Lashing up the boxing gloves for Supreme Court bout
We don’t know who Barack Obama will nominate to replace David Souter, but in some ways it doesn’t matter. The script for what’s about to happen has already been written, long before the play is cast.
“There could not be a better issue to latch on to for a Republican renaissance to start building on — drawing some distinctions on issues,” said Wendy Long, counsel to the Judicial Confirmation Network, a conservative organization. “I hope for and I expect a fight.”
So a fight it will be. That’s how you get the folks back home riled up. It’s how you get the money flowing in, how you draw the audience to the news channels.
Over at Politico, Ben Smith posts the contents of an internal memo outlining the conservative case against three of the possible nominees. My favorite extract is this:
“It is also unclear that a Justice Kagan would be an adequately independent check on executive excesses. She has argued in favor of greatly enhanced presidential control over the bureaucracy, which is concerning in light of President Obama’s unprecedented centralization of power in the White House.”
Imagine that. And for some reason I thought conservatives loved the idea of a powerful executive, and loved judges who let presidents do whatever they wanted.
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157 comments Add your comment
Kamchak
May 2nd, 2009
9:09 am
Typical. Don’t do as we did, do as we say.
Mrs. Godzilla
May 2nd, 2009
9:15 am
The rad-right will shoot themselves in the foot on this too.
They still have not learned that the attack, attack, attack strategy no longer works. In fact it backfires.
Example:
Red State’s Erik Erickson writes that Judge Souter is a “goat f*&king child molester”
http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/red-states-erik-erickson-writes-judge-s
Chill. Obama’s got this.
RW-(the original)
May 2nd, 2009
9:23 am
Imagine that. And for some reason I thought conservatives loved the idea of a powerful executive, and loved judges who let presidents do whatever they wanted.
That’s what you get for listening to lib talking points about conservatives instead of listening to actual conservatives.
Taxpayer
May 2nd, 2009
9:26 am
Who wants to listen to actual conservatives. We (the 80%) have already established their credibility — zilch, nada, zero….
I Report :-) / You Whine :-(
May 2nd, 2009
9:26 am
Now we get to see what a “big tent” the democrats have, how welcoming are they to moderates, will they reach up the aisle like they want us to do?
ew
Not a freaking chance.
All of that bookman blowhard about moderate this and moderate that, soon to be totally dismantled by the democrats.
haha
Taxpayer
May 2nd, 2009
9:29 am
Obama reaches out to moderates all the time — not right wing fringe.
fearless fosdick
May 2nd, 2009
9:33 am
Whiner .. There is no such thing as a MODERATE on your side of the aisle!
Donovan
May 2nd, 2009
9:34 am
Attack, attack, attack strategy? What do you call the Democrat strategy for the last 8 years against the Bush administration?
Kamchak
May 2nd, 2009
9:43 am
Thanks for the link Mrs. Godzilla. E.E. becomes more over the top every week. Is he in some kind of contest with Glen Beck to see who is wingnuttier?
SuperDave
May 2nd, 2009
9:46 am
Donovan @ 9:34
“What do you call the Democrat strategy for the last 8 years against the Bush administration?”
A success
Ray
May 2nd, 2009
9:55 am
If you think that Mr. Wonderful will nominate a moderate centrist, you are living on the wrong planet. He and Emanuel blow smoke all the time about how conciliatory they are regarding opponents but we have yet to see it. This will probably be the Annointed One’s biggest legacy as to judicial proceedings in this country for the next 20 years and as a part of that legacy, he has a lot of people to pay back. It will certainly be someone black and probably a female to keep Ruthie company. The lady from Atlanta seems like a good choice…. if you think that it will be another white male, I have some property that you might interest you in Arizona. Ruthie has pancreatic CA and will probably die of it. The 5 yr survival rate for that disease is nil, even if you catch it early. So, there might not be a need to keep Ruthie company after all. And that will most certainly play into his decision. Might be a good place to cubbyhole Ms Clinton…. but she is not black and it might not play too well with the party.
Donovan
May 2nd, 2009
10:09 am
Exactly, SuperDave. The spin and propaganda machine of the DNC has been the slickest snake oil promotion devised by the left in recent history. Hence, we now have a country run by congressional whack-jobs and the White House occupied by an unaccomplished empty suit elected by a misinformed population of American Idol-watching idiots. Thanks to them and the DNC we now have a country looking more like Europe, auto companies now being owned by labor union thugs, future deficit budgets in the trillions of dollars, generational theft, a promise of descriminatory tax increases, a weakened national security, and a Supreme Court on the verge of left wing jurisprudence that will validate the liberal agenda of Obamination. Thanks, neo-America. You have killed the goose who lays the golden egg. We are now on the way to second rate standing in the world.
