ConfirmThem

By Lorie Byrd Posted in Fillibuster — Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Finally the issue of judicial nominations is getting some widespread media attention and we have the Democrats to thank for it! Jayson at Polipundit wrote yesterday and Andrew Hyman has posted several items yesterday and today about how Democrat Senate leader Harry Reid is bringing the issue of judges front and center, along with some poll results that should have Reid and the Democrats plenty worried.

This is one of those issues that has made me hopping mad for years now. I have watched the confirmation hearings of so many good men and women and have seen their records distorted and their characters assaulted by Democratic Senators on the Judiciary Committee and have seen no price being paid by those doing so.

Well, there was no price paid for it because the public was unaware of it -- not because they approved of it. I think this is where Democrats made their big mistake. I think that maybe they thought that since there has been no public outrage over their behavior over the past four years, that the public either approved of it or just didn't care. Maybe in some cases the public did approve because they believed the Democrat line that the nominees were extreme and controversial. More often though, the public has been completely unaware of what was taking place. In the instances where this issue was brought to the public's attention, they have not been approving. Just ask Tom Daschle.

The more the American people see of the treatment of these highly qualified individuals, the more evident it will be that they are not "extremists." It will also become evident that this entire exercise has been about partisan power politics, and it has been at the expense of the reputations of some very good people.

I am thrilled that this issue is finally getting some attention. Now, to the Republicans in the Senate: Don't screw it up! Don't get bogged down in some arcane fight over Senate rules and constitutionality. I am not saying don't fight that fight. It is important to address those issues. I am just saying that is not what the public should be focused on, because if it is, they will lose interest.

Use the spotlight to let the public see the people being accused of being extremists. Let the public see what the Democrats have been doing for the past four years by accusing people like Charles Pickering of being racist. Show them the content of the memos that show the Democrats being manipulated by liberal interest groups and expose the real racists that would deny a nominee an up or down vote because, among other things, "he is Latino." I repeat: Don't screw it up. This is something that we need to get right.

Update: In the comments section, Andrew rightly cautions against charging racism in the case of Estrada regarding the "Latino" memo and I respond.