Ted Olson Criticizes GOP Leaders For 'Heated Rhetoric' About Judges

Drudge ^ | 4/21/05 | Drudge

[joesbucks]

Ted Olson Criticizes GOP Leaders For 'Heated Rhetoric' About Judges Thu Apr 21 2005 09:57:54 ET

Former solicitor general Theodore Olson writes in the WALL STREET JOURNAL on Thursday: "A prominent member of the Senate leadership recently described a Supreme Court justice as 'a disgrace.' An equally prominent member of the leadership of the House of Representatives on the other side of the political aisle has characterized another justice's approach to adjudication as 'incredibly outrageous.'

These excoriations follow other examples of personalized attacks on members of the judiciary by senior political figures. So it is time to take a deep breath, step back, and inject a little perspective into the recent heated rhetoric about judges and the courts. We might start by getting a firm grip on the reality that our independent judiciary is the most respected branch of our government, and the envy of the world. ... We expect dignity, wisdom, decency, civility, integrity and restraint from our judges. It is time to exercise those same characteristics in our dealings with, and commentary on, those same judges -- from their appointment and confirmation, to their decision-making once they take office."

Developing...

[ambrose]

another leftwing RINO!

< / sarcasm>

[ken5050]

Ted just found out he's NOT on the SC short list..

[Spok]

So 'heated rhetoric' should be the sole domain of Democrats?

[RushCrush]

I bet you loved reading this.

[kingattax]

i would expect any practicing attorney who has cases that are being tried in front of these flathead judges to 'criticize their critics'.

i'm sure any private comments might be somewhat different

[Dog]

This is just great...

/sarc

[Huck]

We should start calling the GOP the Sysiphus Party. The Dems can be the Syphillus Party. Sysiphus vs. Syphillus.

[Soul Seeker]

Most respected branch of our Government? ROFL

Why not critisize the rhetoric against the nominated Justices by the DEMOCRATS! No, let's critisize those telling the truth.

Well I will tell him this. If Republicans don't stop this activist Judiciary, if they don't approve the President's nominations, the Republican Party is going to cease to exist as anything but an aberration in our history.

[roses of sharon]

Sorry Ted, I love ya, but how did you miss the insults, threats, and complete disrespect to the ct after 2000?

Or how about US Senate minority leader saying justice Thomas was an "embarrassment", and inferred stupidity for
"poorly written" opinions?

Where were your complaints for all these years?

Could it be that you were afraid too look to partisan to the NY elite media?

[mikeus_maximus]

We might start by getting a firm grip on the reality that our independent judiciary is the most respected branch of our government

That's not saying much.

[advance_copy]

our independent judiciary is the most respected branch of our government

Baloney, Americans are sick to death of the daggone courts. Wan't me to tell you some lawyer jokes? Ted Olsen is a lawyer, so maybe he doesn't like the idea that we should hold activist judges accountable. "Men in Black", read it, Ted.

[meema]

I'm sure this is not all Ted had to say. I believe he does not stand for SCOTUS using 'international law' as a standard while ruling on the constitutionality of any law before them.

[hang 'em]

"First thing we do is kill all the lawyers" - W. S.

[dirtboy]

We might start by getting a firm grip on the reality that our independent judiciary is the most respected branch of our government

Now THAT is damning with faint praise...

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

Yeah this is bunk. The GOP is following in a long tradition of free speech on thought on the subject. Welcome to America, Ted. The judiciary is the government. We the people have every right to criticize them and to expect checks and balances on their power.

[RJL]

We expect dignity, wisdom, decency, civility, integrity and restraint from our judges.

Ted, I also demand that they follow United States laws as written and pay no attention to the laws and customs of other countries in their decisions.

[pwatson]

Well, he is wrong, the Democrats Judges are mostly a bunch of Communist America haters who rule based on whims, fetishes and international law, everything except the Constitution and the Federalist Papers.
That said, I have to cut Ted a break only because his wife was on the phone to him on 9-11-01 as her plane hit the Pentagon. For that alone I give him one free pass for stupid statements.

[Fam4Bush]

We expect dignity, wisdom, decency, civility, integrity and restraint from our judges. 0 for 6.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

Exactly. Besides, they are not ENTITLED to respect. It must be earned. And if anything, they are the branch MOST in need of criticism because they really have more ability to usurp power than the others do. Ted is just suffering from a momentary human failing: I am the one with the wisest of answers. I am the only reasonable one. I alone can solve this..... He's trying to have it both ways by criticizing and condemning criticism of the judiciary all at the same time. It's really silly and rather smug.

[AppyPappy]

Ted was awfully quiet when the Dems were doing this to Republican judges.

[Preachin']

He is saying this because he has tried several cases in front of the USSC.

He is only trying to make sure he doesn't get placed in a place where the justice's personal opinion of him will come into play.

Looking out for self.

[brothers4thID]

Mrs. Bush told the President, during the 2000 campaign, to "back off the rhetoric". If that advice is good enough for such a Lady to give to such a Leader, then I think it applies here too.

Personal demeaning attacks only lower the tone of the debate and distract from the substance.

[firewalk]

The title says...

Ted Olson Criticizes GOP Leaders For 'Heated Rhetoric' About Judges

but the article says...

Former solicitor general Theodore Olson writes in the WALL STREET JOURNAL on Thursday:
"A prominent member of the Senate leadership recently described a Supreme Court justice as 'a disgrace.'
An equally prominent member of the leadership of the House of Representatives on the other side of the political aisle
has characterized another justice's approach
to adjudication as 'incredibly outrageous.

...looks to me like Mr. Olson is being critical of both sides...

future Nominee for the Supreme Court
...one can only hope

[b4its2late]

Even Ted is allowed to be wrong once in a while.

[rwfromkansas]

Ted is a good guy.

But, he is also a legal guy.

Thus, when anybody in the legal arena is criticized, even those he no doubt doesn't like himself, he will defend them.

It is stupid, but it is what he is doing here.

[drjimmy]

...looks to me like Mr. Olson is being critical of both sides...

You are correct. Olson is criticizing both sides. The Drudge headline is wrong but I don't know if it can/should be corrected for the title of this thread.

[Radioactive]

The one from the House was Delay.

That is why Delay has come under attack.

He is going after the only place in government in which the communists of the Demoncrat party have any power....in the Judicial.

That is why the Demoncrats are fighting against Bush appointees. They want control of the Judicial because they know that they don't have a snowballs chance in hell to get their candidates with their communist goals elected into office and put their idea of socialism into our country.

It is time for america to wake up and see that the Demoncrats have only one goal...complete domination of our court system.

They must be stopped.

[joesbucks]

I bet you loved reading this.

How can you say that?

Enjoyed for the reasons you believe? No. Welcomed advice from someone who is conservative, consitutional, judicial, well reasoned, respected and rational. That I enjoyed.

[formercalifornian]

lol

[MamaLucci]

Ted is a beltway insider.......probably goes to cocktail
parties with SC Justices. The only surprise here is that he
is breaking Reagan's 11th Commandment, and I thought Ted
was smarter than that.

[formercalifornian]

That is for sure. Every time a body turns up after an Amber alert, and a released child molester turns out to be the perp, I think really hard about our esteemed independent judiciary.

[Texas Federalist]

I agree. Even if you are a little more cynical, he is attempting to preserve the power of a branch of government in which he may serve. Self-interest drives people . . .

[Leatherneck_MT]

Hey Ted

Sit down and shut up

[cartoonistx]

I'm sorry, but I, too, am dismayed by our side's heated rhetoric lately. Conservatives must hold themselves to a higher standard of discourse than the over-wroght, emotional and intellectual midgets of the left. The intentional partisan hype of the MSM aside, some of the public statements from some republican leaders in the wake of the Schiavo case only serve to cause voters to cringe and conclude that we are just as emotionally unstable as the looneys from the other side!

[mombonn]

Barbara would not agree with his statements.

[Sloth]

MYOB, Ted.

[mombonn]

We should start calling the GOP the Sysiphus Party

They could also be referred to at the "Sissyfuss" Party.

sheesh

[ZULU]

Sollicitor General = Attorney = Whjat do you expect?

