This Fight Is Just Starting

I do not like being a fool, and I feel much like that today based on the erroneous information given to me, by Thomas, through his source. I do not hold it against Thomas. We have a process we initiate when "breaking news" comes down the pike. And in his post today, he recognized he, too, made a mistake. We apologize to our readers.

But the retirement announcement of O’Connor has every Supreme Court watcher going into high gear. To quote the military men in NORAD, we are at Def-Con 2. O’Connor’s departure will signal an incredibly hard-fought war for the Court. (We hope it is "hard-fought" by the GOP in the Senate. We do hope they learned their lesson from the last round of nominees.)

Thomas brought up four possibilities for the High Court. Those would be John Kyl, J. Michael Luttig, John G. Roberts, and Michael B. Mukasey. Kyl is a possibility, but like Thomas, I doubt he will be nominated. To lose Kyl in the Senate could be devastating to the GOP in the Senate. (And honestly, I don’t want Arizona’s brain-dead, liberal governor making a moderate or liberal Republican appointment. We already have one of those: His name is John McCain.) Luttig and Roberts are both excellent originalists and jurists in their own right, but I think both might be held back until a Rehnquist retirement is announced.

Mukasey I wholeheartedly disagree with. It was Mukasey who ruled that Jose Padilla was entitled to have counsel, despite being picked up under the Patriot Act as a potential terrorist, and held as an enemy combatant. Padilla was accused of preparing a bomb for an apartment complex in Chicago, if memory serves me correctly.

But in my research, several other jurists are popping up on the radar screen. Samuel Alito, Emilio Garza, John Cornyn, and possibly Edith Jones. All of them, including Cornyn, are well-known originalists. Like Kyl, Cornyn is a sitting senator, but his ascension would not be a "nuclear" as Kyl’s. Below are three "resumes" from Alito, Garza, and Jones.

Alito, Samuel A. Jr.

Born 1950 in Trenton, NJ
Federal Judicial Service:
U. S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Nominated by George H.W. Bush on February 20, 1990, to a seat vacated by John Joseph Gibbons; Confirmed by the Senate on April 27, 1990, and received commission on April 30, 1990.

Education:
Princeton University, A.B., 1972
Yale Law School, J.D., 1975

Professional Career:
Law clerk, Hon. Leonard I. Garth, U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit, 1976-1977
Assistant U.S. attorney, District of New Jersey, 1977-1981
Assistant to the U.S. solicitor general, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, 1981-1985
Deputy assistant U.S. attorney general, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, 1985-1987U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, 1987-1990

Race or Ethnicity:
White

Gender:
Male

Garza, Emilio M.

Born 1947 in San Antonio, TX
Federal Judicial Service:
U. S. District Court, Western District of Texas
Nominated by Ronald Reagan on February 2, 1988, to a seat vacated by William S. Sessions; Confirmed by the Senate on April 19, 1988, and received commission on April 20, 1988. Service terminated on June 7, 1991, due to appointment to another judicial position. U. S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Nominated by George H.W. Bush on April 11, 1991, to a seat vacated by Thomas Morrow Reavley; Confirmed by the Senate on May 24, 1991, and received commission on May 30, 1991.

Education:
University of Notre Dame, B.A., 1969
University of Notre Dame, M.A., 1970
University of Texas School of Law, J.D., 1976

Professional Career:
U.S. Marine Corps Captain, 1970-1973
Private practice, San Antonio, Texas, 1976-1987
Judge, 225th District Court, Bexar County, Texas, 1987-1988

Race or Ethnicity:
Hispanic

Gender:
Male

Jones, Edith Hollan

Born 1949 in Philadelphia, PA
Federal Judicial Service:
U. S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Nominated by Ronald Reagan on February 27, 1985, to a new seat created by 98 Stat. 333; Confirmed by the Senate on April 3, 1985, and received commission on April 4, 1985.

Education:
Cornell University, B.A., 1971
University of Texas School of Law, J.D., 1974

Professional Career:
Private practice, Houston, Texas, 1974-1985

Race or Ethnicity:
White

Gender:
Female

In addition to these three (Cornyn as the fourth) I would like to add former judicial nominee Miguel Estrada to the mix. Estrada was beatan and smacked like a red-headed stepchild by the Democrats when he went up the first time, and like a few of the president’s nominees, never had his day or vote in the Senate. Estrada would be a fine addition to the line-up of nominees.

People, especially pro-judicial activists, are crying that O’Connor should be replaced by a woman, and one that is much like her. O’Connor was a serious disappointment to many conservatives that watched as a woman touted as a conservative ended up being far more moderate than they expected. Even Reagan admitted in his autobiography that he was slightly disappointed in her stance on a couple of issues. That is a lot coming from the man who nominated her.

As Thomas was quick to point out today, the object of a nominee is not their sex or their ethnicity. It is on their qualifications; the ability for them to do their job. The NOW gang is already ratcheting up the rhetoric against ANY jurist that personally opposes abortion. Of course. Typical, lying rhetoric. Without a "great" justice like O’Connor, abortion rights might be struck down. Though I do not hold my breath on such an idiotic prediction, if they are, then so be it. Send it back to the states where it came from, and where it belongs.

Another moderate is not the answer. The country’s judicial system is a train-wreck, our rights are limited or struck down by judicial activists, and there’s no counter-balance for such activism. (Everyone still feel safe and secure in their homes?) Because the courts are in such disarray, the easiest solution to get it back on track is to put an originalist in as a replacement.

What is truly sickening is so many people are praising this woman. Why? Because she was the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court? Please. Ginsburg was the second, and the two are so close to their judicial ideology I will not shed a tear from her retirement. (Well, maybe one or two, but they will be tears of joy.) I find her to be judicially-inept when it comes to coming up with an interpretation of constitutional matters, and an embarrassment to the Court. I am happy she is leaving.

I brought it up last night in my post that regardless of who was to step down, we will finally find out what the Gang of Fourteen mean by "extraordinary circumstances." We have fourteen people that virtually have a stranglehold on the Senate when it comes to judicial nominees, and it seems even more than that. There was a reason that Frist did not pull the Constitutional Option on Bolton. I can only surmise that he was expecting the fourteen to announce that Bolton is an "extraordinary circumstance." In the Left’s definition, it could be assumed that anyone who fits into a Darth Vader costume would be such a circumstance. Please. These people are nuts.

But, now is not the time to lose heart. We have three important things we must do, as citizens, to help those we elected. First, give them your support; not monetarily, but encouragement. Second, get them off any idea regarding Gonzales. Recent things that Thomas and I have uncovered shows that Gonzales could be a disaster on the High Court. Third, push the best nominees on our representatives. They need to hear from us as much as we need to hear from each other.

This is going to be the "summer to end all summers" when it comes to the fight that is brewing in the Senate. To the citizens, I implore you to support your representatives as much as possible, and make your voice heard. To the Senators: Hold the line, do not back down, and NO MORE DEALS. These people get their vote, or they do not. No more extra-Constitutional deals subverting the operation of the Senate, and their role in "advice and consent."

The Bunny ;)