Just so you understand that the Democrats in the Senate are fully aware of their hypocrisy, heed Tom Daschle's words of early May:
We just won't allow the vote.
Even when the Democrats were still in the minority, they intentionally obstructed confirmations. Now that they're in the plurality... well, maybe the President has a point about military tribunals. W
Last night I attended the 15th Annual Convention of the Federalist Society - what some liberals actually call "the conservative cabal" - to hear Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao speak.
Cheney opened up with a bang. He said of Saturday Night Live comic Darrell Hammond, who does frequent Cheney impersonations,
He's got the mannerisms down, he's got the voice pretty well, but he'll never quite capture the real me. You see, you just can't fake charisma.
That line, of course, brought the house down. But then Cheney turned to more serious issues, the current war against terrorism and the historically unprecedented failure of the Democrat-controlled Senate to confirm Bush judicial nominees.
In 1998, there were only 85 vacant judgeships, a rate of about 10%, according to the American Judicature Society. President Clinton had only offered nominations for 41 of those posts, and then had the nerve to use his State of the Union address to lambaste the Senate for its supposed inaction. Senator Patrick Leahy famously intoned,
Any week in which the Senate does not confirm three judges is a week in which the Senate is failing to address the vacancy crisis. Any fortnight in which we have gone without a judicial confirmation hearing marks 2 weeks in which the Senate is falling further behind.
Now that Senator Leahy is in charge of scheduling those hearings, how is he handling the crisis?
Today, there are 107 vacancies in the Federal courts -- 75 in the district courts and 32 in the appellate courts. And as of today, only 4 of the 29 judicial nominations sent to the Senate since early May have had a hearing. Only three have been confirmed.
That data comes from an August 1, 2001 column by the Free Congress Foundation's John Nowacki. Not much has changed since then - the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, for example, currently has nine judges, one of whom is about to retire. There are sixteen seats in the Sixth Circuit. That means we will soon have a vacancy rate of 50% for a single appellate court. The President has nominated six candidates for these seats, but the Senate has not had a single hearing on any of them. Unthinkable!
The rank hypocrisy of the Senate Democrats on judicial nominations must end, and must end now. As soon as the Senate resumes a normal schedule, it must immediately move to hearings on these nominees and floor votes as quickly as can be scheduled. Anything less is a betrayal of the nation and a deprivation of justice to its citizens. W
The World Trade Organization has flexed its legal muscle to shut down Jonathan Prince's well-known parody site at gatt.org. The WTO claims trademark and copyright infringement, and has persuaded Jonathan's web host service to shut the site down. I have a feeling this is just beginning. W
The Bush administration recently defended the President's order to try suspected international terrorists before military tribunals, provided they are not citzens of the United States, without the benefit of the "principles of law and the rules of evidence" that govern ordinary criminal trials.
Even former prosecutor, current Congressman, and conversative torch-bearer Bob Barr reacted angrily:
[I]t seems their attitude is, 'Well, that wasn't enough so we're going to take more,' I'm not sure we can ever satisfy the federal government's insatiable appetite for more power.
Vice President Dick Cheney said of the as-yet-undetermined people who might be tried by secret military courts:
They don't deserve the same guarantees and safeguards that would be used for an American citizen going through the normal judicial process.
Why don't "they" deserve protection, Mr. Cheney? Is it because they are non-citizens? Is it because we have already presumed them guilty before trial? Either answer is unacceptable. W
Forces arriving in Kabul disocvered Taliban instruction manuals on how to poison children and assemble bombs: "A dose equal to seven seeds will kill a child." W
Oliver asks:
Can anyone explain to me a valid reason Bush is still caught up in his missile shield beyond the usual graft for the defense industry? It certainly wouldn't have helped on 9.11, if it even works.
Been there, done that a month ago. W
Donnie sez: Texas got shafted in its most recent re-districting plan, released by three federal judges. As opposed to the last judicially-drawn map, this one protects all current incumbents and preserves a Democratic majority in its House delegation despite a strong Republican lean for the state as a whole.
I don't understand why judges are drawing Congressional districts in Texas; it's a political process and should be handled by political, not judicial, officers. Apparently Texas law provides that the judges have to step in only when the legislature fails to do thier jobs.
I've got a better idea. If the Texas legislature can't come up with a map, they lose their jobs. Period. Anyone in Texas want to take that up as a referendum? W
Not all DC bloggers are Communists. Check out the decidedly conservative bent of the Beltway Bloggers. W
My good friend and law school classmate Adam Hasner is running for the state house in Florida. His web site is none too descriptive of his platform, but if you're in Delray Beach, drop him an e-mail and he'll be happyto explain everything to you. W
Squirrel nipples? Kinky. W
Yesterday was Veteran's Day, even though we "celebrate" today by taking a day off work. Our fellow citizens in uniform have made tremendous sacrifices to preserve our liberty; one either understands that or doesn't. If you do, take some time to contemplate today how precious peace and freedom are, and how rare it is that any person can have both for any length of time.
If you don't, ask yourself why. W
Recount: BUSH. Dozens of news sites have reported the story, but none quite like the St. Petersburg Times.
The study has confirmed yet again (how many times? I've lost count!!) that the right man was sworn in. As if there was any doubt left.
If one wants to "count all the votes," as liberals have chanted since last November, the result remains unchanged:
The consortium asked all 67 counties what standard they would have used and what ballots they would have manually recounted. Combining that information with the detailed ballot examination found that Mr. Bush would have won the election, by 493 votes if two of the three coders agreed on what was on the ballot; by 389 counting only those ballots on which all three agreed.
There are some scenarios under which Gore might have been declared the victor, but that just goes to show you how close the results were. One could have picked a president by picking a different standard for what did and did not constitute a "vote" - something we still don't agree on today.
The one thing that is certain - everyone who cared about the election results will spin the media consortium's conclusions to suit their own needs. Yes, me too. If you're not taking me with a grain of salt already, you haven't read the label. W