In delivering his =93if you liked Bush=92s judicial nominees, you=92re
going=
to love mine=94 speech today, John McCain blasted Democratic
=93obstruction=94 of President Bush=92s nominees and held himself up as a
paragon of virtue and integrity:
Of course, in the daily routine of Senate obstructionism, presidential
nominees to the lower courts are now lucky if they get a hearing at
all. These courts were created long ago by the Congress itself, on
what then seemed the safe assumption that future Senates would attend
to their duty to fill them with qualified men and women nominated by
the president. Yet at this moment there are 31 nominations pending,
including several for the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals that serves
North Carolina. Because there are so many cases with no judges to hear
them, a "judicial emergency" has been declared here by the
Administrative Office of U.S. Courts. And a third of the entire Fourth
Circuit Court of Appeals is vacant. But the alarm has yet to sound for
the Senate majority leader****p. Their idea of a judicial emergency is
the possible confirmation of any judge who doesn't meet their own
narrow tests of party and ideology. They want federal judges who will
push the limits of constitutional law, and, to this end, they have
pushed the limits of Senate rules and simple courtesy.
=85
And yet when President Bill Clinton nominated Stephen Breyer and Ruth
Bader Ginsberg to serve on the high court, I voted for their
confirmation, as did all but a few of my fellow Republicans. Why? For
the simple reason that the nominees were qualified, and it would have
been petty, and partisan, and disingenuous to insist otherwise. Those
nominees represented the considered judgment of the president of the
United States. And under our Constitution, it is the president's call
to make.
So, to hear McCain tell it, nobody but him in the Senate understands
=93simple courtesy=94 or the basic rule that senators should defer to the
president on nominations or that voting against a nominee is =93petty,
partisan, and disingenuous.=94
It is not surprising that McCain would use this op****tunity to attack
the Democrats on this issue =96 after all, he is trying to win over the
Right and, as we all know, they just love to fight over judicial
nominations.
Of course, it is not as if Republicans have been good stewards of the
confirmation process, as McCain realized back before he was busy
pandering for right-wing votes:
=93We Republicans are not blameless here,=94 McCain told me. =93For all
intents and purposes, we filibustered Clinton=92s judges, by not letting
them out of committee.=94
Nor has McCain always upheld his own standard of deferring to the
president, as evidenced by his own voting record during the Clinton
administration:
Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Nomination of H. Lee Sarokin to be
United States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit: McCain - Nay
On the Confirmation of H. Lee Sarokin: McCain - Nay
On the Confirmation of William A. Fletcher to be U.S. Circuit Judge
for 9th Circuit: McCain - Nay
On the Confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor to be U.S. Circuit Judge for
2nd Circuit: McCain - Nay
On the Confirmation of Ronnie L. White to be United States District
Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri: McCain - Nay
On the Confirmation of Ann L. Aiken to be US District Judge for the OR
District: McCain - Nay
On the Confirmation of Susan Oki Mollway to be U.S. Dist. Judge
Central Dist. Hawaii: McCain - Nay
On the Confirmation of James J. Brady to be United States District
Judge Middle District of Louisiana: McCain - Nay
Of course, all of these Clinton nominees must have been unqualified
because otherwise it would have been petty, partisan, and disingenuous
of McCain to have voted against them.
Or perhaps McCain only applies this standard to Supreme Court
nominations, which would explain his gu****ng sup****t of Robert Bork.
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