“Lock And Load”
Politico:
As Barack Obama prepares to nominate his first Supreme Court justice, conservative activists have three words for Senate Republicans: Lock and load.
While conservatives know that they can’t defeat Obama’s nominee without massive Democratic defections, they nevertheless want to see their senators come out with their guns blazing.
“Republicans in the House have gone a long way [toward satisfying conservatives] with votes on the stimulus,” says Gary Bauer, president of the anti-abortion, anti-gay-marriage group American Values. “But when it comes to the Senate, there are still a lot of people not convinced that … what people expect is for them to carry the banner of our philosophy as boldly and with as much confidence as the other side does.”
“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.”
Conservatives remember Sen. Ted Kennedy’s ferocious attack on “Robert Bork’s America,” the pubic-hair-on-the-Coke-can humiliations visited upon Clarence Thomas and the way that Samuel Alito’s wife cried after Sen. Lindsey Graham recounted the Democrats’ charges against her husband.
Echoing a widely held conservative belief, the Heritage Foundation’s Michael Franc says the two sides just do things differently. “Liberal senators come to a battle over judicial nominations armed with submachine guns,” he said, “and conservatives come with pen knives.”
But truth be told, the vast majority of current Republican senators have never faced a Democratic Supreme Court nominee. In the last four decades, there have been just two Democratic nominees; Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, both nominated by Bill Clinton, were confirmed overwhelmingly.
Some recent Republican nominees have had a rougher go. While John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O’Connor, Antonin Scalia and David Souter were all confirmed with broad bipartisan support, 52 Democrats – with the help of six Republicans – killed Bork’s nomination in 1987.
Forty-six Democrats and two Republicans voted against Thomas; 22 Democrats voted against the confirmation of John G. Roberts; and forty-two Democrats voted against Alito.
Conservatives are itching for that kind of fight from their own.
“We are very excited about waging an ideological debate,” says Richard Viguerie, the well-heeled conservative fundraiser and direct-mail guru. “We never lose battles. Even if we lose the vote we win, we build the movement.”
“Remember,” adds Princeton law professor Robert George, founder of the National Organization for Marriage, “that the base does not expect to win this. That’s the little secret. [Republicans] don’t have the filibuster, the Democrats have the votes. For [the conservative base], this is about the future of the Republican Party, not who is going to sit on the Supreme Court. . . . . That is why conservatives are going to be interested in it, and what they are going to hold people accountable for.”
Observers on the right say there’s no shortage of legislators who might use a Supreme Court nomination hearing to burnish their ideological halos – or to work their way out of political purgatory.
All eyes will be on Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the newly minted ranking member on Judiciary, who said last week that the president shouldn’t expect to push his nominee through before the August recess.
In addition, conservatives are counting on another Judiciary member, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), to come out swinging for their side.
Kyl really is trusted,” says George. “He could emerge, if he wanted to, with new authority, as leader of the conservative movement.”
“He is in a position where he can really assert some leadership and become the shining star for conservative thought on the judiciary committee,” agrees Bruce Hausknecht, a judicial analyst for Focus on the Family.
But in an interview with Fox News’ Chris Wallace Sunday, the Arizona senator tempered expectations for the fight ahead, saying Republican should reserve filibusters to “extraordinary circumstances.”
Republicans, he added, “will distinguish between a liberal judge on one side and one who doesn’t decide cases on the merits and one rather who does on the basis of his or her preconceived ideas.”
For Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) – an aggressive questioner in past judicial hearings — observers say the proceedings offer an opportunity to redeem himself with those angry over his support of moderate Florida Gov. Charlie Crist for the 2010 Senate race.
At the same time, however, Franc notes that – as chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee – Cornyn runs the risk of seeming too politically motivated if he pushes too hard.
“I think he has to be careful about not letting role he plays as head of NRSC predominate over his role in judiciary,” Franc says.
Cornyn did delay Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s confirmation back in January, when he blocked a unanimous consent vote over questions about donors to Bill Clinton’s nonprofit work. (Cornyn’s office did not respond to an interview request.)
Although picking a fight could pay dividends with the party’s base, taking on a popular president’s judicial nominee is not without its risks, notes Christopher Eisgruber, the provost at Princeton who teaches public policy and once clerked for Stevens.
“If you stake out a prominent position on a controversial fight, it can help you or hurt you,” he says. “One thing to keep in mind: Not only can senators make their name on something like this, they can lose their name on something like this.”
Still, some will undoubtedly take the risk – even if it just means treading water with the right.
Take Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.): “This is a case where there is danger; because of his leadership role he is expected to be a strong proponent of constitutionalist position,” says George. “If he comes out strongly for that, it’s not that his reputation will be enhanced, but expectations will be fulfilled. But if he comes out weakly, his stock will go down with the base.”
Some legislators, including Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), have already made it clear that they will pursue their task energetically.
“Whether they fall into category of something I think is not such a bad nominee, or a bad nominee, we and other Republicans are going to question the nominee very vigorously,” Grassley said.
“I was very naive about Souter,” he adds. “I thought he was going to be a [Anthony] Kennedy person, and he came out a [John Paul] Stevens person, and I didn’t think that at the time I voted. I am going to be more introspective and more careful.”
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Republicans make me sick!! They just won’t quit this nice guy bullshit.True CONSERVATIVES,exist no more in todays republican party.I for one am totally done with this failed party.I will hold my nose and vote only because apathy is one of accorn’s goals for us. Untill these schmegma ass to mouth lefties in drag take off the gloves and fuckin’ man up,they can kiss my ass!I will not send them one CENT!
Hide and watch the lilly livered bastards on this issue. They will let ANOTHER GREAT OPPORTUNITY for polarization slip through thier greasy little fingers.
MOTHERFUCKERS !!!
Yeah, they need to start going for the eyes and anything else that will mame, disfigure and disable. If they fail to do so it will be proof ‘they’ all suckle off the same Tit and we can trust none of the folks in DC.
And don’t be surprised if the so-called Conservatives roll over…..Zero is out blackmailing and paying off folks so he can continue his Rape and Pillage of the USA undeterred.
Obama Uber Alles
“While conservatives know that they can’t defeat Obama’s nominee without massive Democratic defections…” - Article.
………………………………
That’s not exactly true.
For a nominee to be passed out of the Judicial Committee for a floor vote, at least one member of the opposition on the committee has to vote yea.
In other words, if no Republican on the committee votes for the nominee, the nomination it is DEAD.
That’s why the Spector defection may come back to haunt the Dems.
Yup.
Dont forget about Snowe and Collins they are rhino roll overs who love to stab the GOP in the back every chance they get.
Practice makes perfect
http://heyitsjustablogman.blogspot.com/2009/04/rmc-idf-adopt-new-practice-targets.html
I want politically motivated questions from these chicken shit repukelicans. What the hell is wrong with a little political payback? I want to see questions that make the husbund of the bitch nominee cry.
Why do some here, and conservatives in general, keep expressing shock when the Republicans cave over and over again?
We keep drawing lines in the sand and when politicians putatively on “our side” fail to toe it we say “you better toe the NEXT line, or else!” and draw another line? We are hopeful, shell shocked and afraid to face the truth.
Haven’t you figured it out yet?
With few exceptions,(and then only sporadically) the Republicans vs. Democrats battle is largely a contrived contest; feint designed to mislead, with US cast as the real opponent.
A ‘good cop-bad cop’ set-up.
The ‘right’ side of the aisle in D.C. has dispossessed us, BETRAYED US,.. they just have a longer timeline to our utter penury and enslavement than the left does. The real story of politics and government in America today is the story of ALL politicians playing a game of “watch the birdie” with the citizens, to keep us off balance and distracted while they ram their Statist endgame down our throats. The so-called ‘right-wing’ politicians today are PROGRESSIVES(with few exceptions)just like the Left. They are simply less committed to immediate adoption of leftist, Marxist policies and agendae than the Democrats.
