« BACK  |  PRINT

RS

FRONT PAGE CONTRIBUTOR

Quote of the Day, Supreme Court edition.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  May 25th, 2009 at 06:32 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Via Hot Air Headlines: “Conservatives itching for SCOTUS fight.” Remove the snide tone (which, to be fair, is much less than usual), and this Politico article pretty much sums up the GOP base’s attitude: it’s time to go waltzing Matilda.

“The other side does not agonize about whether they are going to give a Republican Supreme Court nominee a difficult time, they just do it.” – Gary Bauer, president of American Values.

Don’t like it? Have the President nominate a real moderate, then – and by ‘moderate’ I do not mean ‘liberal who doesn’t express hatred for Republicans anywhere there might be a recording device.’ Think that you can’t wait, because our coming out swinging is going to help the liberal cause with Americans? Funny: that’s what they said about Cheney throwing down on enhanced interrogation techniques. I’d suggest that people ask Nancy Pelosi how she thinks that one worked out, except that she responds to all questions like that these days by putting her fingers in her ears and shouting ‘LALALA!’. Which would not be cute if my two-year-old did that; you can imagine how it looks on someone who is third in line for the Presidency.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

Tags: , , ,
Get Alerts

COMMENTS

POSTING RULES  |  LOGIN TO COMMENT  |  REGISTER TODAY
  • mbecker908

    with a single judicial nomination should burn in hell. And lose their seniority.

  • IJB
  • molybdanthan

    than filching for my wallet.

    Hope the minority members on Senate Judicial committee fight like Hell over any of O’s picks (add the letter ‘r’ in between ‘p’ and ‘i’ for how I really think).

    They’re probably gonna cave though. There’s just no fight in them it seems.

    It might be a strategy whereby the House GOP allow things to go all wrong for the Dems, hoping it’ll lead to success in 2010. But with lifetime judicial appointments, that’s not a good plan in this case.

    No activist belongs in court, unless they’re the defendant.

  • bk

    Any Republican Senator who aids and abets Obama …

    will receive NRSC backing over a challenger who wouldn’t.

  • Grant_Ellis

    a slate of moderate justices that would have been truly moderate and in so doing, led the debate in a positive manner thus confounding the opposition. Unfortunately, our team has no offensive squad so here we sit flat-footed waiting on incoming. Seriously, every last incumbent Republican running in 2010 needs to be opposed. Some challengers will win. It’s a start.

  • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

    I have a better idea: concentrate on getting the best Republican in your district nominated, then concentrate on getting the Republican nominee elected.

  • IJB

    The number of Senate Republicans who don’t warrant primary challenges can be pretty much be counted on the fingers of one hand…

  • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

    NT

  • mbecker908

    Put that slate up and those names will haunt the next Republican President for his entire term and any nominee not on that slate will be automatically disqualified as a fire breathing right winger.

  • Grant_Ellis

    OK, lets just keep doing what we’re doing now….getting our brains beat out in every news cycle.

    How about let’s battle the immediate apocalypse. Posturing now for a conservative Justice that couldn’t be nominated till 2013 earliest is exactly the kind of political “strategy” that’s got our team in a fetal position sucking their respective thumbs.

    Frankly, waiting to fight against Obama’s announced nominee is not only stupid but it’s completely counterproductive. First, unless the nominee is a literal card-carrying Socialist, he/she will eventually be confirmed anyway. Second, efforts to block confirmation without plenty of cause is just going to be seen as obstructionism….and Republicans take yet another credibility hit. The ONLY way to battle effetively is to get ahead of Obama in an offensive posture. Per my suggestion, set the standard for “moderate” then step back and watch him deal with it. Waiting to act until the nominee is announced is too late.

  • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

    Amazing to me how some people do not get that trying to down-play Race to eliminate Racism on one hand while promoting with ?Special Rights? and/or designations on the other, won?t/doesn?t just fuel the flames of it in some instances. There is no such thing as Reverse-Discrimination, it is all discrimination regardless of what direction the RACISM is based from and to – and EQUAL PROTECTIONS demands that we actually start treating people equally or we can never truly have a ?Color-blind? society that the Left loves to harp about (while they promote Racist policy to keep Racial divisions and allow them to keep Power by pitting one Race, Class, Sex, etc, against the other). Yet Obama talks about a SCOTUS nominee needing to have Empathy, rather than Judicial Branch goal/concept/notion of EQUALITY – Blind justice!!! If discrimination in the Courts is the notion of Progressives, how is that Progress?!?!? (see also: Obama in Obama’s 2001 Redistributive Justice video)

    The whole thing SCOTUS Empathy

  • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

    Frankly, that’s what we need right now.

  • Grant_Ellis

    that was my exact point. My congressional district is “served” by a Republican you’ve probably never heard of and he’s been elected 12 times. That puts his freshman year in Reagan’s 2nd term.

    How many politicians like him keep getting returned to the DC echo chamber only to squat on the ball? We’re in a death-fight for Liberty. These retired-on-the-job folks need to politely step down or be vigorously challenged. We are in bad need of fresh blood and a lot better political strategy. The status quo will have us in leg irons by 2012.

  • Grant_Ellis

    knothead incumbents then yeah, I have no interest in party building. We need the equivalent of political counter-terrorists. That obviously means new blood. That means recruiting challengers. Best I can tell, the current party-building team is clueless…..and there’s plenty of evidence to support that conclusion.

  • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

    At some point, somebody actually has to go in and clean up the mess, district by district. If you don’t want to do that, fine. But you’re not accomplishing anything of equivalent worth by coming here and insisting on a broad-spectrum gutting of our representation in Congress.

    Please assume that I will continue to respond to all further commentary with a curt “Nobody is coming to save your district. Go save it yourself;” I need to go to bed.

  • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

    Lest our friends forget (like Tony who gave us “But He’s Black” admission from his Mother – well, I think you should read it) the first Hispanic to the SCOTUS would have been Alberto Gonzalez, should the Democrats cared at all about the Presidential prerogative to nominate/seat SCOTUS Justices of their choosing and turn advise/consent roles into Political witch hunts and Theatrical grandstanding boondoggles…. So when the inevitable cries come up “But She’s Hispanic” let us remind them that RACE was supposedly not a matter with Alberto Gonzalez, but his potential – say “Life” and other issues they refuse to let the Court be reversed from their PROGRESSIVE (read: March away from Constitutionality) agenda. That if/when/where it cannot be achieved from Legislative means stacked Activist Liberal Judges must be assured control/sway. Republicans FAIL to take the appropriate stands/fights and we get to these points…. Where again an Ultra-Liberal Lefty President will be picking a Candidate on the terms of Identity Politics and Obama’s admitted desire for someone who will (IGNORE THE CONSTITUTION AND THE LAW, while he doesn’t say it that plain it is what he means in that he wants someone who will) toss EQUAL JUSTICE notions for SCOTUS Empathy and Redistributive Justice (see Obama admit it himself on video)….

    So, again, it won’t be about “Hispanics:” on Republicans part anyway but will be blatant pandering for re-election votes by/for Obama, though some people will of course resort [Janine Gagalow for one] to their first defense which is accusations without basis of RACISM, when Republicans challenge the probable pick – potentially Sonia Sotomayor for only one. It will be about the usual Ultra-Liberal ACTIVISM they’ve engaged in rather than pursuit of EQUAL JUSTICE! Remember, it wasn’t about Gonzalez’s background other than what would have been his desire to adhere to Rule Of Law – and with Obama’s picks it will be about their Activism to Legislate from the Bench rather than uphold Law.

  • mbecker908

    What are you doing to help energize that challenge? Are you a Precinct Committeeman in your legislative district? Do you know anybody in the local, county or state GOP organization? Do you communicate regularly with your Congresscritter and your Senators?

    We need fresh blood. Either “we” go find some or “we” are going to bleed. And throwing out a list of judiciary candidates that would be “acceptable” to Republicans isn’t going to do anything about the former and will make sure the latter happens even when we eventually win. We will be in leg irons long after 2012 with that little gambit.

  • Grant_Ellis

    to consider being the right candidate as opposed to recruiting someone else. That’s where I’m at. Yeah, it’ll be a lot more work than blogging but I’m up to it, my dedication to conservatism is unimpeachable and I’ve got a thick skin. Perhaps that’ll be enough to move the needle, Perhaps I’ll just blow a wad of cash trying. As a rule, I prefer being in the field of battle over cheerleading. We’ll see. I’m still exploring my options.

    Meanwhile, I’m afraid many precincts are consigned to repeating failed tactics and expecting different results. We’ll eventually work through this….but I’m convinced that new blood confidently speaking eternal truths and solid conservative positions will be needed to carry the day….machine politics or not. Better stated, the right candidate cures all party ills; the wrong candidate will likely fail regardless of the party machine…..either at the ballot or, sadly, while in office. Coincidentally, that’s where we’re at right now: leaderless….and we keep fishing candidates out of the shallow end of the pool.

    Finally, with respect to my suggested SCOTUS nominee tactic, I’m willing to concede that better ideas may be out there….I’d just like to see/hear them. As things stand, our team will whine for awhile then capitulate…..as usual. That sort of predictability doesn’t make for much of an adversary. Our tactics should at minimum upset the Obama juggernaut. If we can actually score a win here and there, so much the better. It’s way past time to start thinking outside the box.

  • bk

    I can’t find a video clip of it, but I happened to be watching. Jane Skinner had Claire McCaskill on the phone. She went through the Duke clip and got the expected response. Then she repeated the comment from the Berkeley clip and McCaskill said, “We can’t hold her to what someone else said” before blabbering on. Skinner interrupted her: “Let me make it clear for our viewers that it was Sotomayor who said that.” McCaskill hemmed and hawed for a moment before saying, “We’d have to look at the context of what she said,” as though racism in some context is okay.

    These are not exact quotes, but all should be close. I don’t know how Skinner kept a straight face.

  • mbecker908

    the only real tactic now is for the Republican caucus to learn and ENFORCE some discipline and hope we can pick off a Dem to stop the nominee. This one looks like a major airhead so she may be stoppable. OTOH, maybe we’re better off with an airhead leftist instead of one of the firebreathing people who can actually write a competent decision. The last thing we want to do is lock ourselves into any kind of a list that doesn’t look exactly like the list of nominees that didn’t get approved when Bush quit fighting for the judiciary.

    With respect to your local party, it will only change from the bottom up. You take it over one precinct at a time. And that one is a very winnable battle, for example Maricopa County in Arizona – where John McCain’s legal residence is – has a distinctly anti-McCain GOP organization.