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Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Bum's Rush
Is anyone surprised that Bush has suddenly decided to rush into releasing a pick for the Supreme Court? On prime time TV to boot? No, I didn't think so.
With the horrors of Rove and Iraq dominating the headlines and airwaves and BushCo stonewalling nonstop in a Nixonian panic attack, suddenly it behooves Bush to toss another bone to the media lickety-split. Of course he and Rove want the media and public to take their eyes off the crimes and get caught up in Supreme Court nominee politics and ignore the rest.
While it's critical to focus on how we can get the best out of Bush on his Court pick, it's also important to keep the Rove story going. Here's one suggestion on how to do that.
By the way, Bush's pick just came over the wires. It's federal appeals court judge John G. Roberts Jr. (see photo below), described in the article as having
... taken positions in cases involving free speech and religious liberty that endanger those rights. Abortion rights groups allege that Roberts is hostile to women's reproductive freedom and cite a brief he co-wrote in 1990 that suggested the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 high court decision that legalized abortion.
Apparently, we're in for a fight.
July 19, 2005 at 05:42 PM in Current Affairs | Permalink
Comments
« Rep. Picraux on We The People This Thursday - see comments listed its gonna be a WAR.
Posted by: JC | Jul 19, 2005 9:14:08 PM
I dont know if we should bother to fight on this. Here's an interesting thought from the blog DKOS:
"After seeing so many comments in the last 12 hours along the lines of "Roberts is the worst nominee imaginable," my mind has sort of become numb.
Look, folks, when people say "elections have consequences" that is not the same thing as saying the Democrats must roll over and accept every outrageous action until 2008. We didn't accept the destruction of Social Security. We didn't accept John Bolton. There are plenty of fights we can win.
But there are good losses too, and this is the concept that many refuse to accept. You can lose in a way that makes people sympathize with the principle you fought for. You can lose in a way that sets the stage to make a compelling case later. If you send a clear message to the American people that "we oppose Roberts because X will happen if he is confirmed," and then X does happen, now you have your campaign issue for 2008, 2012, and beyond. "Elect Democrats so we can roll back X and make sure it never happens again."
Right now, we haven't agreed on what X is. It might be Roe v. Wade, it might be destruction of environmental laws and other protections, it might be a lot of things. I will guarantee you this: if the Dems don't settle on a unified message, if it ends up being the same old shotgun approach that "Roberts will outlaw abortion, birth control, favor corporations over people, destroy the environment, reverse the civil rights movement, etc." it's not going to get us anywhere. We need a straightforward argument that people can understand, and we can use in future elections, not a boundless rant that says Roberts is the spawn of Satan who will destroy everything good about America. Fortunately, we have over a month before the confirmation hearings, time we can use to get the message straight.
I don't get why people don't understand that there can be a "good" loss, or at least a productive loss. How have the Republicans gotten into power? By campaigning against every liberal accomplishment of the last century. They are not afraid to take our victories and turn them into campaign points, and it wins them elections. We need to do the same, unless we believe the Republicans never pass a bad law.
Imagine yourself as a wingnut for a second. What would you think about Roe v. Wade? You'd probably consider it the biggest disaster ever. Oh no, the Supreme Court ruled that there's a constitutional right to murder unborn babies! But rather than saying "that's it, we lose, end of the world" the Republicans built an electoral strategy around it. It wasn't easy, because their position is the minority, but they used it as a rallying cry for their base, they employed a legislative strategy that involves poking around the edges and creating wedge issues, and they gained political ground because of it.
We should be upset any time one of our precious freedoms is lost, or any time one of our hardwon liberal gains is rolled back, but remember, we are not just a bunch of helpless victims, we are the activists here. We can be smart about it and use those defeats to craft a winning strategy for the future, rather than living day by day countin up losses and wins depending on how today's voting went. We are supposed to be the ones driving the democratic party towards a winning, progressive adgenda; so lets get to work."
AMEN
Posted by: jodonnell | Jul 20, 2005 11:41:56 AM
Yeah, we'll have the next three to four decades to use this as a campaign issue, while the Supreme Court overturns most of our hard-fought victories in terms of reproductive/health privacy, the environment and civil rights. That makes me feel better.
Posted by: barb | Jul 20, 2005 1:06:23 PM
You have got to believe that one's morals and true heart will eventually come through. Being the age of 50 maybe he will surprise us with just being a human being? Not wanting to torture and kill and allow stealing. Just maybe the real light that is within each of us will come through?
One thing we all know for sure this man is going to be a Supreme Court justice through some of the most tumultuous times that this country has had.
Call me delusional but I hope that this young man has a real soul. And if it does not come out in the first 10 years maybe it will come out in the next 10 years, or the next 10 years? By then he should be dead, unless the Supreme Court allows a certain few of the greatest Americans to live on forever via biotech because they have the right and they are priviledged, the chosen ones.
Maybe I am delusional!
Posted by: meb | Jul 20, 2005 2:51:57 PM
No question about it, you are! LOL!
Posted by: barb | Jul 20, 2005 3:28:19 PM
