ConfirmThem

By Marshall Manson Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Yesterday morning, USA Today reported that MoveOn.org would use footage of the Hurricane Katrina disaster in ads attacking Judge John Roberts. The backlash was so instant and overwhelming that MoveOn disavowed the whole idea and cut the legs out from under its spokesman. (More in this morning's USA Today here.)

Late yesterday, however, someone drew our attention to this article in the Boston Globe, which actually ran on Wednesday -- the day before the incriminating USA Today article.

Here's the lede:

Senate Democrats said yesterday that they will invoke the vast disparities in income and living conditions laid bare by the Hurricane Katrina disaster to sharpen their questioning of Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr. at his confirmation hearings next week.

More below the fold...

Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said he, too, will pursue questions raised by Katrina in the Roberts hearings. In addition, civil rights leaders whom Democrats have called to appear at the hearings said they also intend to refer to the scenes from the hurricane-ravaged region.

[snip]

Leahy said he watched the scenes of hardship on television with a growing sense of anger over the inability to deliver services to those who depend most on the government, issues he said would come up during the Roberts hearings.

"We'll have legitimate questions as to the authority of the federal government the central authority of the government but also the ability of individuals to seek redress if they don't get the help that they expect," Leahy said.

Put the two stories together, and the facts are clear: the Left wants to use Katrina to score political points against a distinguished nominee to the Supreme Court. Hard to believe that I said earlier I didn't think they could sink any lower.

In response, this morning, the Center for Individual Freedom put out a statement of its own:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 9, 2005

CFIF: Left’s Attempt to Use Hurricane Katrina Against Roberts is ‘Despicable,’ ‘Pathetic’
Statement of Jeff Mazzella, President of the Center for Individual Freedom

Alexandria, VA ― According to the Boston Globe, several prominent Democrats and liberal leaders are attempting to use the disaster caused by Hurricane Katrina as a tool to express their doubts about Judge John Roberts’ record on civil rights issues. In response, CFIF President Jeff Mazzella made the following statement:

“The on-going effort to use this catastrophe for political gain is despicable and a pathetic new low in the Left’s desperate attempt to torpedo Judge Roberts’ confirmation.

“It’s hard to imagine anything more tasteless or disgusting than invoking the misery and despair of hurricane victims in an effort to score political points.

“But even the most inflammatory rhetoric can’t disguise the emptiness of these outrageous attacks on Judge Roberts, a respected jurist and brilliant attorney who will make an outstanding Chief Justice.

“With each over-the-top attack, groups like NARAL and MoveOn and liberal Senators like Patrick Leahy ensure their own failure, destroy their own credibility, and render themselves irrelevant in the political arena.�

If you share my outrage over this, now's the time for your Senators to hear from you.