Posted on 08/11/2005 9:46:50 AM PDT by Crackingham
A coalition of liberal special-interest groups is settling on three major criticisms of Supreme Court nominee John Roberts that it hopes will resonate with two key Democratic constituencies: African-Americans and women. The coalition, which includes nearly 90 organizations, is organized by Ralph Neas, president of People for the American Way, whom conservatives view as the mastermind behind the opposition to President Bush’s judicial nominees.
By targeting Roberts on issues of importance to blacks and women, the interest groups will make it difficult for Democrats not to pose a strong challenge to Roberts during the Senate confirmation process. So far, Democratic lawmakers have been reticent in criticism of Roberts. Senate Democratic Whip and Judiciary Committee member Dick Durbin (Ill.), for example, has instructed his staff not to discuss Roberts with reporters until hearings next month. The committee’s ranking Democrat, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), is keeping a low profile in Vermont while studying Roberts’s record.
Several journalists and Democratic aides said they believe Roberts may sail through the Senate with 75 to 85 supporting votes. Since Bush nominated Roberts, interest groups have nevertheless been working diligently to develop public momentum for criticisms of Roberts.
“If I had to pick three overall areas: civil rights, access to justice and, I think, privacy,” said Elliot Mincberg, head of the liberal coalition’s research task force, listing the greatest concerns about Roberts’s record.
Civil rights is one of the top issues for black voters, and privacy rights, which underpins abortion rights, is calculated to resonate with women voters.
The Alliance for Justice, which with People for the American Way is leading the liberal coalition’s response to Roberts, last week sent a press packet to editorial writers and editors criticizing Roberts’s record on civil rights.
Citing documents from Roberts’s service in the Reagan Justice Department and the Reagan White House, the group asserts that Roberts “argued for weakening proposed voting-rights protections,” “viewed legislation to fortify the Fair Housing Act as ‘storm clouds gather[ing]’ and ‘government intrusion,’” and “defended legislation that would have stripped the federal courts of their authority to remedy school desegregation.”
The Alliance for Justice also targeted Roberts for writing an amicus brief while deputy solicitor general during President George H.W. Bush’s administration that argued a “school district that had not eliminated all the vestiges of past discrimination no longer had to abide by desegregation orders.”
Neas, in an interview, said, “It appears he was one of the key lieutenants in Reagan and Bush teams that waged an assault on fundamental civil rights and civil liberties.”
Why do I keep hearing the echo..."BORK BORK BORK BORK"...???
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Pathetic...
Mr Neas should be kept under the radar since he looks like so many representations of the devil!
And we are surprised?
"Neas, in an interview, said, 'It appears he was one of the key lieutenants in Reagan and Bush teams that waged an assault on fundamental civil rights and civil liberties.'”
Which basically means Judge Roberts understands Constitutional Law and has ruled as such.
And could someone please show me where "Civil Rights" are the most important issue to Blacks? I can see that it's a most important issue to the Black Leadership, because they don't have JOBS (no matter how phoney) unless they're screamin' that their people are oppressed.
What am I missin there? Not trying to start trouble; I just don't understand it.
It won't work....If theyt try to develope black opposition, that ONLY works if Obama becomes point person for the anti-Roberts group..and he won't do that..
Of course to these people, civil rights = preferences and quotas.
Regular blacks could care less about the Supreme Court nomination.
and privacy rights, which underpins abortion rights, is calculated to resonate with women voters.
More women are pro-life than they are pro-death.
This ain't going nowhere folks....just more thrashing about in the tar pits by the Left.
This is called setting the bar way too high, so that when he barely gets confirmed with 51 or 52 votes, the Dims and the media can call him "illegitimate."
Like I said, most blacks don't give a rip about the Supreme Court nomination, and those that do aren't beholden to the "leaders" at the NAACP.
Elliot,
Civil Rights - Bread and butter for Jesse and the Grifters.
Access to Justice - Additonal attempt at race-baiting.
Privacy - Code word for abortion.
These are not concerns, libs think these are emotional buttons to rally the sheeple.
Contrast your liberal pigeon-holing with:
-Acceptance of Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior
-Valuing intelligence over emotion
-A philosophy of personal responsibility/accountability
-Incorporate sacrifice and discipline on the path the achievement
-Proper diction
-Understand and acknowledge the past without being consumed by it
-Refusal to perpuate what I abhor
When will libs learn you can't focus-group Character or Integrity.
It's only a faint echo. Leftists are on the defensive...so much that now they have to call abortion "privacy."
This is called setting the bar way too high, so that when he barely gets confirmed with 51 or 52 votes, the Dims and the media can call him "illegitimate."
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The lies of the left continue, as predicted. It will be a very PARTISAN VOTE with the left trying to create as much trouble and false scenario as beforehand. Standard operating procedure FOR THE OBSTRUCTIONIST SOCIALISTS.
You need to get your hearing checked. The current echo from the Senate chamber is "PORK PORK PORK PORK...".
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True! It is so easy to get confused with the mounds of pig excrement --- yes, the so-called near-useless energy bill Bush pushed through had SO MUCH PORK IN IT, that was the way it was "GREASED" THROUGH THE VOTE.
Washington is a real disappointment. And that is being kind.
"Like I said, most blacks don't give a rip about the Supreme Court nomination..."
I kinda thought as much. I'd say a good 95% of America isn't even paying attention to this appointment, and is basically politically illiterate save for the ten minutes they spend "studying the issues" before they vote. *Rolleyes*
Are we weird or somethin'? LOL!
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