Disagreeing With Charlie
I think the law and politics are clear. Charlie should have signed the contract. But, now he has gotten his way. The request has been withdrawn. Sadly, though, now the county commission looks like it operates just like the City Council and the media gets a field day to portray Charlie Bishop as another C. Jack Ellis — a totally unfair comparison.
Who Is The Judge?
Sadly, real life and work duties collided to prevent issuance of SCOTUS gossip earlier. For those of you having cold sweats, shakes, and other symptoms of withdrawal, I apologize. Now, on with the nothingness.
Nothing is exactly what I have. Tonight I talked with a very good source not in the White House, but close enough to it to know what is going on. He’s one of those third party group guys who has been involved. What he says follows up on and equates to what others inside and outside the White House have told me today, but he has more depth.
“I have no clue who the nominee is,” he says. “In fact, no one I have spoken to inside or outside the White House really knows who it is. We all feel more comfortable with who it is not than with who it is — and I’m pretty sure it is not Gonzales.”
He says to remember that, since the summer, “the White House has perfected the art of the screw up. The sheer incompetence of the staff to convey a message and consult anyone has been stunning. Sure, people are spoken to, but there is poor follow up, bad communication, and so much secrecy now that they are screwing things up. It is no longer the Bush Administration, it is the Bollix Administration. But, they also know how to misdirect. God, I hope August and September have been misdirections.”
He says it is not really incompetence, but “a youthful arrogance that translates into incompetence.” He says that has a lot to do with how the Joy Clement “disaster” went down.
The source goes on to explain that he disagrees with Manny Miranda’s statement that the Social Conservatives have not been as clear as the Business Conservatives with their wants. “Look, unless the President is deaf, he has heard the base. Remember, it is the social conservatives who were out going door to door, not the business conservatives. He knows he owes them and he needs them. But, there is some noticeable frustration.”
An example of that frustration, he says, is the reaction in some corners to Judge Roberts’s nomination. “Short of John Roberts getting a sworn affidavit from Jesus Christ or personally overturning Roe v. Wade with a baseball bat and machine gun, some very vocal people on the right will not be happy with him and are marginalizing the rest of us.
“We all know the litany: Brown. If not Brown, Jones. If not Jones, Garza. If not Garza, Alito. If not Alito, Luttig. Here’s a hint. It will be none of them. The first four have been too vocal on abortion. Luttig has been sabotaged by the Chamber and others because they don’t think he would side with them on some key issues stemming from federal regulations. The President is not going to name anyone who has specifically written that Roe should be thrown out. It’s not going to happen and people should deal with it.”
So, who does he think it will be? “Senate staffers, White House staffers, and outside groups have been mentioning with more frequency Karen Williams. There is also Batchelder and Sykes, but I think Sykes is too young. I don’t think it will be Corrigan. Sandra Day O’Connor is rumored to have told the President that, from her own experience, she thought coming from the state courts to the Supreme Court without going through the appellate level was and is too much. Whether she told him that or not, again rumor. But, she did say that in an interview too. That would rule out Cantero and Corrigan.”
He did name one wild card, Judge Boggs. “Age is not going to be a factor. Harvie [Wilkinson] was not rejected because of his age. Boggs is over 60, but he definitely comes from a different walk in life.” [Ed. Note: I have no freaking clue who Boggs is, so maybe he's the nominee].
So, to recap: no one knows anything and the parlor game continues. I’ll be in Washington tomorrow, so I’ll see some sources up close and personal. Oh, the source also agrees with the media that the announcement will be Friday, not Thursday.
Everything he says meshes well with all the other people I have talked to. Everyone is more comfortable with who is not on the list than with who is on the list.
The Next Justice
With a Presidential announcement any day regarding Sandra Day O’Connor’s replacement, it is time to review what we know and what we do not know.
First, we know that many in the legal community think Priscilla Owen has the nod. Robert Novak’s reporting has been consistent with that assumption. We also know that she had a private meeting with the President. Lastly, we know the President is fond of her. Unfortunately, some also think Owen is not strongly pro-life and would never vote to overrule Roe v. Wade.
