Owen, Brown, Pryor, et al
This whole business about federal judges seems to finally be coming to a head. I have already stated my position on Judge Pryor in detail back in the archives so I won't rehash it now. This whole thing is absurd and it's time that it came to an end. Either Sen. Frist kicks some asses and pushes these judges through or the Senate Republicans pussy out and go home with their tails between their legs. If it was a secret at all, I want confirmation of all of them.
I have not seen a shred of evidence presented by the obstructing Democrats that warrants keeping these qualified people from the federal bench. They keep saying "they're out of the mainstream." Prove it. Cite your evidence. Bring everything you have to the floor of the Senate and to the American people. But then vote on them. If they are so far out of the mainstream, they will be voted down. It has happened to judges in the past. But that is not what is happening here.
What is happening here is the Democrats are acting out of fear. The federal appeals courts are the traditional next step before a Supreme Court appointment. Presidents see their Supreme Court appointments as their legacies, since they affect the country long after they are out of office and in many cases, long after they have died. A president would be more prone to pick someone who they elevated to the appeals court since he knows them and their views more intimately than another judge. That doesn't mean that there aren't federal judges now that wouldn't make excellent Supreme Court appointments, but it's the president's perogative.
Brown and Owen have been targetted by the Democrats because not so much for what they believe, but who they are. Two women, one who is black, who have a general conservative view of the law are dangerous to the Democrats. Justice Thomas' confirmation hearing (or maybe smearing?) and Miguel Estrada's hearings show what happens to these nominees. It's appauling.
If it is necessary to get rid of the filibuster on judicial nominees, then so be it. Maybe the Democrats forgot that they are the minority party, that they have been losing election after election. When you are in the minority, you do not get to dictate these matters to the majority. Just imagine if the roles were reversed. The Democrats would be screaming about a minority of Republicans stopping qualified judges from getting on the bench. And the media would be lockstep behind the Democrats. But that's not happening here. The Republicans need to have the guts to see this to the end.
I have not seen a shred of evidence presented by the obstructing Democrats that warrants keeping these qualified people from the federal bench. They keep saying "they're out of the mainstream." Prove it. Cite your evidence. Bring everything you have to the floor of the Senate and to the American people. But then vote on them. If they are so far out of the mainstream, they will be voted down. It has happened to judges in the past. But that is not what is happening here.
What is happening here is the Democrats are acting out of fear. The federal appeals courts are the traditional next step before a Supreme Court appointment. Presidents see their Supreme Court appointments as their legacies, since they affect the country long after they are out of office and in many cases, long after they have died. A president would be more prone to pick someone who they elevated to the appeals court since he knows them and their views more intimately than another judge. That doesn't mean that there aren't federal judges now that wouldn't make excellent Supreme Court appointments, but it's the president's perogative.
Brown and Owen have been targetted by the Democrats because not so much for what they believe, but who they are. Two women, one who is black, who have a general conservative view of the law are dangerous to the Democrats. Justice Thomas' confirmation hearing (or maybe smearing?) and Miguel Estrada's hearings show what happens to these nominees. It's appauling.
If it is necessary to get rid of the filibuster on judicial nominees, then so be it. Maybe the Democrats forgot that they are the minority party, that they have been losing election after election. When you are in the minority, you do not get to dictate these matters to the majority. Just imagine if the roles were reversed. The Democrats would be screaming about a minority of Republicans stopping qualified judges from getting on the bench. And the media would be lockstep behind the Democrats. But that's not happening here. The Republicans need to have the guts to see this to the end.
