This is not only a good thing for the judiciary, but good politics, as well.
A White House statement said Bush was nominating Terrence Boyle of North Carolina and William James Haynes II of Virginia to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va.; Michael Brunson Wallace of Mississippi to the 5th Circuit in New Orleans; and William Gerry Myers III and Norman Randy Smith, both of Idaho, for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco.I almost always consider it a good sign when Ralph Neas is unhappy.Jim Manley, a spokesman for Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid of Nevada, called the judicial nominations an issue that has been a rallying cry of the conservative wing of the Republican Party "extremely divisive."
"We have a limited number of legislative days left before Congress adjourns for the year and much to do, but instead of working with Democrats on issues important to the American people, the president has, once again, chosen confrontation over cooperation with these extremely divisive nominations," Manley said.
Ralph Neas, president of the liberal People for the American Way, agreed: "Pandering to his ultraconservative base always seems to trump any commitment to constitutional rights and liberties."
Manuel Miranda, chairman of the Third Branch Conference, which supports judges with conservative judicial philosophies, said the announcement is Bush's way of saying that he expects the Senate to act on judges in September, and that he does not want to give Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist any room to do otherwise.
The White House is telling Frist, who appeared with Bush at the fundraiser, and North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole, the leader of the Republican campaign committee for the Senate, that "that if they lose a single Senate seat for not exciting GOP supporters to the polls, the fault lies with them and not with the president's team," Miranda said.
"This shows that (Bush's chief political adviser) Karl Rove is on the ball and wants judges back on the front burner in the Senate."
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Comments (4)
Well, you hardly ever see R... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Jim Addison | August 31, 2006 1:59 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Well, you hardly ever see Ralph Neas HAPPY, but it is most definitely a bad sign when he is.
A good - and overdue - move by the President. We need to get moving on these judges NOW, because the "Gang of 14" took the anti-judicial filibuster rule change off the table. The loss of even a couple Senate seats (depending on which ones, of course) could clear the Democrats' way to obstruct nominees via the filibuster again.
If Bill Frist has any intention of running for President, he will get these judges confirmed. Otherwise, he will guarantee himself low single-digit support and an early exit from the race.
Even if he gets them through, he doesn't stand much chance - but if he doesn't, his chance stands at ZERO.
1. Posted by Jim Addison | August 31, 2006 1:59 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on August 31, 2006 13:59
2. Posted by Falze | August 31, 2006 2:28 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
"We have a limited number of legislative days left before Congress adjourns for the year and much to do, but instead of working with Democrats on issues important to the American people..."
yah....cuz the voters haven't repeatedly said how important getting non-activist judges on the benches or anything have they? I know I'll be more likely to vote for Republicans that spend their time working on issues the Democrats like than on things that I find important...real finger on the pulse of America the Democrats have there...
2. Posted by Falze | August 31, 2006 2:28 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on August 31, 2006 14:28
3. Posted by Jim Addison | August 31, 2006 2:36 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
It's really interesting to hear the "working with Democrats" phrase, as Falze points out.
Pelosi has basically forbidden any House Dem to vote for any legislation approved by the GOP leadership. They are all-obstruction, all the time.
Given that reality, the only things the Senate could work on with any chance of success are confirmations, in which the House has no role.
3. Posted by Jim Addison | August 31, 2006 2:36 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on August 31, 2006 14:36
4. Posted by Falze | August 31, 2006 3:00 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
sorry for the almost completely incomprehesible grammar in my previous post...glad you were able to get the gist of it, Jim.
Look, it's simple...if you want to see where the party is heading there is a lovely demonstration available. Take two party leaders circa 2000. Algore and Lieberman. Joe is still Joe. He hasn't changed...he was anti-Saddam before, he was pro-defend democracy with the military before, he was ultrasocial-liberal on everything else. He's still pro-defend democracy with military, he's still ultrasocial-liberal now. Algore was Mr. Nuance before Kerry was Monsieur Nuance. Algore has lurched way to the left (publicly, anyway, in reality not much of a change). In less than 6 years which is now embraced by the Democratic party and which has been, literally, cast into the darkness? We're not talking rocket science here.
4. Posted by Falze | August 31, 2006 3:00 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on August 31, 2006 15:00