A Disasterous SCOTUS Decision
An article in The Hill by Elana Schor suggests that as many as 25 Democrats may be voting to confirm John Roberts as the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. I`m sorry if I`m not thrilled, but I think this was an astoundingly lame move by the President, and was taken solely to avoid trouble. Politically it was the safe choice, but I wonder who is going to have the last laugh?
We still know very little about what Roberts will do once on the Court, and making him Chief Justice will give him great influence over which direction the Court will take. Roberts is a novice judge, after all, and it was his lack of judicial credentials which got him nominated for the post of Justice in the first place. I have always frowned on this move, and I fear we may end up with another Earl Warren.
Even if Roberts proves to be a bonafide conservative (how many conservatives manage to spend 30 years inside the beltway and not have their views known?) he still should not be given the top job on the Court over Scalia or Thomas. His lack of experience as a judge will not sit well with any of the other members of the Court, and one can hardly fault Scalia or Thomas for being unhappy about this insult. (Actually, I doubt ANY member of the Court will be happy about this.)
This is a slap in the face of Antonin Scalia, who clearly should have been named as Rehnquist`s replacement. Scalia has proven himself to be an outstanding jurist, and is respected by all of the members of the Court. His confirmation battle would be tough, but he would have triumphed in the end. Furthermore, this is an insult to the conservative coalition which supported the President.
The President made this move because he has no stomach for a fight (you might say he`s Bushed!) and because he shows loyalty to his people (one could use the less-than-flattering term ``cronies``.) The situation in New Orleans loomed large in the President`s thinking; he didn`t want a scrap at this moment. (When does he ever want a scrap?)
The problem is that Roberts will be leading the Court for decades, and his influence will extend for half a century or better. America deserved the best legal mind to lead the Court; the right man for that job is Scalia. The President has failed us with this popgun nomination. He is not qualified to be Chief Justice, and we just don`t know where Mr. Roberts will lead.
Even if he is not Earl Warren, he is still a man of compromise and consensus-that much is clear from the lack of opposition he faces (when Mark Shields on PBS calls him easily confirmable, look out!) America does not need a knock-kneed, mealy-mouthed Chief Justice; America needs a strong leader who will roll back the activist decisions and usurpation of authority we`ve suffered during the last 50 years! It`s very unlikely Roberts will be that man; at best he will give us a Warren Berger-type Court. We deserved better!
For once, I`m actually rooting for the Democrats!
We still know very little about what Roberts will do once on the Court, and making him Chief Justice will give him great influence over which direction the Court will take. Roberts is a novice judge, after all, and it was his lack of judicial credentials which got him nominated for the post of Justice in the first place. I have always frowned on this move, and I fear we may end up with another Earl Warren.
Even if Roberts proves to be a bonafide conservative (how many conservatives manage to spend 30 years inside the beltway and not have their views known?) he still should not be given the top job on the Court over Scalia or Thomas. His lack of experience as a judge will not sit well with any of the other members of the Court, and one can hardly fault Scalia or Thomas for being unhappy about this insult. (Actually, I doubt ANY member of the Court will be happy about this.)
This is a slap in the face of Antonin Scalia, who clearly should have been named as Rehnquist`s replacement. Scalia has proven himself to be an outstanding jurist, and is respected by all of the members of the Court. His confirmation battle would be tough, but he would have triumphed in the end. Furthermore, this is an insult to the conservative coalition which supported the President.
The President made this move because he has no stomach for a fight (you might say he`s Bushed!) and because he shows loyalty to his people (one could use the less-than-flattering term ``cronies``.) The situation in New Orleans loomed large in the President`s thinking; he didn`t want a scrap at this moment. (When does he ever want a scrap?)
The problem is that Roberts will be leading the Court for decades, and his influence will extend for half a century or better. America deserved the best legal mind to lead the Court; the right man for that job is Scalia. The President has failed us with this popgun nomination. He is not qualified to be Chief Justice, and we just don`t know where Mr. Roberts will lead.
Even if he is not Earl Warren, he is still a man of compromise and consensus-that much is clear from the lack of opposition he faces (when Mark Shields on PBS calls him easily confirmable, look out!) America does not need a knock-kneed, mealy-mouthed Chief Justice; America needs a strong leader who will roll back the activist decisions and usurpation of authority we`ve suffered during the last 50 years! It`s very unlikely Roberts will be that man; at best he will give us a Warren Berger-type Court. We deserved better!
For once, I`m actually rooting for the Democrats!
posted by Timothy Birdnow | 3:56 PM
2 Comments:
Great post, Tim -- you are so right. Bush has decided to trade political expediency for solid conservative decision making. He was looking to make a too clever by half trick to avoid having 3 confirmation hearings, which is what he would have had to do if he had nominated (as he should have done) Scalia to be Chief Justice. This is a slap in the face to Scalia, and to all the members of the court, all of whom will be older than Roberts. The Chief Justice plays a major role in what cases get heard, who gets the assignment (which may have great bearing on the eventual decision) and also tries to keep collegiality between the justices, all of whom have big egos and big intellects. Rehnquist was evidently good at this. This is a cowardly decision and Bush has punted once again. I completely agree with you - -Bush's style has completely become one of crony politics -- I hear Gonzales may be nominated next -- get ready for a left listing court. Disgusting.
I'm afraid Bush is weak on many improtant areas, especially immigration. We will have to wait and see what happens with Roberts.
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