Posted on 07/21/2005 12:16:59 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Since U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor resigned July 1, speculation has focused on who would be President Bush's first nominee to the high court. Would it be another woman or a Hispanic? Would it be a hard-line, "movement" conservative or a moderate, nonideological figure?
With Bush's nomination of Judge John G. Roberts Jr., the answer is known: none of the above.
Roberts, as one White House counsel put it, has credentials that jump off the page. No fictional, idealized résumé could be more glowing: top of his high school class and football team captain; graduation with honors from Harvard University and its law school; a clerkship with William Rehnquist, now chief justice of the United States; partnership in an established Washington law firm; undisputed brilliance as an appellate lawyer before the Supreme Court, where he won 64 percent of 39 cases argued.
Several historians and commentators have said the Supreme Court needs a politician rather than an academic or career jurist. Roberts comes closer to the first. He was a White House counsel under President Ronald Reagan and deputy solicitor general under the first President Bush.
Like many Bush appointees, Roberts has a family connection. He served in the administration of the elder President Bush, who first tried to place Roberts on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Roberts advised Republicans during the litigation that decided George W. Bush's victory in 2000.
Both critics and supporters describe Roberts' record of briefs and opinions as thin and enigmatic, but the thrust seems clear enough. Hardly surprising, Roberts' views dovetail with the policies of George W. Bush.
Roberts ruled that the Constitution does not require police to act sensibly at all times, leaving officers free to arrest and cuff a child who eats a forbidden french fry on the subway. Roberts agreed that the administration could use military tribunals to try suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay.
Conservative supporters say Roberts is reluctant to write new law, all the while hoping he will vote to overturn the settled law regarding abortion rights established by Roe v. Wade.
Within the bounds of civility, these topics will be fair game when Roberts is questioned by the Senate Judiciary Committee. For some Americans, the hearings given Supreme Court nominees are their best exposure to constitutional history and law.
In addition to his credentials, Roberts has arithmetic on his side. The Senate contains 55 Republicans, and Roberts' solid record is likely to attract at least five conservative Democrats, such as Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut. If President Bush intended to satisfy his conservative base without provoking a Democratic filibuster, he probably could not have made a better choice than Roberts.
Not everyone is all bad...except Hillary.
"If Roberts really does turn out to be another Scalia or Thomas, I'm sure Ann Coulter will be first in line to praise him when his rulings start coming in."
That will be to late, by the time Roberts is handing down decisions, it won't matter if Ann or anybody else is criticizing or praising him.
The critical time to support or criticize is *NOW*, because *now* is the time that determines whether he gets there or not, that's the critical time for people to either lend their support or undermine the effort.
People don't get credit for praising D-Day if all they did prior to that day is talk about how it wasn't a good idea. Victory is made by people who work to make it happen, not by people who can in hindsight appreciate it.
He looks like he is a good bet on that front.
That's the point. We shouldn't have to bet.
And a few others.... :-)
I don't believe Ann is saying that Roberts ought to be voted down. She just wishes Bush had nominated someone we know more about. In fact, her latest column will probably help Roberts get confirmed in that Democrats will be less opposed to Roberts knowing that Ann Coulter is upset and concerned with this nomination.
There's not really much suspense anyway with this nomination. Lieberman has pretty much made that clear with his remarks. Unless there's some sort of scandal we don't know about, Roberts should sail to confirmation. Ann Coulter's concerns on the right will only help him in his confirmation battle.
If I were advising the conservative special-interest groups running ads on TV right now, I'd tell them to save their money for the next battle.
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