My "It's Almost the Weekend" Thought on John Roberts
Several of my conservative blogosphere colleagues are up in arms about John Roberts' supposed pro bono involvement in a pro-gay marriage case in Colorado, and what he did or didn't say about the weight of past decisions on current cases (especially as it pertains to abortion).
Rumors are flying all over the political spectrum about what Roberts does or doesn't believe, but they mean very little right now. The Mainstream Media is digging up everything it can find, regardless of whether it's fair game or not, and has been unable to confirm very little. If you look at the state of information on Roberts, you have to agree we have little basis for fearing that Roberts will be the second coming of David Souter. We simply have lots of hearsay that is being blown out of proportion.
Is it fair to say I'm unconcerned about Roberts? No. The Supreme Court is too important not to be concerned. But he's been nominated and is in the midst of a process that will go on for another two or three months. If there's one thing the American public should know by now about President Bush, it's that he's intensely loyal to his nominees and those on his team. He's not about to withdraw the nomination, short of some bombshell involving prostitutes and beer bongs.
If he's confirmed, and it turns out your fears were well-founded, then you can wage war on the administration and any future nominations.
In the meantime, I would simply say to those with fears: Relax. Wait for the hearings. Have a beer.
Rumors are flying all over the political spectrum about what Roberts does or doesn't believe, but they mean very little right now. The Mainstream Media is digging up everything it can find, regardless of whether it's fair game or not, and has been unable to confirm very little. If you look at the state of information on Roberts, you have to agree we have little basis for fearing that Roberts will be the second coming of David Souter. We simply have lots of hearsay that is being blown out of proportion.
Is it fair to say I'm unconcerned about Roberts? No. The Supreme Court is too important not to be concerned. But he's been nominated and is in the midst of a process that will go on for another two or three months. If there's one thing the American public should know by now about President Bush, it's that he's intensely loyal to his nominees and those on his team. He's not about to withdraw the nomination, short of some bombshell involving prostitutes and beer bongs.
If he's confirmed, and it turns out your fears were well-founded, then you can wage war on the administration and any future nominations.
In the meantime, I would simply say to those with fears: Relax. Wait for the hearings. Have a beer.
posted by Ken @ 5:44 PM
3 Comments:
At 8/09/2005 10:14 AM,
I am Coyote said…
But can I have a beer "bong?"... hehe...
Actually I fully understand that Roberts is going to be confirmed. I am more than a little ticked off that the administration offered up a justice more in line with O'Connor or Kennedy (per Krauthammer and Kondracke) and need to say it.
Unfortunately if he turns out to confirm our fears this administration will be looong gone and whatever Republican administration in power at the time wil say "hey that was them, you can really really trust us."
THAT is what we want to avoid. So, by calling the administration on the carpet now we can at least put pressure on Bush to keep his promise and appoint a Scalia or Thomas for the next two.
They should not get a total pass this time otherwise they will feel it is ok and do it again.
Ou are correct in stating that we have little basis for fearing Roberts will be the second coming of Souter. Because Souter actually looked BETTER than Roberts going in.
Ah... now I feel better. Must have been the beer.
At 8/09/2005 1:12 PM,
Ken said…
Coyote,
You point out something I hadn't considered — we likely won't fully know what sort of justice Roberts will be until another administration is in the White House. Based on that, I better understand your argument about calling the administration on the carpet now.
I'm still tempted to say we should relax until the hearings start and we get more information about him. As we get FACTUAL information straight from Roberts, we can better assess his fitness for the bench and how well he falls into the conservative mold promised by Bush. At that point, if the factual evidence indicates a Souter, break out the guns, and keep them blazing through the next nomination.
(As for Souter's pre-confirmation reputation, I wasn't paying as much attention to politics when Souter was being confirmed, and my politics were more than a smidge to the left of their current position, so I'm largely unaware of how he looked going in. I was speaking of how Souter has turned out, rather than where he theoretically started.)
At 8/11/2005 1:57 PM,
I am Coyote said…
I fully understand that Roberts will be confirmed. However what I don't want to have happen is the administration become more afraid (politically) of the left than the right.
If we do not voice our concerns now and they get beat up on the left then the temptation by the establishment will be "well we went moderate before and they let us off, so let's do it again."
And THAT would be a disaster since it will most likely be a conservative that W will be replacing.... did that make sense?
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