The attitude of the Democrats, as represented by this quote from Ted Kennedy (D-P.R.Mass.), is breathtaking in its arrogance:
"It doesn't take much to get our consent," Kennedy said. "All the president has to do is seek out his preferred non-ideological choices, ask us about them, and listen to our answers."Does anyone doubt for a moment that "non-ideological" means "agrees with Democrats on most issues"?
And... how would they have reacted to a similar demand by Republicans during the Clinton administration? We'll never know, because back then the Senate still respected the centuries-old tradition of letting the president decide who he was going to nominate.
1 comment:
Thanks for your comments, AJ. For the record, I might be annoyed by constructive comments that disagree with what I wrote, but I won't be offended. :-)
That said, I'd like to remark on some of your remarks. First: Have the Republicans ever used parliamentary maneuvers to prevent a vote on a nominee who clearly had majority support? If so, that was wrong. In the quarter century that I've been a registered voter, I don't recall any such occurrences, but I'm willing to be educated.
Second: Have the Republicans ever demanded that a Democrat president in essence get the GOP's permission to submit a nominee? That's the issue that got my ire up in this post.
The GOP has occasionally engaged in tyranny of the majority, to my knowledge it has not engaged in tyranny of the minority, as the Dems have done from the moment they lost the Senate.
When you note the high rate of confirmation of the Bush nominees, you overlook the Dems' strategy. Pretty much all of their obstruction is directed at appellate court nominees -- because that's the most common source of USSC justices. The federal appellate courts (including the USSC) are where the left does all of its end runs around the Constitution. There's no way the left wants GWB sending his kids to play on their playground. The confirmation rate of Bush's appellate court nominees is lower than that of his recent predecessors.
Third: If you want me to respect your claim to be a constitutionalist, please don't back up your arguments with an article from the leftist site mediamatters.org. :-)
I agree that we need to keep an eye on both parties. Longtime readers of this blog know that I'm more than ready to tear into the GOP (both Congress and GWB) when the situation merits.
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