One Disappointed Scalia
President Bush celebrated Labor Day by nominating John Roberts to succeed William H. Rehnquist as chief justice, asking the Senate to confirm him before the Supreme Court opens its fall term on Oct. 3. Not much time for honoring Rehquist and his long years of dedicated service.
That pretty much answers all questions about the extent of Roberts’ ideological foundation. Bush prefers him, even without a lot of experience as a judge, to Supreme Court Justice Scalia.
Nice leapfrog power grab here. I can only imagine Scalia’s point of view on this one.
Still wondering how far Bush will go? What’s it going to take, sheeple?
New Orleans not enough for ya? We don’t know if there are more people dead from Hurricane Katrina or because the response was so deadly slow and incompetent. I’ve even seen some feds try to blame the locals. I’ve been seeing some people backpedal – “oh, this isn’t the time for blaming.” When exactly is the time, then? I can support relief efforts and at the same time point out why things became so anarchic and fatal. It’s pretty darn easy to trace.
The neo agenda will only make things even worse for the next disaster; cuts to social programs of all kinds, a concentration on war, a suspicion of science, disregard for the environment, an ethos that believes that the poor deserve what they have, and a motivation to act in the interests of the very top percentage of the already-wealthy have all contributed to the situation at the “other” Gulf.
If Bush prefers a youngish Roberts over (the experienced and already right-wing) Scalia, we’re looking at major trouble for a country that has had deep progressive values of freedom – trouble that could last for a generation or more, no matter who is President. Please write to your senators and to your local newspapers.