Tuesday - July 19, 2005

Bush Fools Everyone

President Bush fooled everyone tonight and refused to cave in to pressure to name a woman or a moderate to the Supreme Court. The President’s nominee is a staunch conservative, Judge John G. Roberts, Jr. ....

President Bush tonight announced his choice of John G. Roberts Jr., a federal appeals court judge, as his nominee to fill the first Supreme Court vacancy of his presidency. In a nationally televised ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Bush hailed Roberts, 50, as a man of “superb credentials and the highest integrity.”

He said Roberts, a conservative former White House and Justice Department official in past Republican administrations who currently serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, is “widely admired for his intellect, his sound judgment and his personal decency.” Bush said he had been “deeply impressed” by Roberts in his search for a successor to Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who is retiring.

“He is a man of extraordinary accomplishment and ability,” Bush said. “He has a good heart. He has the qualities Americans expect in a judge,” including wisdom, fairness and civility.

Roberts said in brief remarks that it was “both an honor and very humbling to be nominated to serve on the Supreme Court.” He said that in arguing past cases before the Supreme Court as an attorney, he developed a deep appreciation for its role in American democracy and always “had a lump in my throat” as he walked up the building’s steps.

Neither Bush nor Roberts took questions from reporters after the announcement. Word of the nomination leaked out in advance of the 9 p.m. ceremony. Roberts, long considered one of the Republicans’ legal heavyweights, was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in 2003 by Bush. He was also nominated to the same court by Bush’s father, president George H.W. Bush, but never received a Senate vote.

Previously, Roberts practiced law at the Washington law firm, Hogan & Hartson, from 1986 to 1989 and from 1993 to 2003. Between those periods, he was the principal deputy solicitor general in the George H.W. Bush administration, helping to formulate the administration’s position in Supreme court cases. He has argued more than three dozen cases before the Supreme Court. During the Reagan administration, Roberts served for a time as an aide to Attorney General William French Smith. He also worked for White House Counsel Fred Fielding, from 1982 to 1986. He attended Harvard College and the Harvard Law School. Early in his career, he clerked for Justice (now Chief Justice) William H. Rehnquist on the Supreme Court.

Sen. Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), the Senate minority leader, said, “The president has chosen someone with suitable legal credentials, but that is not the end of our inquiry.” He said the Senate must determine whether Roberts “has a demonstrated commitment to the core American values of freedom, equality and fairness.”

Posted by The Skipper     on 07/19/2005 at 09:54 PM   
Filed Under: • Judges-Courts •  
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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
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4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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