ByteMe
May 2nd, 2009
10:11 am
RW: When the Bushies came into office, they were very clear about “don’t listen to what we say, watch what we do”. That was in response to worries about Bush following through on his campaign promises.
Well, we did watch what he and the rest of the conservative “movement” did. They had a bowel movement on the country. Never again.
ByteMe
May 2nd, 2009
10:12 am
Ray: why do they need to be conciliatory toward a bunch of losers with only 22% approval rating? Exactly what would be the point of that??
TW
May 2nd, 2009
10:12 am
Who will make the argument for the right?
Boner? Rush? Hannity? How about possible VP candidate (hehehehe) Perdue?
Perhaps they could pull ‘w’ away from his coloring book?
Yes, the right has TWO problems here – their ‘message’ is shiite, and the delivery boy, whomever they choose, is a jacka$$
Andy the Teabagger
May 2nd, 2009
10:12 am
Are there any real conservatives around anymore to listen to?
ByteMe
May 2nd, 2009
10:17 am
BTW, I predict a “no drama” pick. Obama really doesn’t have the disposition to go for the jugular when the opposition is weak. I think he’d rather win quietly on this one instead of having a noisy fight when there are so many better fights to be picked.
The Republicans MUST have a noisy fight to appear relevant, but they’ll likely overreach and lose more credibility in the process. They’re better off on this one to say “Obama’s nominee is not who we’d like to see on the court, but she is definitely qualified, so we’re going to ask tough questions and do our part in this process, but likely she will be the next Supreme Court justice.” But they won’t.
I Report :-) / You Whine :-(
May 2nd, 2009
10:19 am
Even if the libs did pick a “moderate” like for instance, Judd Gregg, as soon as they found out exactly what was on Obozo’s mind they’d be like, eewwwww.
I hope you libs remember all of the Bush appointment obstruction of Reed, Swimmer Kennedy and Chris “Countrywide” Dudd, that way you won’t whine too much here in the next couple of weeks, hahahaha.
(P.S. I say we make a spectacle out of who ever Obozo trots out, let’s “discover” some new Anita Hill, definitely check their tax records duh, open and and shine a light on all their pervert ideas and decisions. Let’s have some fun with it.)
SuperDave
May 2nd, 2009
10:19 am
Ray,
Why should he nominate a moderate? There’s no incentive for him to do that. The right is going to fight with everything they have no matter who he nominates. They have made it perfectly clear that will be their strategy. Why would he even consider trying to pacify the right wing?
Yankee
May 2nd, 2009
10:20 am
Now is the time for President Obama to to go for the KILL to the Republi-cants and elect HILLARY CLINTON to replace Judge Souter to the Supreme Court. That would give Fat Limba and Sean Insanity material for the rest of the year.
Kamchak
May 2nd, 2009
10:20 am
Donovan
That goose was killed thirty years ago with laissez-faire, supply-side, trickle-down, corporate worship, voodoo doo-doo. Supplication to the bottom line has led to record profits, record executive compensation and decreasing real wages for W-2 earners. Fully funded family health care and guaranteed pensions, once a staple of the Ward and June Cleaver era, is now only available to the privileged few.
One Voice
May 2nd, 2009
10:22 am
Uh, Jay, the term is “lacing” up the gloves, not “lashing” up the gloves. If you’re going to use sports metaphors you may want to get them right. You really hit one out of the court with that one.
Jay
May 2nd, 2009
10:24 am
Andy the Tea, I’m thinking another nom de plume is required.
booger
May 2nd, 2009
10:26 am
Yeah, Obama needs some more power. He said as much in his grueling press conference the other night. The most surprising thing about the job per Obama was his lack of actual power to do the things he wants to do.
Ray
May 2nd, 2009
10:26 am
Byte Me,
Don’t know where you got the 21%. Seems like 46% voted against your boy a few months ago. You find it convenient to ignore the 25% or so independents and swing voters who voted against this clown. Are all of those independents in the enemy too? And he made promises not only to the Republicans but also to all of these independents and swing voters. “There will be no legislation passed without posting in on the internet to let the American voter decide”. Right. You don’t placate a narcissist like this guy by “coming together”.
He has tasted the power of the office and it will yet be the downfall of this country yet.
By the way, those “losers” you are talking about have a vote, even though you might want to destroy them and demonize their views. Your boy has another three plus years to produce. If you think that all America is in the lemming category just wait until 2012.
