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Keisler must be blocked.

Unless you want a former Bork law clerk, who Bork himself calls "one of my favorites", on the D.C. Circuit and the fast track to the Supreme Court.  

Read on.  There's a lot more.

Keisler is the archetypal stealth nominee.  No one, no f'g one, seems to be paying any attention to him.

Let me make clear - this guy is quite skilled, capable, and probably qualified.  But he is also wrong for the job, and wrong for the country.  If he is confirmed, we can look forward to at least 30 or 40 years of Borkism on the highest courts.

Keisler was profiled on LegalTimes.com (a warm, loving caress, really), where it noted he was a close friend and former clerk of Bork's, and a force in the Federalist Society.    Indeed, he's been on the Fed's board of directors.

Remember the row over whether Roberts or Alito had ever been members of the Federalist Society?  At Yale, Keisler roomed with its founders.

Remember Bork?  Bork remembers Keisler, his former clerk.  About him, Bork says "he's one of my favorites".  He should.  Keisler helped shepherd Bork's nomination.  He's a Bork "acolyte."

And he helped shepherd nominations of Doug Ginsburg and Anthony Kennedy, too.  Kennedy gave him a clerkship.

He helped investigate Iran-Contra, analyzing the legality of the arms sales.  Those files are still sealed.

He helped investigate Ed Meese regarding government contracting.

He wrote for Human Events.

He helped get John Cardinal O'Connor, Richard DeVos (head of Amway and 2006 Michigan gubernatorial candidate), and some guy who thought and preached you could get AIDS from toilet seats onto Reagan's Presidential Commission on AIDS.

And the hits keep coming.

He signed off on that decision reducing the amount tobacco companies had to pay, from $130 Billion, to about $10 Billion, in the government's racketeering case against them.

But, he is generous, too.  He contributed $2,000 to legal aid groups in the past five and a half years.

Even while he made millions as a partner at Sidley Austin.

Here's a copy of his resume, from the Committee for Justice Blog.  Highlights of his experience:

1985 - 1986 The Honorable Robert H. Bork, United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, Law Clerk
1986 - 1988 Executive Office of the President, Office of the Counsel to the President, Assistant Counsel (1986 - 1987), Associate Counsel to the President (1987 - 1988)

1988 - 1989 The Honorable Anthony M. Kennedy, Supreme Court of the United States, Law Clerk

Here's a brief note on him from the WSJ law blog.

And, per this article posted as a comment to the National Association of Manufacturers' blog, on 7/28/05 under the heading Judicial Watch  (the article having been written by Ol' 60 grit Kate O'Beirne herself, pre 9/11/01):

According to a Baltimore Sun editorial, the federal bench is the most recent victim of the Federalist Society's influence. In reaction to the prospect that Peter Keisler, a prominent Washington lawyer and former clerk to Judge Robert Bork and Justice Anthony Kennedy, might be nominated to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Sun fingered him as a "stalwart" of that "increasingly influential organization of extremely conservative lawyers." Keisler, who has served on the Society's board of directors, would no doubt plead guilty to the editorial's charge that the organization hopes "to reshape . . . liberal, big government orthodoxy"

Keisler had been a very early - 2001 - Bushco nominee to the 4th Cir. for a Maryland seat, but his nomination was blocked by Maryland senators because while he might live in Md., he never practiced there.  That's the Balt. Sun editorial Kate refers to.  So, Bushie moved him over to DoJ.

But, he even has his own wiki page and, more importantly, his name on the wiki page "Bush Supreme Court candidates".

Here, from the conservative blog "Confirm Them" (which has a hot link to RedState, FWIW)  is a great article from October 2006, called "Keisler stuck".

Here's how one of their commenters views things (accurately, I think):

If Bush had not renominated Boyle, Myers, Haynes, Smith and Wallace when their names were sent back to the White House, we would be seeing a lot more COA confirmations now. By renominating The Fatal Five, Bush poisoned the well for everyone else. Smith would be confirmed now if Myers had been dumped. Keisler would be confirmed now if he hadn't been associated with The Fatal Five. If The Fatal Five hadn't been around to filibuster, the Democrats would have been a lot more reticent on filibustering Keisler. And what about Livingston, Murphy and Kethledge? They were denied hearings and confirmation votes because the SJC Republicans became so wound up in a tizzy about The Fatal Five they even began missing executive meetings.

Boyle, Myers, Haynes, Smith and Wallace are "The Fatal Five", and, obviously, Keisler's the stealth candidate.

When your friends call you "The Fatal Five"....

Later in the same comment thread, the same commenter noted, as a further reason to separate Keisler from The Fatal Five:

Just look at how an association with The Fatal Five ruined Keisler's chances for the moment.  Ideological principle is good until it begins to actively harm.

Guilt by association is constantly happening in the Senate. Keisler was greatly harmed by being pressed at the same time as The Fatal Five. The Fatal Five should've been dropped, and only the new nominees (Keisler, Livingston, Jordan, Murphy and Kethledge) should've been considered in September.

Here's what EarthJustice has to say (lots of links in their page) - and it ain't favorable....

Including this link to the Democratic senators on Judiciary writing Specter, in July, protesting his ramming Keisler through in less than a month (we haven't had the opportunity for the Reagan Library to send us relevant documents re his WH service) and questioning the very utility of filling the seat (quoting Repug senators who wanted to cut the size of the DC Cir.)

