ConfirmThem

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

Terence Jeffrey writes that there is now a "short list" for Supreme Court:

The rumored "short list" features some stellar federal appellate judges with credible records as strict constructionists: Michael Luttig of the 4th Circuit, Edith Jones of the 5th, Samuel Alito of the 3rd and Michael McConnell of the 10th.

Jeffrey also writes about his reservations regarding James Harvie Wilkinson III. Note that there were recently some more comments here at this blog about Judge McConnell.

John Manesis of Fargo, North Dakota has a few remarks about "The Deal" in a letter to the editor, from which I clipped this:

The 14 fence-riding senators should be ashamed of themselves. Instead, they brag about their powers of mediation and allow for future filibusters under "extraordinary" circumstances. This is leadership?

Perhaps a bit harsh, but we'll see how things play out. Finally, it's worth briefly noting that the recent Senate Resolution 39 was a noble effort to come to terms with a dark and shameful chapter of American history. The Resolution apologizes for the Senate's response to lynchings, but interestingly makes no mention of the word "filibuster." The filibuster, after all, was the tool used to repeatedly scuttle anti-lynching laws. Nor does the Resolution mention which part of the Constitution it was that empowered Congress to pass anti-lynching laws. (I would guess that Congress could have acted to enforce the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.)

Incidentally, here's an article about a very recent Ohio congressional primary in which filibusters were apparently an issue.

UPDATE: How Appealing quotes an article today in Roll Call:

"Girding for an imminent Supreme Court vacancy, some Senate Republicans are pushing to move the nominee through the Judiciary Committee in a matter of weeks rather than allowing more time for liberal opposition to mount throughout the summer. And in one of the most intriguing twists, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a key member of Judiciary, said Tuesday that the White House is considering putting off announcing who the nominee is - if there's an opening - until later in the summer to delay the amount of time liberal activists would have to attack the nomination."

Also, Hugh Hewitt recently interviewed Ken Starr, and they discussed things like what questions are proper or improper for Senators to ask of Supreme Court nominees. Senator Durbin has already signalled that there would be lots of questions about Griswold v. Connecticut.