Worst … idea … ever

July 13, 2005

There’s plenty of speculation about possible Supreme Court nominees and who various constituencies would like to see Bush nominate. But to get a sense of the kind of jurist the far-right GOP base is looking for, consider this: an hour ago, Alan Keyes, Howard Phillips, Stephen Peroutka, and other right-wing activists held a news conference to advocate for the nomination of Roy Moore to the Supreme Court. There’s no indication that they were kidding.

In more serious Supreme Court news, those of you supporting the Draft Prado initiative will be pleased to know that Senate Dem leaders met with Bush yesterday, sharing a few names of potential nominees who would likely receive broad bi-partisan backing. Among the names: Judge Ed Prado of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

If the last few years are any guide, Bush will immediately rule out any jurist Dems find acceptable, but we can hope.

It would be nice if this ‘Draft Moore’ movement grew some legs. Those nutbars could use some marginalizing.

  • Whether or not Judge Prado gets the nomination ( and I’m one of those who thinks he should ), it’s heartening to think that the internet-driven citizen push to at least get his name in play was successful. It should show to everyone in Washington that a sizable chunk of the public is a ) paying attention, and b ) actually making serious suggestions that are worthy of consideration. Most of the time the people in power think they can get away with things because the public just doesn’t notice. They need to be shown in just this way that times have changed and the people are demanding to be heard. Finally.

  • Hey CB, I’d change the title of your post to “Worst … idea … since … yesterday”! These asshats are coming up with so many ideas that are wrong-headed, irrational, dangerous, or just plain goofy, that we can’t limit ourselves in the manner suggested by your title. Hell, it would be hard to just pick the worst idea of each and every day, let alone the worst ever!! *snark, snark*

  • Well now, no one has yet suggested booting King Karl upstairs to SCOTUS. That often happens in the world of sports.

  • “…Senate Dem leaders met with Bush yesterday, sharing a few names of potential nominees who would likely receive broad bi-partisan backing.”

    What are the other names? Any way to verify this?

    The reason I ask is that I’ve used the fact that Clinton consulted with the GOP and chose Ruth Bader Ginsburg after getting her name from Orrin Hatch in discussions with conservatives. This has both a) shut down their assertions that W need not consult with the opposition and b) refuted their claims that Clinton ignored the GOP and their constituents and noiminated “very liberal judges”.

    (on a related note, has anyone compiled a list of the current SCOTUS judges, who they replaced, who nominated them, and their percieved liberal/moderate/conservative slant? I’d love to see that)

    I’d love to have some more ammunition for those discussions. Thanks in advance.

  • What are the other names? Any way to verify this?

    According to an AP report: Several officials familiar with the discussion said Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Ed Prado of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, and U.S. District Court Judge Ricardo Hinojosa, all of whom are Hispanic, were among the names [Dems] mentioned as Bush met with key lawmakers from both parties to discuss the first high court vacancy in 11 years.

    (on a related note, has anyone compiled a list of the current SCOTUS judges, who they replaced, who nominated them, and their percieved liberal/moderate/conservative slant? I’d love to see that)

    The Supreme Court has a good bio sheet with information on all of the current justices (.pdf doc), but in terms of ideology, I’d say Stevens, Souter, and Ginsburg are reliably liberal, Breyer is center/left, Kennedy is center/right, and Rehnquist, Scalia, and Thomas are hard right.

  • Does the bio sheet mention who they replaced and who nominated them? Or do we have to infer the nomination bit from the year they joined the court?

    Also, thanks again, for the update on the three judges the Dem’s mentioned. Do you know if there are any decent bios on them available online? Judge Sotomayor sounds good at the cursory level: hispanic and female.

  • Ahhh…ignore my questions in the first paragraph of comment #7. Now that I’ve actually looked at the bio sheet, I know the answer. Too bad it doesn’t say who they replaced. Thanks again Carpetbagger-san.

  • How about drafting Demi Moore for the court? Hey, she is female. And I wouldn’t be surprised if she is better than whoever Bush winds up nominating.

    • Comments are closed.