"We might start by getting a firm grip on the reality that our independent judiciary is the most respected branch of our government, and the envy of the world."


??????????????????????????????????????????????????

Anybody out there interested in Bader-Ginsberg??, How about O'Connor??? Stevens???? Souter???

Come on, there MUST be SOME Country out there interested in them. Sweden??? Netherlands??? "Great" Britain???

Maybe Malawi.

[EternalVigilance]

We might start by getting a firm grip on the reality that our independent judiciary is the most respected branch of our government...

Wrong, Ted.

This citizen has lost ALL confidence in the Judiciary.

When they stop ignoring the Constitution or twisting its clear wording to suit their leftwing anti-American, anti-life, anti-liberty agenda, maybe they can win back my respect.

Not before.

As far as I'm concerned, the rhetoric is still far too tepid.

[joesbucks]

This citizen has lost ALL confidence in the Judiciary.

Even if I agreed with you 100%, and I don't, I would have to throw out your response. You've got a vested interest in this just as many have suggested that Ted too may have a vested interest in where he may be future appointed. You are not only an activist as a citizen, but an activist as a professional.

As I have stated in other posts, there I times when the Supremes and other courts are right on with regard to my values. And there are times when I scratch my head, even at conservative judges and their rulings. Sometimes it takes a while for me to see the purpose of their ruling. Other times I still keep scratching my head.

I've generally agree with Olson on most of what he does. On this one I stand by him.

[roses of sharon]

I appreciated their passion, it showed they were human beings, responding to parents who petitioned their gov reps for relief upon not getting that relief from their state. They gave them a chance to take care of their daughter.

US reps getting heated about a life and death issue is understandable and appropriate.

[AndrewC]

We might start by getting a firm grip on the reality that our independent judiciary is the most respected branch of our government, and

Yeah, I guess that is the reason the judiciary is calling for more security around the courts.

[LZ_Bayonet]

He saw an opportunity, and made a smart, low cost tactical move. Should help him a lot during any confirmation hearings, should he ever be in that position.

[AndrewC]

Some of the respect shown.

"By stopping the vote count in Florida, the United States Supreme Court used its power to act as political partisans, not just judges of a court of law. We are professors at 137 American law schools, from every part of our country, of different political beliefs. But we all agree that when a bare majority of the U.S. Supreme Court halted the recount of ballots under Florida law, the five justices were acting as political proponents for candidate Bush, not as judges."

-Statement of 637 Law Professors lawprofs@the-rule-of-law.com

"[The Supreme Court majority in Bush v. Gore has] made it impossible for citizens of the United States to sustain any kind of faith in the rule of law as something larger than the self-interested political preferences of William Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Anthony Kennedy, and Sandra Day O'Connor."

-Prof. Jeffrey Rosen, George Washington University Law School

[TexasCajun]

Hey Teddy, where's your outrage about the DEM's Harry Reid comment on SCJ Clarence Thomas?

[EternalVigilance]

You throw out my opinion because I'm an activist?

Okey-dokey...

But activist or not, whether you agree with me or not, it doesn't change the fact that I have no confidence in the Judiciary.

They no longer pay any heed to the Constitution. The parts they want to ignore, they simply ignore. And their black-robed cohorts back them to the hilt.

The pernicious doctrine of judicial supremecy is going to be the death of this republic, if we don't put a stop to it; by reining in the judges, yes, but also by forcing the legislative and the executive branches to step up and fulfill their own duties.

Without proper constitutional checks and balances, it should surprise no one when judges with life time appointments begin to think they're God and can do whatever they please, usurping legislative and executive power at will.

[Rightwing Conspiratr1]

We expect dignity, wisdom, decency, civility, integrity and restraint from our judges.

And that is why they're a disgrace and outrageous, Ted.

[Rightwing Conspiratr1]

If only they would stare decesis in the ass and follow the Constitution. ;-)

[EternalVigilance]

Message to Ted Olson:

Judges are not above criticism and reproach.

Far from it.

And I'm disappointed in you that you think they should be.