Assault on the Judiciary

[vsp]

Allen's about as sharp as a rubber spatula. Of course, he's representing a state that nearly elected Oliver Fucking North to the Senate, so I shouldn't expect much.

[Happy Monkey]

DeLay takes on Kennedy

The (Reagan-appointed) Supreme Court Justice, not the Senator.

...


he pointed to Kennedy as an example of Republican members of the Supreme Court who were activist and isolated.

"Absolutely. We've got Justice Kennedy writing decisions based upon international law, not the Constitution of the United States? That's just outrageous," ... "And not only that, but he said in session that he does his own research on the Internet? That is just incredibly outrageous."

Ah, yes. DeLay isn't aware that treaties are on the same level as the Constitution when it comes to force of law. I'm not too shocked at that, given the disdain his type has for the rest of the world. He also seems to think that the Internet is nothing more than FARK or the Free Republic, and is blissfully unaware of Lexis Nexis and the many repositories of law on the Internet. Or is he objecting to Kennedy doing his own research rather than relying on clerks? Are the Republicans involved in selecting Supreme Court clerks?

"The judiciary has become so activist and so isolated from the American people that it's our job to [hold judges accountable],"
...
"judges can serve as long as they serve with good behavior," he said. "We want to define what good behavior means. And that's where you have to start."

Good behavior is deciding in favor of Republicans, apparently.

[Beestie]

Delay kind of reminds me of somebody but I can't quite put my finger on it.

[BigV]

From Seattle's

JOEL CONNELLY
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER COLUMNIST

...Judges are the chief remaining brake on one-party government, and efforts by the likes of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay to assert state power from the bedroom to the courtroom to the emergency room.

In this Washington, recent history points to the rank hypocrisy of what the right aims to do.

In the past three years, the U.S. Senate has confirmed 205 of Bush's nominations to the federal bench. Just 10 nominees have been held up by Senate Democrats.

Ninety-five percent of federal court seats are filled, making for the lowest vacancy rate in 13 years....

Please read his article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/connel...11_joel15.html

Where is this crisis of minority rule? What evidence is there that the filibuster in Democratic hands is pissing on the Constitution?

Only Tom "Chicken Little" DeLay says so.

I call him a hypocrite because it's true. I expect to have my serious charge answered because I could not let stand any such assault on my legitimacy, but DeLay revels in it.

[lookout123]

you expect Tom Delay to answer you? sorry, but not gonna happen, we don't have nearly enough cameras and microphones in the cellar.

[Happy Monkey]

On the Bolton hearing - Apparently Condi Rice has ordered the State Department not to release any negative information about him to the committee.

On Monday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told her senior staff she was disappointed about the stream of allegations and said she did not want any information coming out of the department that could adversely affect the nomination, said officials speaking on the condition of anonymity.</NITF>

[vsp]

I so sincerely hope that Voinovich has the balls to say "No information, no chance I'll switch my vote."

I doubt it... but hope springs eternal.

[Happy Monkey]

Here's a summary of what's happened so far.

[Happy Monkey]

If you can't impeach them, defund them!

"There's more than one way to skin a cat, and there's more than one way to take a black robe off the bench," said Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council, according to an audiotape of a March 17 session.
...
Congress could use its appropriations authority to "just take away the bench, all of his staff, and he's just sitting out there with nothing to do."

And DeLay thinks that would be just grand:

"We set up the courts. We can unset the courts. We have the power of the purse," DeLay said at an April 13 question-and-answer session with reporters.

[Happy Monkey]

An NYT editorial on "Justice Sunday"

The fraudulence of "Justice Sunday" begins but does not end with its sham claims to solidarity with the civil rights movement of that era. "The filibuster was once abused to protect racial bias," says the flier for tonight's show, "and now it is being used against people of faith." In truth, Bush judicial nominees have been approved in exactly the same numbers as were Clinton second-term nominees. Of the 13 federal appeals courts, 10 already have a majority of Republican appointees. So does the Supreme Court. It's a lie to argue, as Tom DeLay did last week, that such a judiciary is the "left's last legislative body," and that Justice Anthony Kennedy, a Reagan appointee, is the poster child for "outrageous" judicial overreach. Our courts are as highly populated by Republicans as the other two branches of government.

[Griff]

Now that some conservatives are in a tizzy about federal judges, here is something for them to ponder: The liberals on the U.S. Supreme Court just took a stand in favor of gun-ownership rights, while the conservatives on the court took a stand against them.

Just a little more prooffrom Charlie Reese that there is nothing conservative about modern American conservatism. He makes a great point about the "any court" issue. Let's sat you pick up a felony gum chewing conviction in Singapore, sorry no handgun for you you're too dangerous. You rode in the front seat in Saudi Arabia? No gun. Any felony in any little criminal state on the planet. Nice. This from the won't cooperate with the UN crowd.

[wolf]

I'm still reading the decision. I'll get back to you on exactly what I think later. But without a thorough review, I do think the court ruled the wrong way on this particular case.

The guy was not convicted in a foreign court of gum chewing. He was convicted of firearms smuggling.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Griff

Just a little more prooffrom Charlie Reese that there is nothing conservative about modern American conservatism. He makes a great point about the "any court" issue. Let's sat you pick up a felony gum chewing conviction in Singapore, sorry no handgun for you you're too dangerous. You rode in the front seat in Saudi Arabia? No gun. Any felony in any little criminal state on the planet. Nice. This from the won't cooperate with the UN crowd.

Here's another article explaining why the conservatives aren't.

[Happy Monkey]

Worse than the Nazis!

Confronted by Stephanopoulos on his claims that an out-of-control liberal judiciary is the worst threat America has faced in 400 years - worse than Nazi Germany, Japan and the Civil War - Robertson didn't back down.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Here's another article explaining why the conservatives aren't.

xoB, Thanks very much for the the link to an excellent article. It artfully expresses many of the problems I have with the blanket term conservative in use today. What a thought provoking article.

Second observation--I wish I could write like that. :admiring: