John Robert’s confirmation today as Chief Justice is a win for the Constitution, rule of Law, and for America.
His impeccable record, judicial temperment, and character, made him a shoe in to replace the late Chief Justice Renquist. To me, it was most interesting that the Dems split in half 22-22. It would be interesting to have Carl Levin debate Chucky boy Shumer or Hillary! on why Roberts should (not)have been confirmed. It is obvious that those who opposed Roberts have either safe Senate seats (such as our two embarassments Chivas Kennedy and Heinze-Kerry) or have aspirations for president in 2008. Everything the lib-Dems do is calculated and political. It sickens me.
The real battle will be for Judge O’Conner’s seat, and if Bush is smart he will not hesitate to nominate Janice Rogers Brown. Let those who want to become president in 08 oppose a daughter of a black share cropper from Alabama who has the opportunity to become the first black female to sit on the Court. If Rove has anything to say about this next nominee and I suspect he does, it would make for an interesting issue for both the 06 mid-terms as well as the 08 elections which could peel off a significant number of black voters who are becoming more independant-conservative with every election since 2000. If Dean is serious about his past statement that they need to prove to blacks that they have their best interests at heart and not just reach out to them during elections, opposing somebody like Brown would not be a good start. The libs are going to have to decide between money from abortion rights groups and black support in the next few elections.
Roberts set the precedent by not answering any questions regarding how he may rule on future cases and that will benefit whomever Bush nominates. Let’s pray that he follows through on his promise to nominate a Scallia or a Thomas. I have the feeling that diversity considerations by the White House is signalling that the next nominee will not only be diverse in terms of sex (a female) and color (black) but more importantly in terms of intellectual diversity (a black conservative woman). Regadless of who replaces SDO, all that I care about is if that person will strictly interpret the Constitution and not make law from the bench. Both alternatives a strict constructionist/origianalist and a coservative minority are an anethema to liberals whose idea of a diverse justice is Ruth Bader Ginsberg.