THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VII, Issue # 207, September 16, 2005
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
THE JUDICIAL CONFIRMATION PROCESS
HAS BECOME A JOKE
By Christopher G. Adamo
THE APPOINTMENT OF U.S. FEDERAL JUDGES: APPOINTMENT BY THE PRESIDENT, BY & WITH THE ADVICE & CONSENT OF
U.S. SENATE -- HOW LIBERAL DEMOCRATS HAVE SUCCEEDED IN MAKING THE SENATE'S JUDICIAL CONFIRMATION PROCESS A
GROTESQUE CARICATURE OF WHAT THE FRAMERS OF THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION ORIGINALLY INTENDED -- THE
DEMOCRATS' ENDEAVOR TO DISTORT THE JUDICIAL CONFIRMATION PROCESS & USE THE U.S. COURTS AS A MEANS OF GAINING
POLITICAL POWER FAR GREATER THAN THEY MIGHT HAVE ACQUIRED THROUGH ELECTIONS
FULL STORY:
Regardless of the outcome of John Roberts’ confirmation hearings, it is plain that Liberal Democrats have succeeded in making the
entire process a grotesque caricature of what the Founders originally intended.
As stipulated in the United States Constitution, the U.S. Senate has an “advise and consent” role in the appointment of federal
judges. Thus, the talents and wisdom of the Senate should properly be a worthy check on the President’s authority to make
judicial appointments.
For most of the country’s history, that method worked well. Unfortunately, during the last few decades, Democrats allowed any
vestiges of wisdom to be completely supplanted by the rancor of partisan politics.
Increasingly, Democrats seek to warp the judicial confirmation process into a means of the Democrats' amassing political power
far beyond that which they might have garnered at the ballot box. Unfortunately, rather than holding fast to constitutional principle
and calling the Democrats to task, Republicans have allowed their political opponents' underhanded tactics to proliferate.
Worse yet, Republicans regularly “moderate” their stances on the constitutionality of the continually changing process, actually
accommodating each new guideline invoked by the political Left. The entire “judicial filibuster” controversy, and its supposed
“resolution,” is only the latest example of such behavior.
So, as Democrats press forward with their agenda of mutating the judicial confirmation process (and thus the very nature of the
judiciary itself), Republicans reluctantly follow along, occasionally crying “foul,” but ultimately complying. The political
gymnastics exhibited during Roberts’ hearings inarguably prove the point.
Considering how much is at stake, advocates of the U.S. Constitution should regard the present situation as wholly unacceptable.
John Roberts could quite possibly ascend from his present, relatively modest status to the highest judicial office in the land. Yet,
few people at either end of the political spectrum have any clue as to just how his presence on the highest seat of the nation’s
highest court would affect that institution.
Worse yet, it is apparent that the entire goal of his Senate testimony is to prevent any solid (and possibly controversial)
information from coming to light. His responses, particularly to plainly hostile questions from Liberal Leftist Senators, have been
nothing short of “slick.”
Indeed, his supporters are thoroughly enjoying the manner in which he is outsmarting his inquisitors. But the real intended
purpose of the hearings, which should be to determine if, with his tremendous power, he will faithfully uphold the Constitution, is
simply not being met.
Unfortunately, Senators from both sides of the aisle are complicit in this ruse. Were Democrats truly concerned with the integrity
of the Constitution, they could surely press him on matters of its interpretation and implementation. However, so perverse has the
ideological base of their party become that they have abandoned any pretense of upholding American constitutional law, and,
instead, fight only on political and ideological fronts.
By their pattern of “inquiry,” comprised of rhetorical questions intended to make statements (and with no real objective of gaining
information or insight), Democrats hope to derail the Roberts nomination, regardless of his fitness for office. Their primary goal is
to hamstring the Bush administration’s possible effort to restore the judiciary to its proper constitutional function.
Furthermore, Leftwing Liberal political strategists are fully aware that much of the President’s support comes from socalled “values
voters,” who embrace traditional Judeo-Christian morality and who know just how significant a force the U.S. Supreme Court has
become in the eradication of those values.
If Democrats can successfully thwart the appointment of pro-Constitution justices, or if they can convince the President to shy
away from even nominating such people, they will have achieved a major tactical victory that may significantly disillusion
Conservatives and thus undermine Republican electoral fortunes for years to come.
While Conservative America stands staunchly behind the President with respect to the “War on Terror,” it is inarguable that he
has repeatedly betrayed them on such cornerstones of the Conservative agenda as the First Amendment and the expansion of
government entitlements. The mere fact that, in the immediate aftermath of Sandra O’Connor's announced retirement, so many
prominent Conservatives panicked over his possible choices for her replacement proves that ultimately they do not entirely trust
him.
Rather than attempting to tap-dance gingerly through the “gauntlet” laid out by the Democrats, President Bush and the entire
GOP establishment in Washington, D.C., ought to frame the issue of judicial appointments as a war for the integrity of the United
States Constitution. And any prospective nominees should unabashedly trumpet their intention to fight and win that war. Let
Democrats be seen attacking that.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
American Politics & Political Competition
Appointment of U.S. Federal Judges
American Government & the U.S. Congress
Legal Issues, Lawyers, & America's Judiciary
U.S. Constitutional Law & Political Philosophy
The Constitution of the United States of America
Christopher G. Adamo is a freelance writer who lives in southeastern Wyoming and works in the field of industrial instrumentation.
He is actively involved in Wyoming's political process, serving as a delegate to successive Wyoming State Republican Conventions
and as a member of the Wyoming State Republican Central Committee. He has assisted Republican candidates for local and state
legislatures and for the United States Congress. His articles, which appear regularly in The Progressive Conservative, U.S.A.,
and on a number of other websites, reflect a major concern with the damage being done to Conservatism and Conservative causes by
the Liberal Leftist faction in the Republican Party as well as by the much larger and more powerful Liberal Leftist faction in the
Democratic Party. During the early and middle 1990s, Adamo was Editor of the Wyoming Christian Coalition's official news organ,
The Wyoming Christian.
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