President Bush named federal appeals court judge John G. Roberts Jr. to a seat on the Supreme Court Tuesday, delighting Republicans while unsettling some Democrats with the selection of a young jurist with impeccable conservative credentials.
So far so good.
Initial reaction from Republicans was strongly in favor of Roberts. Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama called him a "fabulous nominee" and predicted that if confirmed, he would "bring a nonpolitical approach to judging."
Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., a leading conservative, called him "brilliant.
So far so better.Democratic reaction was more measured, but initially at least, offered no hint of a filibuster. "The president has chosen someone with suitable legal credentials, but that is not the end of our inquiry," said Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada. Referring to planned hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Reid said, "I will not prejudge this nomination. I look forward to learning more about Judge Roberts."
"Who knows about this guy?" said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.
The abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America immediately announced its opposition to Roberts.
So far so best.
Let me get this straight, Bush appointed a conservative who is disliked by NARAL. At the risk of sounding childish, hooray. It remains to be seen whether or not the democrats and moderate republicans will waffle and let Roberts get the axe. Earlier I have mentioned that I would be very surprised if Bush gets a conservative through. The story is still young, and the fight ahead could be long.
I see no reason to bring up my usual pessism to damper what may be the best move Bush has made in memory. Three cheers for conservative justices and one cheer for Bush who has, at least this once, not disappointed me.
Hooray, hooray, hooray, hooray.
1 comment:
Since when do democrats care about the will of the people? Almost every liberal victory has come from the courts or from republicans. We'll see what happens on this one.
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