Quote of the Day

From Wendy Long, legal counsel to the Judicial Confirmation Network, writing on National Review's Bench Memos about Supreme Court Nominee John Roberts:

The main point is: President Bush and Judge Roberts understand that judges cannot make policy — pro-Catholic, anti-Catholic, or otherwise. Everything in Judge Roberts’ record tells us that he is committed to the same judicial philosophy as that of President Bush: to apply the Constitution and laws as written, and not to make laws up or rewrite the Constitution in judicial decisions. Judges can’t make the laws governing abortion, marriage, or anything else. All they can do is apply them. Accordingly, in the view of President Bush and Judge Roberts, a Supreme Court justice’s personal, political, or religious views cannot be used as the basis to decide a case.

...The religious inquisition of Judge Roberts, then, is really a smokescreen for the liberal litmus test about issues like abortion and same-sex marriage. Along with Senators Kennedy, Kerry, Schumer, and others, Senator Durbin treats judges like policymakers who wear black robes and are appointed for life. Like all liberals, they fundamentally misapprehend the role of the judge under our Constitution: to be a neutral umpire, applying the laws as written by the elected representatives of the people.

Did you get that last part? The part I highlighted? Read it again. It's crucial to understanding the proper role of the judicial branch in our government, and it's a role that 30 years of liberal meddling has converted to a bastardized version of judicial restraint.