The New York Times cemented its pole position on the far left side of the political spectrum with an editorial this morning urging the defeat of Judge John Roberts’ nomination as Chief Justice. The Times described Roberts as an “enigma” because he has refused to pledge to rule in a particular way on cases which he has not yet heard. In reality, of course, that’s not an “enigma,” that’s a “judge.”
For a more realistic appraisal of the status of the Roberts nomination, see Mark Steyn’s latest, “Flawless Roberts holding Dems scoreless.” Steyn picks up on Joe Biden’s inept baseball metaphor:
Better luck with the second nomination, senator. As they say in baseball, two strikes, you’re out.
Remember when people ridiculed the first President Bush for allegedly not knowing about scanners in grocery stores? This supposedly showed that he was out of touch with the lives of normal Americans. How about some ridicule for a guy who thinks that a pitch at the top of the shoulders is a called strike? I know Washington didn’t have a team for a while, but still…
This whole Supreme Court nomination story has gotten a little weird, with everyone in suspense over whether the minority Democrats will approve Bush’s nominees. Who cares? Since when does the Senate minority get to establish the critieria for Supreme Court nominations? When Clinton nominated Ruth Ginsburg in 1993, do you remember any discussion of what she would have to do to satisfy the Republicans? No, neither do I. (In the event, she did nothing, and they voted for her anyway.) The reality is that Roberts will be confirmed whether he gets a single Democratic vote or not. For all their furrowed brows and mangled metaphors, the Democrats’ self-appointed role as the Court’s gatekeepers is a joke. If they want to control who gets onto the Court, they have to go back to winning elections.
PAUL adds: The Washington Post in its lead editorial urges that Roberts be confirmed. So does its long-time political reporter David Broder. Says Broder, “[Roberts] is so obviously — ridiculously — well-equipped to lead government’s third branch that it is hard to imagine how any Democrats can justify a vote against his confirmation.”
All of which makes me feel better about the fact that, at the insistence of my wife and daughter, we are once again subscribing to the Post.
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