."
Michelle Malkin "We'll Clean Your Clock."

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