We're fucked!

[cabenson]

Supreme Court nominee is
:drumroll:
John C. Roberts

"selecting a rock solid conservative whose nomination could trigger a tumultuous battle over the direction of the nation's highest court, a senior administration official said. "

Comments

[lietya.livejournal.com]

Actually.... he looks like he's not *that* bad. I mean, we knew he'd nominate a conservative. Roberts is reasonable, sane, and apparently a rock-solid *moderate,* which means he will not be one of the crazed conservative judges who votes for anything the President tells him to. In fact, the last person with these credentials (quiet moderate with minimal judgeship experience) was O'Connor herself, and she has long been reviled by Republicans for "swinging left" after she was appointed.

Roberts is also a literalist about the Constitution, which means that he's very hands-off - if the Constitution didn't forbid it explicitly, it's OK. He'd vote with the liberals about forbidding government intrusions such as the sodomy laws (well, that's settled, but for example), in other words. He'd probably even support leaving gay marriage up to the states and strike down any federal legislation against it, because that's in the Constitution as a states'-rights matter.


I'm not thrilled either. But I thought it'd be Torture Chief Gonzales or Shrieking Lunatic Clement. All things considered, it really could be worse, particularly IF Roberts maintains his commitment to impartial rulings.

[cabenson.livejournal.com]

I'm still not happy but it could be worse. Do you suppose with this "offering" he'll go more hardline conservative if Rehnquist retires or dies?

[lietya.livejournal.com]

That's what I'm afraid of, honestly. Bush may be yielding ground on this one so as to save some energy for Gonzales as Chief Justice (*spit*). I guess we can always hope that Rehnquist manages to hang on somehow.

[cabenson.livejournal.com]

I guess we can always hope that Rehnquist manages to hang on somehow.
I fear he won't make it until late January 2009.

[lietya.livejournal.com]

I do, too, since I honestly think he's actively dying right now. But it's all we can hope for, really.

[theholyinnocent.livejournal.com]

ITA...it could have been much worse. We know we're not going to get anyone even remotely liberal on the Court right now, so I would be willing to take a chance on Roberts and perhaps not oppose this too much, because if Roberts goes down, then we might end up with rabid assholes like Gonzales or Clement. And that would be apocalyptic.

[lietya.livejournal.com]

"because if Roberts goes down, then we might end up with rabid assholes like Gonzales or Clement. And that would be apocalyptic."

That's exactly how I feel. Save the real fight for someone who's truly awful. It's sad when we have to settle for "less evil," but that's where we are right now.