Get ready for more Republican Affirmative Action
Quote of note:
Among them is California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown, whose nomination last year to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia — a traditional steppingstone to the Supreme Court — ignited debate because of her statements that judges should use their authority to rein in big government.
Brown is one of the most visionary of the reversionary justices. And she's Black, so Republicans get to call people who oppose her positions racist…because, you see, there's no reason Black people would fail to support a Black candidate unless we're racist.
Huh?
Bush to Revive Failed Judicial Nominations
The 20 candidates didn't win Senate approval the first time. Democrats inclined to block them with filibusters are now facing a stronger GOP.
By Richard B. Schmitt and Nick Anderson
Times Staff Writers
December 24, 2004
WASHINGTON — President Bush intends to renominate to federal judgeships 20 candidates who failed to win Senate approval during his first term, the White House said Thursday.
The announcement, coming before the new Congress convenes next month, drew jeers from Democrats and cheers from Republicans eager to flex their muscles following gains in November.
The statement issued by White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan decried the Senate's failure to act on the "highly qualified individuals" Bush had nominated during his first term and contended that inaction had exacerbated a backlog of cases in the federal courts.
Bush "looks forward to working with the new Senate to ensure a well-functioning and independent judiciary," the statement said.
The nominees, who will officially be put forward once the Senate is in session, include some of the president's most contentious choices for the federal courts, including several ardently opposed by abortion-rights groups and a Pentagon lawyer linked to a disavowed administration legal memo on torture.
