I am currently a registered Democrat. I have voted Democrat in every election so far - except in May of 2000, I registered Republican for the primary so that I could vote for McCain over Bush. I am a progressive. I am a liberal - and i don't care who knows it.
Bush is exercising his right to appoint a member of the Supreme Court. Pretty big deal. Especially for someone like me - a longtime fan of the Supreme Court. This is big.
Roberts obviously is not someone I would have chosen. The Court has been creeping to the right (with one exception - Ginsberg) since Nixon was in office and ol' Jimmy C by dumb luck didn't have a single Supreme Court nomination in his whole term. Two of the liberals currently on the bench were appointed by Republican Presidents (Stevens by Ford and Souter by Bush I). So it could be argued that it's really only dumb luck again that allows the current court to be as balanced as it is.
And now, here again, Sandra D. is going to be replaced by someone less moderate to say the least.
But I am annoyed - and almost offended - by the deluge of prattle that has assaulted my email and filled my regular reading material (from people that I feel should know better) on the need to FIGHT to block Roberts' nomination.
The Conservative Front (as I like to call them) - the Goldwater Minions - have demonized the word "liberal" in the past few decades such that in contentious political campaigns, the word is used as an insult. "Liberal" is given to mean anything from "out of touch intellectual"
to "dude with orange hair." And I feel that is unfair.
It is the Liberals who, after the 2001 attacks on our country, were the ones with the peace of mind to try to analyze why people had so much hatred for us and our country.
It follows that if we understand the people who hate us, we can better defend ourselves. It was the Conservatives who interpreted this as "recommending counselling for the terrorists."
What I admire about the liberal or progressive camp is their presence of mind.
You don't find many loudmouth liberals out there (like James Carville). This is probably why liberal talk radio has been such a dud. When liberals act out of turn, some other liberal gets on their case for being too uppity.
OK OK maybe there ARE a lot of loudmouth liberals out there. But I'm not too keen on most of them.
Which is why it bugs the crap out of me that the rhetoric right now is so loud. Come on, folks. I ask you to consider what kind of nominee you expected to get from this guy. Roberts is not another Scalia or another Thomas. Bear in mind too that justices on the Court tend to drift left once they're in (Warren, Blackmun, Stevens, O'Connor,
Kennedy, Souter
).
We liberals are not going to get the justice that we want. There is going to be a long and arduous confirmation hearing. Let's learn what we can as these unfold. And for chrissakes O sayers of judicial doom, use your brains before you clog up my email!
Mark
07.22.05