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Friday, September 05, 2003
I went to sleep as the Washington Post and woke up
as the Washington Times
From the so-called "liberal" Post:
"A VICTORY FOR the Constitution, for the nation's judicial system and for the American people," crowed Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) of the decision by Miguel A. Estrada to withdraw as President Bush's nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. People for the American Way credited "a courageous Democratic filibuster" for the triumph. Remember those words, because they will surely be thrown back the next time a Democratic president tries to nominate to the court a highly qualified individual about whom Republican senators -- for whatever frivolous reason -- may harbor suspicions. Mr. Estrada's case will be cited as a critical precedent: A nominee of substance and quality can be filibustered until he quits in frustration because he refuses to answer detailed questions about his views of specific cases and because the administration refuses to turn over his confidential attorney work product for political scrutiny by the Senate. Who exactly will have the credibility to demand fair treatment for that next qualified nominee?
The handling of Mr. Estrada's nomination is a low point in a steadily degrading judicial selection process. Opponents acted on little more than whispers about his supposed right-wing extremism, fears that he would some day be elevated to the Supreme Court and the disgusting charge that he was inadequately Hispanic -- whatever that means. Meanwhile, many Republicans, including some in the White House, happily sought to use the controversy to score points with Hispanic voters -- making the nomination into a gross spectacle of ethnic politics. Even more dangerous, Mr. Estrada was subjected to a kind of extortion by the Senate: Answer the sort of detailed jurisprudential questions nominees have long balked at addressing, he was told, or you get no vote.
We would like to think that this might be a moment for some sober second thoughts -- that all involved might wonder what they had done to bring the nomination process so low. Senate Republicans might consider to what extent their own disgraceful treatment of President Clinton's nominees fueled the fire.
But they won't.
As for the handling of Estrada being a "low point". Here's how low they can go:
He couldn't have known it at the time. But on Oct. 4, 1999, when Missouri Sen. John Ashcroft rose on the floor of the United States Senate to oppose the nomination of a black Missouri judge to the federal bench, the conservative Republican was about to give the most politically damaging speech of his 25-year career.
At that moment it represented a triumph for Ashcroft. He'd dropped plans to win the 2000 Republican presidential nomination due to little support, and he'd made an equally lackluster run to become chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1993. So Ashcroft's ability to convince every one of his GOP colleagues to join with him in voting down the nomination of Missouri Supreme Court Justice Ronnie White -- the first time Republicans had publicly rejected one of President Clinton's judicial nominees -- signaled real influence within the Republican Party.
Standing on the floor of the Senate, Ashcroft seemed to go out of his way to belittle and ridicule White. The Missouri senator labeled the Democratic judge "pro-criminal," and cautioned colleagues that White would substitute "personal politics" for the law, and "improperly exercise his will" if confirmed. That, despite the fact that White's judicial record was not all that different from judges Ashcroft had appointed to the Missouri Supreme Court when he was governor.
After the vote Ashcroft crowed that White's defeat was a victory for Missouri law enforcement. Instead, the "victory" haunts Ashcroft to this day. It ended his elected political career last Nov. 7, when Ashcroft lost his first statewide runoff in more than two decades. And now it appears to be the only obstacle standing in the way of him becoming George W. Bush's attorney general, as critics prepare to use the White nomination to question both Ashcroft's racial tolerance and his sense of political fair play.
This was a contributing factor in Ashcroft becoming ex-Senator Can't Beat A Dead Man. Unfortunately he arose from the grave to become Attorney General Torquemada.
Getting back to the Washington Post, it looks like they wish to reclaim the title as paper of record for the Pet Rock Democrats™. You know, the ones like Alan Colmes, Margaret Carlson, and Michael Totten who end up being quoted by the Freeperloids, as in "Well, even (insert Pet Rock here) says that....."
Someday they may wonder why the rope hanging from the gallows looks so familiar.
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