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Specter Consults, Wants O'Connor to Remain on Court

By TChris, Section Supreme Court
Posted on Wed Sep 21, 2005 at 08:14:55 AM EST
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by TChris

Sen. Arlen Specter today advised the president to ask Justice O'Connor to stay on the Supreme Court for the coming term. He says O'Connor is willing to do so, but the president ... not so much.

He said Bush was noncommittal on his proposal that she stay on, but that his body language was not positive.

Whether the "body language" consisted of an upraised middle finger isn't revealed in the linked story.

Specter and three other senators (Frist, Reid, and Leahy) "consulted" with the president concerning the next Supreme Court nominee. The last consultation evidently had no impact on the president's decision, and there's no reason to think that this effort will be any more productive.

Despite Specter's warning that "a lot of frustration" was "bubbling just below the surface" of Judge Roberts' confirmation hearing, and his prediction that "the next nomination is going to be a great deal more contentious than the Roberts nomination," President "My Way or the Highway" Bush doesn't take seriously the Senate's obligation to advise and consent. In fact, he might appreciate the distraction that a contentious confirmation hearing would provide, giving the media something to report other than his disastrous "leadership" in Iraq and the Gulf Coast.

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    Specter Consults, Wants O'Connor to Remain on Court | 4 comments (4 topical)
    Re: Specter Consults, Wants O'Connor to Remain on (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:08 PM EST
    John Roberts’ concept of the "Supreme Justice as Umpire" was warmly received by fawning Republicans on the Committee. Democratic members, though, were rightly having none of it. While Roberts will be easily confirmed by the Senate, his umpire model for Supreme Court justices should be rejected by the American people. His blinkered notion of the Justice as rulebook reader does not represent how the Supreme Court does - and should - work... For the full story, see: "John Roberts, Chief Umpire?"

    Re: Specter Consults, Wants O'Connor to Remain on (none / 0) (#2)
    by swingvote on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:09 PM EST
    Avenging Angel, Do you have a better analogy to offer for the role of a Justice? One that would make clear what you think the job is? Someone should remind Arlen that he's not President and doesn't get to make the picks. He's free to voice his concerns, of course, but issuing bad-mouth press releases is hardly a worthy effort at excerising advice and consent. Like Harry Reid, Arlen just gave up any leverage he had for 15 seconds of fame.

    Re: Specter Consults, Wants O'Connor to Remain on (none / 0) (#3)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:09 PM EST
    From the post:
    Whether the "body language" consisted of an upraised middle finger isn't revealed in the linked story.
    I don't think Specter has any political clout left in the White House.

    Re: Specter Consults, Wants O'Connor to Remain on (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:10 PM EST
    justpaul: "Someone should remind Arlen that he's not President and doesn't get to make the picks." Someone should remind justpaul that in a REAL constitutional government, GWB would have been impeached about a GAZILLION times already. The role of the Supreme Court is to judge not between the parties and the corrupt laws of a Congress, but by applying the Constitutional spirit, and a superior concept of right and wrong, to those laws. Congress is vulnerable (cough) to corruption. The laws that come out of Congress should be reviewed by an authority that is not (cough) vulnerable to corruption. That doesn't apply to FOUR justices and Connors, who crapped all over their robes about five years ago.

    Specter Consults, Wants O'Connor to Remain on Court | 4 comments (4 topical)