Kennedy, Bork and the Politics of Judicial Destruction

The death of a public figure, especially a polarizing one, always makes things a bit dicey in opinionland. Do the detractors speak ill of the dead? Do the defenders pre-empt such criticisms, or does that just inspire the critics? In the case of Ted Kennedy, whose many accomplishments got due recognition everywhere, most chose to duck the fight on anything more problematic.

There was comparatively little talk about a Harvard scandal, a very sad end to a first marriage or a controversial rape trial. Even among the pundits and partisans, the name Mary Jo Kopechne was for the most part mentioned only in passing; those on the right who tried to make much of it seemed more petulant than aggrieved — perhaps even shrill — while those on the left who tried to make the best of it sounded patently absurd.

Can today’s political acrimony be traced back to a 1987 speech before the Senate Judiciary Committee?

No, when it came to Ted Kennedy’s less-than-admirable qualities, most accounts ran along the lines of this, from the obituary in the Times: “He was a celebrity, sometimes a self-parody, a hearty friend, an implacable foe, a man of large faith and large flaws, a melancholy character who persevered, drank deeply and sang loudly.” What “large flaws”? Well, you know …

But if this isn’t the occasion to dwell on the senator’s personal shortcomings, it should be one to examine his words. And in terms of both dramatic and lasting effect, nothing in his 46-year tenure in the Senate comes close to this:

In case you missed any nuance, here is the transcript including a bit more of the speech:

It’s just hypocrocy to one one hand lament how the game of politics is played out on one hand and praise Sen. Kennedy on the other. The blueprint for how to crush and defeat your political enemy was written by people like Kennedy during the Bork confirmation hearings. Add to that what he tried to do to Clarence Thomas just a few years later. He tried to do the same to Roberts and Alito but those men knew the facts while all Kennedy had were questions pre-written for him by moveon.org type staffers. This week we’ve heard stories about how Kennedy was sympathetic to 9/11 families who lost loved ones on 9/11 and how he encouraged people who had relatives pass away to young. Kennedy did have some redeeming qualities and perhaps he was a good people person in his dealings. It just would have been nice if he could have shown the same decency and honor in other areas of his public life. Sadly he did no such thing.

The Bork speech disgusts me more now that the illiterate affirmative action Sotomayor got approved without all the truth about her being told to the Senate (not lies like Ted Kennedy against Judge Bork).

Judge Bork just might have been one of the best jurists the Supreme Court would ever have had. Instead we get a woman who is so under qualified even to be a sitting jurist that it gives me a head ache . . . and blood shoots out of my eyes. Well, almost.

And I put the fault at the feet of Ted Kennedy. Conservatives failed to thoroughly vet Sotomayor out of fear of being attacked for being too tough on her. And they were too wimpy to counter Ted Kennedy’s attack on Judge Bork. Now we’ve got to put up with her for forty or fifty or more years. Well, they will rue the day.

The only satisfaction I have is that IF or WHEN it is proved that 0bama was an INELIGIBLE Candidate, then EVERYTHING he signed is INVALID, including placing Sotomayor on SCOTUS.

But that will occur ONLY if Conservatives can get their act together and stand as One Voice for the Truth About the Usurper who wanted to be A president.

Don’t get me started. I am so disgusted with the wussy wimp “Republicans” in Congress I could spit nails.

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