GOP Hypocrisy Becomes Hallmark of the "Party of NO"
But then hypocrisy is one of the hallmarks of the GOP, a party of no integrity, where dishonesty is the rule.
As a NYTimes editorial points out: "When President George W. Bush was stocking the federal courts with conservative ideologues, Senate Republicans threatened to change the august body’s rules if any Democrat dared to try to block his choices, even the least-competent, most-radical ones. Filibustering the president’s nominees, they said, would be an outrageous abuse of senatorial privilege.
"Now that President Obama is preparing to fill vacancies on federal benches, Republican senators have fired off an intemperate letter threatening — you got it — filibusters if Mr. Obama’s nominees are not to their liking. Mr. Obama should not let the Republicans’ saber-rattling interfere with how he chooses judges.
"Despite Republicans’ loud complaints, the Senate actually confirmed the vast majority of Mr. Bush’s choices. As a result, some unqualified and undeserving people are federal judges with lifetime tenure, like Jay Bybee, who signed at least two appalling legal opinions on detainees when he was head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, including one arguing that the president had the power to authorize torture.
The nation is now saddled with hard-right Republican judges who are using the courts to push an agenda of hostility to civil rights and civil liberties; reflexive deference to corporations; and shutting the courthouse door to worthy legal claims. Mr. Obama has to repair the damage, which will require technically able judges who can provide a counterbalance to the ideologues who control many appeals courts.
"Senate Republicans are not waiting to evaluate Mr. Obama’s nominations on their merits, choosing instead to deliver their written warning. Their request that Mr. Obama consult with them about possible nominees is appropriate, and the administration should do so. Senators have a right to advise, as well as to decide whether to consent, on judicial nominations.
"The senators, however, went further. They insisted that Mr. Obama begin by appointing holdover Bush nominees who were never confirmed by the Senate. There is no need to do so, and Mr. Obama should not.
"It is particularly strange to see Senate Republicans raising the specter of filibustering nominees. When Mr. Bush was doing the nominating, Senator Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah and a former Judiciary Committee chairman, warned Democrats that filibusters “mired the judicial-confirmation process in a political and constitutional crisis that undermines democracy, the judiciary, the Senate, and the Constitution."
"The Republicans are trying to use intimidation to hold onto the one branch of government where they still hold sway. Mr. Obama may be tempted to give in to win Republican cooperation for other parts of his legislative agenda. He should resist that temptation, and get to work right away appointing the kind of highly qualified, progressive-minded judges the nation needs."
Comments