Close calls for Breyer and Ginsburg

Following up on my blog about the alleged Republican problem with Jewish Supreme Court nominees, reader John Reandeau did what I was too lazy to do last night — he ascertained the margins by which Justices Ginsburg and Breyer were confirmed. Fortunately, my memory did not fail me this time. In Ginsburg’s case, the vote was 96-3; for Breyer it was 87-9. Both received unanimous consent from the Senate Judiciary. As Mr. Reandeau points out, this couldn’t have happened if the Republicans had been applying a “religious test” on abortion.
Mr. Reandeau adds that William Saletan, the author of this absurd charge against the Republicans, “is basically saying that abortion rights are a fundamental tenet of certain sects of Judaism. Hardly. Just because they don’t define that life begins at conception, that shouldn’t lead us to the conclusion that a Reformed Jew is renouncing his religion by taking a pro-life position. This piece is so far from the issue, I think it basically confirms the fear that the media (and unfortunately most blogs) don’t understand this issue regarding Pryor. I’m glad you do. It’s sad, but Geraldine Ferraro and others paved the way years ago so that the concept of the pro-choice Catholic doesn’t raise an eyebrow these days.”

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