WyBlog

Live by the filibuster, die by the filibuster

In January 2006 a certain Illinois senator by the name of Barack Obama joined 24 of his colleagues in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to filibuster the Supreme Court nomination of Justice Samuel Alito.

ABC News: First President in US History to Have Voted to Filibuster a Supreme Court Nominee Now Hopes for Clean Process (h/t Instapundit and Memeorandum)

On January 29, 2006, Mr. Obama told George Stephanopulos on "This Week" that he would "be supporting the filibuster because I think Judge Alito, in fact, is somebody who is contrary to core American values, not just liberal values, you know."

Yet in his weekly radio address yesterday President Obama urged Republicans to put aside "the political posturing and ideological brinksmanship that has bogged down this (Supreme Court nomination) process" in the past. Because, you know, suddenly the shoe is on the other foot.

There are amply grounds for Republicans to filibuster the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court. Yet President Obama wants to silence the opposition in the interests of "unity". Where were his high-minded principles in 2006? AWOL, that's for sure.

Judge Sotomayor has shown herself to be an amiably mediocre jurist, and she has quite fairly been exposed as a holder of adamantly racist beliefs. Her membership in the Hispanic organization La Raza (literally translated as "The Race") is indictment enough. Rather than rehash the details I urge you to read the reporting from Donald Douglas — "Race Issues Dog Sotomayor", "Sotomayor's a Disaster on the Issues", and especially "Borking Sotomayor?".

Then there is her absolutely incorrect interpretation of the Second Amendment. She refuses to recognize the individual right to bear arms recently affirmed in the Heller decision. See this article by Bob Owens for details — "Sotomayor: Obama's End Run on the Second Amendment".

Yet the GOP seems reluctant to mount a full-frontal attack on this nomination. The Democrats have successfully framed the debate as not being about her qualifications and credentials but rather about her ethnic background and supposedly uniquely compelling life story. Puh-leeze. Clarence Thomas has an equally compelling life story and the lefties giggled with glee as Anita Hill relentlessly slandered him. Miguel Estrada rose from obscurity as the son of latino parents but he was still mercilessly vilified when President Bush put his name forth as a Supreme Court nominee.

The arguments against a filibuster of Sotomayor's nomination boil down to "opposing her is racist". No, it is not. It is not racist to oppose her viewpoints or her activist judicial record. It is she who brought her latina heritage into the discourse; the same beliefs held by a white man or woman would be just as noxious.

Democrats employed every procedural trick and sleight of hand in the book to hinder the confirmation of President Bush's judicial nominees. Payback is a bitch. If you live by the filibuster, you die by the filibuster. Stop your whining and take it like a man.

Posted at 12:44 by Chris Wysocki   [/obama_watch]   Comments | Archived | Perm Link |
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