Here's a brief quote - Law 'n' order tough -  from a Gitmo blog, during earlier proceedings in Hamdan.

And, remember, he was nominated within two weeks of losing Hamdan to Lt. Commander Swift.  Right about the same time Swift got his walking papers.

Keisler must be stopped.

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  • Display: Sort:
    In case you were wondering (none / 0) (#1)
    by scribe on Mon Nov 20, 2006 at 04:08:36 PM EST
    what lengths some will go to, to get a Court of Appeals seat, read this article.

    This lawyer, already highly regarded in Repug D.C. circles and recognized as something of a prodigy, had Jack Abramoff working for him, lobbying Rover and others on his behalf.

    While it didn't work for him, that doesn't it (or something like it) hasn't for others.

    And, for that matter, remember guys like him are the ones deciding all those cases, including yours.


    oops! (none / 0) (#2)
    by scribe on Mon Nov 20, 2006 at 04:10:08 PM EST
    "While it didn't work for him, that doesn't it (or something like it) hasn't for others." should have read
    While it didn't work for him, that doesn't mean it (or something like it) hasn't for others.

    Parent
    Looks like some hope developing, Scribe (none / 0) (#3)
    by Edger on Mon Nov 20, 2006 at 04:16:40 PM EST
    Bush's judicial picks sign of troublesome two years ahead
    November 20. 2006
    Many observers felt the post-election "make nice" meeting between President Bush and incoming Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was something of a sham.

    While both leaders pledged allegiance to bipartisanship and a new era of cooperation in government, their stiff postures and frozen smiles spoke a far different message.

    Bush's decision last week to renominate six appeals judges quickly removed the amiable mask.
    ...
    At least four of the six nominations were considered dead on arrival.
    ...
    Perhaps Bush hopes the shotgun approach will enable the remaining two nominees, Randy Smith, a district judge from Idaho and Peter Keisler, an assistant attorney general in the Justice Department, to win approval.

    They haven't been as controversial. But given the president's approach, their chances seem as slim as the others.

    All six nominations will remain before the Senate during the current lame-duck session.



    hope is a spark (none / 0) (#4)
    by scribe on Mon Nov 20, 2006 at 04:29:59 PM EST
    which needs nurturing to burn bright.

    In other words, people have to make a stink about this guy, as well as Bushie's other nominees.

    I agree... (none / 0) (#5)
    by Edger on Mon Nov 20, 2006 at 04:33:20 PM EST
    Loudly and continually, too.

    Parent
    Things might be (none / 0) (#6)
    by Edger on Mon Dec 04, 2006 at 03:51:54 PM EST
    looking good on this front, scribe!

    Reid plan may kill future Bush recess appointments

    A plan engineered by "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to eliminate all extended recesses except for the traditional August break during the 110th Congress may have an added benefit for Democrats," Roll Call reports.

    "It could be a back-door way of preventing President Bush from unilaterally installing controversial nominees in key executive and judicial branch posts through recess appointments, a favorite tool of the president over the past six years," John Stanton writes.



    And these (none / 0) (#7)
    by scribe on Mon Dec 04, 2006 at 04:57:36 PM EST
    a blog entry, and
    The Senate's notice cancelling the committee hearing on judicial nominees, scheduled for tomorrow.

    Until this session of the Senate ends, though, we are not out of the woods....

    Parent

    Success! (none / 0) (#8)
    by scribe on Tue Dec 12, 2006 at 10:31:24 AM EST
    You have to scroll down, but in this page from the Senate, listing all the returned/failed nominations, are (e.g., numbers PN2182-2175) the names of Peter "Lost-Hamdan-but-still-nominated-two-weeks-later" Keisler, William "Torture-fan" Haynes, William Myers, Terrence Boyle, Michael Wallace, N. Randy Smith, John Bolton, Julie Myers, Kenneth Tomlinson and all the rest of the cronies who were not confirmed by the Senate.

    Score one for decency and common sense.

    There is justice in the world :-) (none / 0) (#9)
    by Edger on Tue Dec 12, 2006 at 10:34:20 AM EST
    Success, Justice and the 109th (none / 0) (#11)
    by MarchDancer on Tue Dec 26, 2006 at 04:15:29 AM EST
    I'm laughing because the 109th Congress, the second "Do-Nothing" Congress in our history, shot themselves in the foot by leaving these appointments on the table as they left early to go home and lick their wounds. If they worked as hard as the rest of us are expected to, these appointments would now be made instead of headed back to Bush's table to be re-written and re-submitted. If he dares to submit all of them to a now Democratically controlled House and Senate. Truly, the joke is on the 109th!

    Parent
    Bush Judge "Suggestions" (none / 0) (#10)
    by MarchDancer on Tue Dec 26, 2006 at 03:59:55 AM EST
    Yes, I agree that these five judges, now six, must be stopped. The only way to stop them from becoming high-up federal judges is to stop Bush. He's going to be doing a lot of blaming of the Democrats, and all I can see that can be done in return is to let the truth out. Will MSM types help in that effort? Yeah, right. We cannot allow their mis-reporting to stop us, though. Thank you Talk Left for bringing me so many cases neglected in all other mediums.