One Voice
May 2nd, 2009
10:27 am
rw: “That’s what you get for listening to lib talking points about conservatives instead of listening to actual conservatives.”
No, when you listen to conservatives (i.e. believe their bullshot) you get an unnecessary war, thousands dead, torture, treason, an undermined constitution, undermined American values, and a crumbling economy. After 8 years of that, I’ll pass.
ByteMe
May 2nd, 2009
10:31 am
Ray: You know exactly where the 21% approval for Republicans comes from. Just because McCain — of whom the right disapproved anyway — got more votes doesn’t mean the Republican Party is as loved as he was.
Yes, those losers have a vote, but there’s no reason at this point for Obama to be “conciliatory” toward them as you want him to be. They are still losers and losers get to be heard… and completely ignored if the situation requires. Same as Bush — with only 50% of the vote — ignored the Democrats for 6 years… until he couldn’t, then he curled into a little ball and sucked his thumb for the final two years.
booger
May 2nd, 2009
10:32 am
Donovan,
When democrats attack it,s called speaking truth to power. Only when it,s repubs is it called attacking and whining. This is part of the AJC journalist training program.
ByteMe
May 2nd, 2009
10:33 am
And, yes, I’m being intentionally inflamatory.
SuperDave
May 2nd, 2009
10:33 am
Donovan,
Slick marketing and snake oil is not what got Obama elected. It was the complete disaster that was the Bush administration. The American voter is not as ignorant and self absorbed as you think they are.
ByteMe
May 2nd, 2009
10:33 am
inflammatory. Yeesh.
@@
May 2nd, 2009
10:35 am
Obama on the campaign trail: We need somebody who’s got the heart to recognize–the empathy to recognize what it’s like to be a young teenaged mom, the empathy to understand what it’s like to be poor or African-American or gay or disabled or old…And that’s the criteria by which I’m going to be selecting my judges.
In yesterday’s press conference: He intends to find a nominee “who understands that justice isn’t about some abstract legal theory or footnote in a casebook” but is also about “how our laws affect the daily realities of people’s lives.”
“I view that quality of empathy, of understanding and identifying with people’s hopes and struggles as an essential ingredient for arriving as just decisions and outcomes,” he said.
Those ^^^ comments don’t bother you, jay? They should.
There’s a reason why Lady Justice is portrayed with a blindfold and balancing scales.
While sitting as a jurist this past week, I was advised by the judge not to allow emotion to cloud my judgment of the evidence. I didn’t!
Only after rendering a guilty verdict, did I allow my emotions to overwhelm me. It wasn’t an easy decision but one that served society as a whole.
With the upcoming confirmation/appointment to fill the SCOTUS vacancy we’ll soon find out whether Spectre ever really had any conservative principles to run on. Like so many of today’s politicians, it was probably just his mouth that did….
run on.
ByteMe
May 2nd, 2009
10:36 am
You don’t need to be a slick snake oil salesman to win the sale against the party that let New Orleans sink into the ocean on national TV while proclaiming that all was well. Pretty much you just need to be breathing.
retiredds
May 2nd, 2009
10:43 am
I think Donovan that you have been listening to too much Fox News, Rush, Hannity, and what’s her name, the lady with the long hair, oh yea, last name begins with a C …… Coulter, that’s it.
Ray
May 2nd, 2009
10:43 am
Byte Me,
My point is that that 25% of the electorate voted for a Republican candidate, even though they might not have been registered Republicans. Are you demonizing all of those “losers” too? Bottom line… 46 % of the electorate did not believe that this clown should be president. If you take away only 3% of the Annointed One’s votes and place them in the Republican/Independent catagory, you have a horse race. And that’s a long way from 79/21 as you would have us believe. The American people are smart enough to realize that if Obama’s plan for our future isn’t working, they will throw their votes to another candidate. Carter and George HW are great examples of one term presidents who didn’t listen to their electorate.
Taxpayer
May 2nd, 2009
10:44 am
I think that the 20 percenters need to keep doing what they have been doing — decaying. I look forward to calling them the 18 percenters, 16 percenters, and ultimately, calling them by name…Andy, RW….
RW-(the original)
May 2nd, 2009
10:50 am
Public service announcement:
I Want Revenge has been scratched from today’s Kentucky Derby so adjust your pools accordingly.
With that bit of business out of the way I’m off to celebrate my anniversary with my lovely bride. See y’all tomorrow.
Bye!
ByteMe
May 2nd, 2009
10:53 am
Ray: I’m not demonizing them at all. You’re making the race at the top of the ticket equivalent to the other races that they lost… which is a false equivalence.
