In case you missed it, my Washington Times editorial for today: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_L._Wilkins RIGHTLY SHORT-CIRCUITING COURT NOMINEES After Senate Republicans filibustered the presidents nomination of Cornelia Pillard to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit last week and Patricia Millett’s nomination to the same court Oct. 31, Senate Democrats went back to their “war on women” playbook. Their reflexive response was as understandable as it was predictable. After all, it works every time its tried, especially because Republicans typically allow the assertion to go unchallenged, and in politics, silence equals assent. This time, however, Sen. Chuck Grassley was having none of it. “When the other side runs out of legitimate arguments,” the Iowa Republican said, “their last line of defense is to accuse Republicans of opposing nominees based upon gender or race.” “It’s a well-worn card. And they play it every time,” added Mr. Grassley, a longtime member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senate Republicans should expect Democrats to deal the even more well-worn race card if, as expected, this week they filibuster the nomination of U.S. District Judge Robert L. Wilkins, who is black, for elevation to that same higher court. Senate Republicans’ well-founded objections to the nominations of Ms. Millett, an appellate litigator; Ms. Pillard, a Georgetown law professor; and Judge Wilkins are based not on their genitalia or melanin level. Rather, Republicans’ justifiable opposition to the nominees is based on the ultraliberal judicial-activist philosophy they would bring to the appeals bench and on the circuit courts light workload. With respect to the latter consideration, the D.C. appellate court is “so underworked that it regularly cancels oral-argument days,” says Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, adding that if any more judges were confirmed, “there wouldnt be work enough to go around.” Left-wing firebrand Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat, ludicrously claims the Senate GOP judicial filibusters are tantamount to an attempt to negate President Obamas re-election (as though the latter entitles him to a blank check on his liberal, and often far left, judicial nominees). Instead, with some other federal appeals courts having legitimate vacancies, it comes down to “where judges are needed and where theyre not,” says Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn, Texas Republican, “And this court demonstrably doesnt need new judges. Its not any more complicated than that.” Mr. Obamas attempt to elevate Judge Wilkins, who the Springfield, Va.-based Gun Owners of America says has compiled “a particularly virulent anti-gun record,” along with left-wing ideologues Ms. Millett and Ms. Pillard, to the appeals court regarded as the second-most important court in the land, is in keeping with his goal of fundamentally transforming America in his own far-left image. Indeed, at a private Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee fundraiser Nov. 6, Mr. Obama brazenly boasted, “We are remaking the courts.” Its a claim that would make FDR, who attempted to pack the Supreme Court to expedite his New Deal agenda, blush. Thats why Senate Republicans must stand their ground in opposition to these judicial nominees. They cannot capitulate — as they did in July on nominees to the National Labor Relations Board, the Environmental Protection Agency and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — in the face of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reids threat to invoke the so-called “nuclear option” to take away the minority partys filibuster rights. Nor are they obligated to heed Democrats call for an “up-or-down vote” out of some misplaced notion of “fairness,” because not a single Democratic senator, not even those from red states, has expressed any reservations whatsoever about these nominees. All 55 would vote in lockstep to confirm them no matter how far out of the mainstream they are, and unlike NLRB or EPA bureaucrats, who can be replaced by a Republican president, judicial nominees get a lifetime appointment.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 16:52:43 +0000
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