ConfirmThem

By AndrewHyman Posted in Senate Rules — Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

The millionaire-funded political action committee MoveOn has submitted tens of thousands of letters to newspapers during the past couple weeks, regarding the judicial nomination filibuster issue. All the letters are identical, or nearly so, and many of them are being published. See, for example, here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here, and here.

Peter Lewis and George Soros have given many millions to MoveOn, and they seem to be getting their money's worth. It's revealing that the letter is being repeated verbatim in newspapers around the country, which indicates a kind of unthinking obedience on the part of the senders. Here's what the letter says, with a few of my comments inserted in italics:

Dear editor,

Next month the Senate will most likely vote on what the Republicans call the "nuclear option." Actually, that's what the Democrats call it. Not a very auspicious start. This is about radical Republicans grasping for absolute power so they can appoint Supreme Court justices that favor corporate interests and an extreme right agenda over the rest of us. Actually, it has to do with appointing judges who respect the law as written, instead of legislating from the bench. I sincerely urge our senators to stand up for the centuries of checks and balances that have made this country great, and oppose the "nuclear option." For centuries no judge having clear majority support in the Senate was ever defeated by filibuster, until 2003.

Despite Senate confirmation of almost 95% of President Bush's nominees, radical Republicans are threatening to eliminate the filibuster to gain complete control over the Supreme Court. This figure includes district court judges. If only the more powerful appeals court judges are included, then this president has the lowest confirmation rate of any modern president. They want to use the Court to pay back big donors by rolling back worker protections, environmental laws, and privacy rights--all at our expense. If that is so, then moderate Republican Senators can vote against those nominees and thus deprive the nominees of a majority vote. No filibuster is needed.

This is not a partisan issue. Of course not. Ultimately you don't even have to oppose President Bush's judges to oppose the "nuclear option." This is about supporting checks and balances and opposing absolute power in the hands of one party. Many presidents have worked with a congress controlled by the same party (e.g. FDR, JFK, LBJ, et cetera); that was the will of the American voter, and it did not diminish our system of checks and balances at all. And that's something we can all agree on. Not exactly.

Anyway, I find it kind of frightening that a bunch of millionaires are putting words into the mouths of ordinary citizens, so as to get letters to the editor in newspapers nationwide. Here's a modest suggestion. How about if the MoveOn staffer who wrote this letter would instead send it directly to the newspapers, so the readers would see the true author?

While George Soros and friends are packing the newspapers, Hollywood producer Norman Lear is packing the airwaves, according to this article by Margaret Talev.