It Doesn't Matter if Senator Leahy Lied (Judge Southwick Should Get a Floor Vote Regardless)
By AndrewHyman Posted in Southwick — Comments (4) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Alexander Bolton at The Hill has the latest intricacies from the Senate regarding the Southwick nomination. See Specter walks tightrope on Southwick nomination.
Apparently, Senator Leahy said that Judge Southwick would be reported out of Committee. Leahy didn't explicitly say he "promised." But he also didn't add any qualification like "if Senator Feingold is in a good mood." And apparently Feingold wasn't in a good mood. Or Feingold thinks Southwick is racially insensitive for not dispensing the death penalty to someone who uttered the "N-word." Take your pick.
Anyway, the point here is that it's not really relevant if Leahy lied. What's relevant is that a fine judge is being smeared and abused, and fortunately it looks like the GOP won't put up with it. The smearing is documented by Ed Whelan here. And no one at this blog would be supporting Judge Southwick if we had the slightest doubt about his sensitivity to racism and injustice.
Bolton's article in The Hill alludes to Act V, scene IV of Shakespeare's comedy As You Like It. Here's the pertinent excerpt, in case anyone's interested, regarding the "lie direct":
JAQUES: Can you nominate in order now the degrees of the lie?
TOUCHSTONE: O sir, we quarrel in print, by the book; as you have books for good manners: I will name you the degrees. The first, the Retort Courteous; the second, the Quip Modest; the third, the Reply Churlish; the fourth, the Reproof Valiant; the fifth, the Countercheque Quarrelsome; the sixth, the Lie with Circumstance; the seventh, the Lie Direct. All these you may avoid but the Lie Direct; and you may avoid that too, with an If....Your If is the only peacemaker; much virtue in If.
It doesn't much matter here if Leahy said "if." (Which he didn't.) The point is that Southwick is an excellent nominee who is entitled to a floor vote, whether Leahy lied or didn't lie. It's not even the last year of Bush's term yet, so it's a wee bit early for the Judiciary Committee to be freezing up. And it's never a good time to kowtow to people who make false and malicious accusations against good and decent men and women.
Hat Tip: SOP.
P.S. Here's a long and interesting article about the judicial nominations of G.W. Bush, whom the authors insist on referring to as "W. Bush" (a modest quip perhaps). It's worth reading. An excerpt: "the Bush administration with its nominations demonstrated a commitment to gender and ethnic diversity, which was the best overall record of any president with the exception of Democrats Carter and Clinton." Hat Tip: HJB.
Note how that article did
by BillM
Note how that article did not 'spotlight' JRB or Pryor, nor mention that Neilson was confirmed soley because the Dems knew she was terminally ill.
It does look pretty interesting, tho. Good find. And yes, "W. Bush" gets tiring after a bit, and I've never seen the like of it before.
Ah, I see where the
by BillM
Ah, I see where the spotlighted judges all got WQ's from the ABA.
Let Us Vote - classic
by bk
During tonight's "Up All Night with Harry and Friends" special on CSPAN2, each Democrat is standing in front of this nice "Let Us Vote" sign that of course includes a drawing of an American flag. Each of them is bemoaning that the evil Republicans are using parliamentary tricks to create an artificial super-majority vote requirement instead of allowing a simple up or down vote that they know will pass.
Oh the horror!!
We could use most of the Menendez speech to argue that judicial nominations that would pass on the floor are being held up by parliamentary tricks in similar fashion. He must have said at least a dozen times: "a simple majority vote for majority rule".
Beautiful.
Well, I will be happy to give Leahy the Lie Direct, and Schumer of course virtually embodies it. And also an L.D. award to that scoundrel Webb, who lied directly on Meet the Press last weekend that Lindsey Graham had never visited Iraq. When Graham responded with the fact that he has gone to Iraq SEVEN times, Webb did not retract his lie but simply went on shouting and fulminating. Facts mean nothing to these people.
The Democrats think they're oh so clever and can get away with anything, such as blocking well-qualified nominees and staging their pathetic little all-night show tonight. It's nothing but a stage play performance to them. But the day is coming when they will pay dearly for their abominable and quasi-subversive behavior, which will be AS I Like It. They've evidently gone a bridge too far. If the tide turns on them soon, the GOP should be ready to pounce and push through Southwick and other nominees while the time is ripe.