Ronald Reagan nominated Judge Robert Bork for a seat on the Supreme Court on July 1, 1987. The selection of Bork was a symbolic "throwing down of the gauntlet" that ignited an epic battle between Senate Conservatives and their Liberal and Moderate counterparts. Those on the Far Right breathlessly proclaimed the confirmation hearings as a struggle for America’s soul. After days of contentious hearings and dramatic floor vote, Bork was shown the door by a 58-vote, mostly-partisan majority.
Bork was categorized as an extremist by many and out of the main stream by most. No one questioned his qualifications or his preparation for the job. But his strident views on privacy, reproductive rights, civil rights, and other hot-button issues even put him at odds with Moderate Republicans like John Chafee (R-RI), Bob Packwood (R-OR), Arlen Specter (R-PA), Robert Stafford (R-VT), John Warner (R-VA) and Lowell P. Weicker, Jr. (R-CT); a breed that has since nearly become extinct. The term "activist judge" that we hear being bandied about today, aptly describes Bork, except that he was an activist in ways that pleased his supporters.
Bork’s rejection was a stinging blow to Reagan and Movement Conservatives as a whole. Following Bork's crash, and the subsequent Douglas Ginsberg fiasco, Reagan punted on his next nomination, resulting in the seating of the somewhat more moderate, and subsequently swing-voting Justice Anthony Kennedy. But Bork’s high-profile dismissal came with a price that, like a large credit card debt, never seems to get paid off in its entirety. With the exception of the Ginsburg and Breyer nominations, which proceeded with a minimum of histrionics from the Republican Senate caucus, many other Democratic appointments, particularly during the Clinton years, have met with harsh opposition from the GOP. These include appointments to the Federal judiciary, agency administrators, and diplomatic posts. Each and every time this occurs, it is as if the presence of Robert Bork can be felt in the chamber.
The trend has been continued into the Obama Administration in which several appointments have been blocked for no apparent reason, and six months into Obama’s first term, numerous appointments remain unfilled. The current Sotomayor confirmation is a case in point. The candidate has superior qualifications including a considerable advantage in judicial experience over either of George W. Bush’s nominees. Her record is one of moderation if not deference for the establishment in certain cases. Yet, a cadre of shrill and righteously-indignant Republican senators have chosen to overlook Sotomayor’s accomplishments and instead, focus on comments taken completely out of context in an attempt to derail her inevitable confirmation.
It’s true that the Democrats succeeded in roughing up Justices Roberts and Alito, and made the wife of the latter cry. But the Dems had a clear sense of the ideological inclinations of these gentlemen that has since been validated. Too bad that the filibuster was taken off the table by the threat of the GOP "nuclear option." But now, in the eyes of Sessions, Graham, Hatch, Kyl, Cornyn, Grassley, and Coburn, it's payback time. Payback for Roberts, Alito, and most of all, for Bork. Sotomayor will be confirmed, although perhaps, slightly bruised in the process. The GOoPers will have their pound of flesh. But will the Bork debt be reduced by any appreciable amount? Not likely.