"Democratic leaders say that President Bush is putting an enduring conservative ideological imprint on the nation's judiciary, and that they see little hope of holding off the tide without winning back control of the Senate or the White House," the article goes.
Well, nothing new there. The question becomes Why? Why, after six years of study, aren't the Democrats able to show the American people that Bush nominees are far off base, out-of-touch, and a little crazy? Why couldn't they turn the tide of national opinion? Why are we allowing the Supreme Court to become solidly right-wing, possibly undoing decades of civil rights legislation and privacy law? Add to THAT the corruption in Washington, the warrantless spying, and President Bush's note-to-self about torture, and the importance of judicial nominees (particular SCOTUS nominees) becomes ever more clear.
Democratic leaders, including Senator Schumer, dared not use the F word. "The only tool we have is the filibuster, which is a very DIFFICULT tool to use, and with only 45 Democrats, it's harder than it was last term," he says, all but denying any use of the tactic. [My own emphasis added.]
We're now looking at a 7-2 Supreme Court, and a federal judiciary composed of one-quarter Bush nominees. It's expected that, as acting President, (qualified) nominees would be generally accepted, but Mr. Bush has decided to send forth hoardes of pro-life, "beautifully" sculpted, red-white-and-blue wingnuts. (Anyone notice Alito's ties?)
Is it just a question of power? Democrats DO only hold 45 seats in the Senate. They only hold eight seats on the Judiciary Committee. Were their questions fruitful? Did they fail to make Alito look like a poster boy? What happened?
Or maybe...
I'm wondering if this is just a gimmick, this article. Has Harry already gotten the votes for a filibuster? Are they hiding their intentions from the Republicans via gloomy NYT interviews?
What does everyone think? And, given either situation, what do we do now?
If they have given up, then there's no question that we've failed. It is likely (but not impossible) that there won't be anymore SCOTUS nominations before November. Should we forget this, let it go, and spend our time on the Congressional races? Shift policy from Congress and hope the Supreme Court doesn't ban blow jobs any time soon?
Give me your ideas, your thoughts, and your dreams.
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