Remember THAT this Memorial Day…and decide if you’re comfy with the evil and/or incompetent self-described “rulers” in D.C. sacrificing the price paid by millions of American Patriots, who gave their lives for freedom, at the altar Gov’t. control and power; the continuance of career politicians just doing “business as usual”. If America was going to have a leftist, statist, anti-American SYSTEM forced upon it anyway WHY did hundreds of thousands of American servicemen die in WW2, Korea,and Viet-Nam trying to prevent just such a catastrophe?
The Republicans are NOTHING more than the least crappy of 2 pre-selected, pre-digested crappy choices.
NOTHING MORE.
In a recent article on this very site an internecine argument took place over whether or not Dick Cheney was a ‘criminal’. While I won’t get into the finer points of that particular argument, I will say that EVERY politician since old ‘Honest Abe Lincoln’(at least) took a big old ” I don’t have to follow this scrap of paper” crap on the very Constitution they swore a sacred and holy OATH to protect and defend.
It has been estimated that 99% of the laws passed by Congress in the last 100 years would NOT pass Constitutional muster. So by that standard alone they are ALL criminals.I would prefer to give Dick Cheney the benefit of the doubt over ANY politician now serving who has a (D) by their name,but none are INNOCENT in that regard.
Wake up, Patriots.
Let’s take a look at our Judiciary branch of gov’t. as it exists today. Judges at every level rule from the bench with no regard to law or Constitution. This is injurious in the extreme to our Republic when it reaches the Federal Appeals and U.S.S.C. level. Policy and law that are wholly out of line with the Constitution are enacted from the bench.This is NOT what the Founders of our Republic had in mind.Thomas Jefferson said, to paraphrase, “Don’t try to squeeze something out of the Constitution which isn’t there”, yet we acept everyday the idea that the Constitution is a ” living document”.This is completely false. The only way to alter the document is thru amendment,yet we see it trounced continuously.Our silence and acceptance is an indictment against us.Our elected Representatives send us generalized form letters full of flowery “sound and fury, signifying nothing” when we contact them. But go ahead please and contact YOUR representative, so it can at least be said we tried to follow the procedures laid out in the Constitution.
Just don’t be surprised when they don’t seem to hear you. They’re all too deaf from the sound of how awesome and super awesome they are.
WAKE UP AMERICANS.
(P.S.- ever heard of the “3 boxes” that protect freedom? Sadly, it seems the first 2 are now useless.)
Thank you for articulating my growing rage at these wolves in sheeps clothing-the Republcrats.At least the left is honest about what they seek.This makes the fishy-eyed bastards in the big (R) club all the more dispicable. God damn them for thier dissrespect.
Well said.
With a heavy heart, I agree with much of what you said.
I hope we oust the RINO’s in the Republican Party and put our own true Conservatives in power. We need real leaders, or at least a charismatic leader of our own to whip the troops up into a fighting frenzy.
Failing that, a third party run would be near suicide. Only a monumental shift in the thinking of the American people would allow that to happen. I still think many shell shocked Americans are mesmerized by ‘the one’, so we have little chance of that.
The political solution is running out of gas and options fast. This frightens me for my children.
A Civil War is an uncertain thing against a regime with the FBI, NSA, CIA, police, military nukes and F-22 raptors. Even if 70% pull up stakes and fight with us, that leaves a lot of hands on powerful triggers and us civilians on the street in our penny loafers, golf shirts and slacks holding a shotgun.
Not an inspiring picture.
Someone tell me how this can be done.
“We, the People are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts - not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow men who pervert the Constitution.”
Abraham Lincoln
Payback’s a bitch and I want to see the Republicans fight back with all the brutality and zealousness of Medieval Crusaders. They should terrorize the Democrats so that when Democrats tell their children to behave themselves, the punishment will be having the Republicans come get them.
I thought it was four boxes bro…
We have four boxes with which to defend our freedom: the soap box, the
ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box.
— Unknown.
Later,
Musing Lew
mebbe its 4 boxes lew, that would explain that soapbox full of 180 gr. FMJ in the closet!
Great t-shirt or bumper sticker idea..