"Losing respect"
Time's "favorite blog" is beside itself in condemnation of those who would condemn poor Senator Cornyn for his speech telling members of the judiciary, "I warned ya" on Monday.
Cornyn's caveat, Deacon writes, was ignored by the nasty liberals who found Cornyn's speech to be a less than veiled threat on judges. After all, he did say in his speech that attacks on the judiciary were "without justification" (Deacon accuses liberals, specifically Josh Marshall, of omitting that weasel, which doesn't seem to be a very careful reading of Marshall's postings).
Except, um, the good Senator also said that judges were bringing it on themselves.
Is it me, or is that a contradiction on its very face?
Anyway, ol' Deacon is now posting another speech Cornyn has given on the Senate floor, clarifying his position on judicial revenge-killing.
If judges are losing respect it is in large part due to the constant barrage of faux outrage emitting from the House and Senate every time a judge makes a ruling that conservative politicians can use to whip up the fury of their base.
And that is largely what his comments, along with DeLay's, are about -- capitalizing on their core supporters' rage over the Schiavo rulings. Nevermind that it involved a number of judges -- including the Supreme Court justices -- who all apparently shared the same "personal views" throughout all those court appearances and years.
But it's also evidence of the frustration party hacks like Cornyn are suffering right now. Republicans control all three branches of government, but, dammit, unlike the White House and Congress, the GOP cannot rely consistently on the third branch adhering to party discipline.
Finally, I think it's a sign that DeLay, Cornyn, et al are going to try to leverage evangelicals in their cause to make sure that Frist feels pressure to use the "nuclear option" to end Democrats' threat of a filibuster to derail Bush's most outrageous judicial nominees. And to make sure that other Republicans, who may be thinking longer term when it comes to these types of radical departures from Senate tradition, come to Jesus as well when it comes to packing the court with Right wing ideologues.
Our judiciary is being "politicized" by fellows like Cornyn, with an aim to "fix" the confirmation process "once and for all."
Cornyn's caveat, Deacon writes, was ignored by the nasty liberals who found Cornyn's speech to be a less than veiled threat on judges. After all, he did say in his speech that attacks on the judiciary were "without justification" (Deacon accuses liberals, specifically Josh Marshall, of omitting that weasel, which doesn't seem to be a very careful reading of Marshall's postings).
Except, um, the good Senator also said that judges were bringing it on themselves.
Is it me, or is that a contradiction on its very face?
Anyway, ol' Deacon is now posting another speech Cornyn has given on the Senate floor, clarifying his position on judicial revenge-killing.
As a former judge myself for 13 years, who has a number of close personal friends who still serve on the bench today, I am outraged by recent acts of courthouse violence. I certainly hope that no one will construe my remarks on Monday otherwise. Considered in context, I don?t think a reasonable listener or reader could.
As I said on Monday, there's no possible justification for courthouse violence. Indeed, I met with a federal judge, a friend of mine, in Texas just this past week, to make sure that we?re doing everything we can to protect our judges and courthouse personnel against further acts of violence. And like my colleague from Illinois, I personally know judges and their families who have been victims of violence and have grieved with those families.
But I want to make one thing clear: I'm not aware of any evidence whatsoever linking recent acts of courthouse violence to the various controversial rulings that have captured the nation?s attention in recent years.
My point was, and is, simply this: We should all be concerned that the judiciary is losing the respect that it needs to serve the American people well. We should all want judges to interpret the law fairly ? not impose their own personal views on the nation. We should all want to fix our broken judicial confirmation process. And we should all be disturbed by overheated rhetoric about the judiciary, from both sides of the aisle. I regret it that my remarks have been taken out of context to create a wrong impression about my position, and possibly be construed to contribute to the problem rather than to a solution.
Our judiciary must not be politicized. Rhetoric about the judiciary and about judicial nominees must be toned down. And our broken judicial confirmation process must be fixed, once and for all. [yes, all emphasis added by me]
If judges are losing respect it is in large part due to the constant barrage of faux outrage emitting from the House and Senate every time a judge makes a ruling that conservative politicians can use to whip up the fury of their base.
And that is largely what his comments, along with DeLay's, are about -- capitalizing on their core supporters' rage over the Schiavo rulings. Nevermind that it involved a number of judges -- including the Supreme Court justices -- who all apparently shared the same "personal views" throughout all those court appearances and years.
But it's also evidence of the frustration party hacks like Cornyn are suffering right now. Republicans control all three branches of government, but, dammit, unlike the White House and Congress, the GOP cannot rely consistently on the third branch adhering to party discipline.
Finally, I think it's a sign that DeLay, Cornyn, et al are going to try to leverage evangelicals in their cause to make sure that Frist feels pressure to use the "nuclear option" to end Democrats' threat of a filibuster to derail Bush's most outrageous judicial nominees. And to make sure that other Republicans, who may be thinking longer term when it comes to these types of radical departures from Senate tradition, come to Jesus as well when it comes to packing the court with Right wing ideologues.
Our judiciary is being "politicized" by fellows like Cornyn, with an aim to "fix" the confirmation process "once and for all."
posted by John at 12:14 PM
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