Yes, I know the NYTwits wrote a scathing editorial
about the Pickering installation. They even wrote one
about the _resident's SOTU last night, which BTW was
chilling in its utter disconnect with reality. But,
frankly, this whole awful interlude in US history
could have turned out quite differently IF the NYTwits
had demonstrated courage (or even a grasp of simple
arithmetic) in the aftermath of Fraudida 2000, so to
Dis wit dem...Here is an editorial from a much
worthier example of a free press...Oh, and hey, where
are you today, Mr. Ralph "There's no difference
between Bush and Gore" Nada? Even one judicial appointment like this
contemptible man would have been reason enough to tell
those in battleground states where the race was close
to vote for Gore. But, no, Nada was campaigning in
Fraudida in the final days of the race, and even now,
he refuses to recant and even toys with another run...
Berkshire Eagle: Judge Pickering is an old-fashioned
Mississippi segregationist who is exactly the kind of
"judicial activist" the Republican Party ordinarily
deplores. He has no business on the bench, let alone
the federal bench, and Senate Democrats have
successfully filibustered his appointment for two
years. For President Bush to slide him in through the
back door shortly after paying token tribute to Martin
Luther King, a man who deplored everything the likes
of Judge Pickering stands for, reveals how low an
opinion the White House has of the minority community.
Rebuke the Rabid Right and Return the _resident to
Waco, Show Up for Democracy in 2004: Defeat Bush
(again!)
http://www.berkshireeagle.com/Stories/0,1413,101%7E6267%7E1902548,00.html
Article Published: Tuesday, January 20, 2004 - 2:15:37
AM EST
Pickering goes in the back door
With the executive and legislative branches of
government dominated by the radical right, the assault
upon the judicial branch, the only check against the
abuses of the other two, has been kicked up another
notch. President Bush's decision Friday to install
Charles W. Pickering Sr. to the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the Fifth Circuit as a recess appointment puts an
unqualified man on the court and, even more
significantly, weakens the balance of powers that is
the foundation of our system of government.
Judge Pickering is an old-fashioned Mississippi
segregationist who is exactly the kind of "judicial
activist" the Republican Party ordinarily deplores. He
has no business on the bench, let alone the federal
bench, and Senate Democrats have successfully
filibustered his appointment for two years. For
President Bush to slide him in through the back door
shortly after paying token tribute to Martin Luther
King, a man who deplored everything the likes of Judge
Pickering stands for, reveals how low an opinion the
White House has of the minority community.
Other presidents have appointed judges during a
congressional recess, most recently President Clinton,
who appointed Roger Gregory to the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Fourth Circuit through that process.
The difference between that appointment and the
Pickering appointment is that Judge Gregory was
qualified and his appointment was held up by Senate
Republicans seeking to spite President Clinton. Judge
Gregory's appointment to the appeals court by
essentially the same Republican Congress after his
name was quietly resubmitted by President Bush proves
that it was nothing but party politics that had kept
him off the federal bench.
In another example of unconscionable judicial abuse,
it was revealed over the weekend that Supreme Court
Justice Antonin Scalia spent part of last week duck
hunting with his old pal Dick Cheney, just three weeks
after the Supreme Court had agreed to take up the vice
president's appeal of lawsuits demanding he reveal the
members of the White House's energy task force. Judges
at every level of the system know enough not to pal
around with people they will see before them in court,
and federal law requires a judge to "disqualify
himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality
might be questioned."
Don't look for Justice Scalia to disqualify himself,
however, and don't expect the Supreme Court to require
Mr. Cheney to identify the oil industry barons who
help make government energy policy. Do expect Mr.
Pickering to be permanently appointed to the federal
bench a year from now should the Republicans gain a
veto-proof majority in the Senate. And do expect the
assault on the independence of the judiciary to
continue if the GOP maintains its grip on both
branches of government in November.