Three Way News

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Saturday, April 23, 2005

Smilin' Norm stands with judges opposed to cannibalizing grandkids

Smilin' Norm gives mad props to the nuclear option:

There is a misnomer being thrown around. An attempt by the current Majority Leader to set a new precedent on the specific matter of confirmation of judicial nominees is being called the "nuclear option."

I think it is being applied to the wrong side of the argument.

It is the Minority that has exercised a "nuclear option" time and time again. We are supposed to be the world's greatest deliberative body. We discuss. We debate. We try to reach consensus and often we do. But in extreme cases Senators resort to the filibuster. But what the Minority has done is go "nuclear" - literally blowing up the process - in a way that's never been done in the history of the Senate.

They are filibustering qualified judges who have bipartisan support under the management and direction of their leadership. ...

We bend over backwards to protect minority views in this Senate, but eventually majority has to rule. A duly elected president and duly elected members of the Senate have a right and responsibility to do what they were elected to do.

I do love that last phrase. The Senate bends over backwards to protect minority views, right up until the majority decides it's time to go ahead and do whatever they want, anyway. The tyranny of the impatient.

Let's look more closely at Smilin' Norm's two big lies. First, that the two judges now under consideration are "qualified". The American Bar Association and the California bar don't think Janice Rogers Brown is particularly qualified:

The American Bar Association has given Justice Brown its lowest possible passing grade — a “qualified/not qualified” rating. When Brown was nominated to the California Supreme Court, three-fourths of the California State Bar’s Commission on Judicial Nominees rated her “unqualified” for the position because of her lack of experience and her tendency to inject her own personal views into her judicial opinions.

Owen, conversely, received the highest ranking from the ABA.

Second, that the nominees have bipartisan support. No Democrats voted for either candidate in this week's committee meeting. I suppose some Democrats, somewhere might tepidly support one of these candidates, but winning the support of Zany Zell Miller doesn't qualify as bipartisan support. In fact, there's far more bipartisan opposition to the nomination of John Bolton, but Smilin' Norm sides with the administration against that rare display of bipartisanship.

As Steve Martin once joked, some people have a way with words, while others not have way. I disagree with Rogers Brown on policy and the role of government, but she does have a way with words. There's an undeniable artistry in describing Social Security recipients as people who "blithely cannibalize their grandchildren." Cannibalizing your grandchildren is okay, but to be blithe about it is beyond the pale.