BTW, a link to help: http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1207/republican-party-identification-slips-nationwide-pennsylvania-specter-switch
Bottom line: Obama has 60+% approval rating. The Republicans are not popular. Why be “conciliatory” toward the party that is already wildly unpopular? BTW, if you take away Palin, Obama still wins
. Time to get over it.
Basically, as a politician, you have to decide who your future electorate is going to be. Is it the Dittoheads or the Parrotheads? The Hannitized or those with striped ties? (I’m on a roll!
) If the 20%-ers are NEVER going to be in your column, you ignore them and work hard for the other 80%.
You completely underestimate Obama if you think of him as less than completely calculating and deliberate.
ByteMe
May 2nd, 2009
10:54 am
Congrats, RW! Enjoy your anniversary.
@@
May 2nd, 2009
11:02 am
Happy Anniversary to your and your wife, RW.
May you celebrate them endlessly.
@@
May 2nd, 2009
11:03 am
Whoopsee! Make that “you” and…
but then you already know what I meant, RW.
(ISH)
fearless fosdick
May 2nd, 2009
11:08 am
Michele Bachmann (R-Moron) Still stupid as a box of rocks!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23itODyctH4
what
May 2nd, 2009
11:15 am
Byteme,
But to be fair if you look at the polls Obama has nearly the same percentage of those who are in strong favor 33% as he does strongly oppossed 32%.
That was the latest poll numbers I saw, and that goes to prove both of your points actually. It shows that at this time Obama is carrying the middle of the road voters.
However these numbers are not as high as they once were. He is now at somewhat approval of 54% with 45% not approving. Guess that goes to support Rays claim some.
I am sure that Rasmussen is not a credible poll to you for whatever reason, but those are the numbers so in a way both of you are wrong and both are right.
Te numbers for congress are similar but not as good for dem. Those are the poll numbers not mine.
I Report :-) / You Whine :-(
May 2nd, 2009
11:17 am
Happy anniversary, RW.
~~~~~
Don’t know where you got the 21%. Seems like 46% voted against your boy a few months ago.
Take the inverse of that Ray, I already know the 46% voting Republican number directly contradicts the fake polls of the liberals, but think about this-
How many more votes would we have gotten if we hadn’t run an across the aisle reaching moderate?
I rest my case.
Ray
May 2nd, 2009
11:22 am
Calculating and deliberate? You bet. In all of your graphs in the article, the independent percentage of the voters didn’t go below 36% and it was sometimes higher. My point is that a good percentage of them voted for McCain. You seem to delight in calling anyone who doesn’t agree with your views, “losers”. Approval ratings are like fickle women…. good for the moment but you gotta watch em. Bush’s approval ratings were also in the 60s after he was elected for the first time despite not winning the popular vote. “The Republicans are not popular”. Certainly not with liberals but they seem to holding their own with Independents. And I have to say that many of these Independents once called themselves Republicans although I cannot prove it. “Conciliatory” takes on different meanings with different people. We need a more centrist court… we have for a long time. Abortion is the star topic with most nominees although it is never mentioned in the Constitution. And the SC’s central duty is to give us an interpretation of the Constitution that is true to what our Founders wanted. Although I didn’t agree with her all of the time, O’Conner was one of the best justices in the last 50yrs. Not “conciliatory” but not polarized.
The nominee will be black and a woman. All other things will be in second place. And if you think that that serves the country well, maybe you should be listening to American Idol.
@@
May 2nd, 2009
11:23 am
Well, jay, your site is malfunctioning once again. While some here may have the time and patience to deal with it, I DO NOT!
Piu tardi! Molto piu tardi!
SuperDave
May 2nd, 2009
11:26 am
“How many more votes would we have gotten if we hadn’t run an across the aisle reaching moderate?”
Fewer I would guess.
I rest my case
getalife
May 2nd, 2009
11:27 am
He will pick a female , pro choice, lib.
norman ravitch
May 2nd, 2009
11:31 am
Since Obama will be replacing Souter, a liberal, there won’t be a fuss if he appoints another liberal. When any of the conservatives on the Court retire then you will have a donnybrook in the Senate.
SuperDave
May 2nd, 2009
11:35 am
You can cite poll numbers all you want and it don’t mean a thing. In 2012 one of the candidates is going to ask the question, “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” If the answer is “no,” then you will have a Republican president. If the answer is “yes,” Obama gets a second term. His SCOTUS nominees will be a non issue.
It’s the economy, stupid.