What I’m hearing

Edith Brown Clement. Maybe not a done deal, but you wouldn’t want to be betting on anyone else right now.
UPDATE: Kathryn Lopez has been hearing the same thing.
JOHN adds: The Clement rumor is everywhere, which doesn’t mean, of course, that it’s true. Some say the announcement could come at any moment.
I don’t know enough about Judge Clement to have an opinion on her nomination (compared, that is, to the considerable number of judges about whom we are very enthusiastic). I would say that the last 20 or 30 years of history suggest that Republican nominees who do not have a clear track record of commitment to conservative jurisprudential principles drift to the left over time–some, of course, farther than others. I’m not saying that this is a law of nature, only that it seems like a pretty clear pattern in recent years.
People for the American Way does its best to denounce President Bush’s nominees wherever possible, but they certainly don’t have much on Judge Clement. That’s good, I suppose, to the extent that Bush is trying to avoid controversy, but it’s not especially inspiring to us conservatives.
DEACON adds: As I said the other day, she was confirmed unanimously for appeals court judge in 2001 at a time when all solid conservatives were encountering strong resistance. She had a decade-long record as a district court judge, but Ralph Neas and Nan Aron apparently found nothing to object to. An attorney I know who has appeared before her has nothing positive to say. From a conservative point of view this woud be (is?)a high risk nominee. I hope someone will point me to evidence that I’m wrong. Mark Levin at Bench Memos asked for such evidence and does not appear, as yet, to have received any.

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses