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Packing the Bench

Filling the federal judiciary with like-minded people has been a Presidential prerogative since oh, I dunno, Marbury v. Madison? Dubya, in his hopes of finding just those people who think akin to him, had selected Miguel Estrada as a person to nominate to a federal circuit court in the hopes of promoting him to the Supreme Court whenever someone decides to retire. Estrada isn't popular because he never has written an opinion on abortion or anything else. As a result, the Senate has nothing to ask him about when it comes to decide if he's open to constitutional interpretation or not. Estrada was also sort of an attempt at Bush Affirmative Action, putting token minorities into high places to claim a committment to diversity. The story was out earlier Thursday, and we only amend a link for you here.

So what made all the Democrats willing to use the fillibuster on this guy besides the overriding abortion issue that writes checks from the National Organization of Women and the Family Research Council? The answer is in part the Federalist Society, which was started by Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham during his days in law school. The Federalist Society is many things to many people, but they also do a great job of being the modern-day fount of strict constructionism. Now, the funny part is not that a bunch of white men in the tree house can stick to this model. Indeed, liberal law students only founded the rival American Constitution Society in 1999. The humor comes from the fact that Bush has scoured long and hard to name federal judiciary nominees that sound like they were picked by Karl Rove:

Priscilla Owen (female justice) from Texas, Bill Pryor (Alabama Attorney General), Caroline Kuhl (woman jurist), and Charles Pickering of Miss-uh-sippi. Pickering made those choice comments about black people that he seemingly can't recall. Who knows, maybe it's not true. Owen, of course, was selected after Clinton had made his own selection but the Republican Senators from Texas, Jon Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchinson refused to submit his form (which they have to) to the Senate Judiciary Committe. Pryor is a embroiled in the Ten Commandments spat in Alabama, and Kuhl has yet to surface on the radar. Conservative justices all, and all aimed at a swing vote consitutency.

Now the irony comes when the Post then adds an editorial that is doleful of how smear politics worked. The New York Times countered with an opinion so defensive of state power it sounded like it was secretly written by Robert Byrd. Luckily, there was no mention of the "Republic", Marcus Tullius Cicero, the Twelve Tables, the Rostrum, or even the populares and optimates. However, Gaius Ambulator Bush finds himself in a tricky situation, needing to either call up another replacement from his ever thinning depth chart or to wait until after 2004 to suggest a "new guy". Bush really just wants someone to be ready when Rehnquist, O'Connor, or even Anthony Kennedy give it up. And he'll kick himself if John Paul Stevens resigns and he doesn't get a chance to blast the last vestiges of the Ford Administration from the US government. But let's face facts: Senate Democrats have to at least respect the person El Presidente Arbusto sends to the floor for a vote. And if Bush can't pack the bench, is it safe to say his influence has faded to where he needs to pack his bags instead?

That question, we find out, has only begun to be answered.



posted by Thomas at 10:29 PM 0 comments