Second, I have five unconnected sources, including two inside the White House, who are telling me that Rove thinks Gonzales needs to be considered and that Gonzales is more conservative that we all think. The Washington Post has had similar information. One source alone would be rather inconsequential, but five unconnected people telling me the same thing makes me think this is credible. Nonetheless, I agree with K-Lo. I do not think Alberto Gonzales will become Justice Gonzales. I just don’t see it happening.
Here’s why. The conservative base got a very upset stomach when it appeared all but certain that Joy Clement was the nominee. The base is already against Gonzales. While Rove may be doing his calculations that there is enough on the court’s docket to prove Gonzales’s bona fides before the midterm elections, the base will be apoplectic for a good long while and the President will have a lot of difficulty moving what little remains of his agenda until people realize Gonzales is actually a conservative. Additionally, what went under the radar for most was that while Rove is pushing Gonzales, there are doubts as to how easily Gonzales could be confirmed. The Democrats are itching for a fight and Gonzales gives them lots to fight with.
If the President wants to rally the base, choosing Gonzales would be a disaster. The base is already angry over spending and Gonzales will not help. This does not make sense and I do not think it will happen.
What we do not know is very obvious. Who the nominee will be is a great mystery right now. Owen is up there. I still think Luttig is in play based solely on my gut and his qualifications. One name that started surfacing in my email and IMs over the past twenty-four hours has been Diane Sykes. Batchelder’s name keeps coming up too.
Perhaps the most interesting name that keeps surfacing is that of Miguel Estrada. Former Solicitor General Ted Olson has been a big proponent of Estrada’s, but it is unclear that Estrada wants to try that fight again — especially when the stakes are so much higher. I am, however, inclined to think the next justice will come from one of the United States Courts of Appeal and Estrada does not fit.
The White House is doing an even better job of keeping the lid on this nominee than the last. That leads me to believe that all the outside chatter is meant to misdirect us from the actual nominee. I have said repeatedly here and elsewhere that Karl Rove and President Bush both believe one of the main reasons the Republicans have been so dominant since 2000, is because of a conservative base who think judicial victory is just around the corner. That to me means that we will see the President nominate a conservative — perhaps not a Jones or a Garza, but a conservative of high professional reputation with a paper trail that does not contain the specific answer to the question “how definite has the nominee been on the issue of overturning Roe?”
We’ll find out who it is rather soon.
Technorati Tags: judiciary
A Nightmare
This is a nightmare picture. You are forewarned before clicking.
Rebuild the Gulf, But Don’t Resurrect The Great Society
World War II changed everything. More specifically, the return of the GI changed everything. Before the war, individuals wanting a mortgage usually had to make a down payment of not less than fifty percent. Only after World War II and the passage of the GI Bill and the FHA and VA programs did things become like we know them now — a small down payment with additional payments spread out over fifteen or more years. It is estimated that for every dollar invested through the GI Bill, $5 to $12 was generated in tax revenue. Before the war, one in four people were homeowners. After the war, two of every three people owned a home.
Sadly, many Americans could not participate in home ownership programs and most of those were denied participation primarily because of race. In the 1930’s the New Deal’s Home Owners’ Loan Corporation instituted redlining to assess risk. In 1934, with the passage of the Housing Act of 1934, the government institutionalized redlining. Redlining required denoting on maps areas of risk in banking and insurance. Generally, minority and poor neighborhoods were colored in red while more homogenous white neighborhoods were colored in green. In the 1940s and 1950s, as white America moved into the suburbs, the inner cities were left for black Americans. William Levitt, arguably the creator of American suburbia with Levittown, declared that “people won’t buy houses if black people live in a development.” And so suburbia became white America and urban America became black America.
Now we come full circle to Ward Nine in New Orleans. The ward was the lowest part of the city and the poorest. Black families, many unemployed, dependent on government housing and income, lived in Ward Nine and waited and waited for the government to carry them out of their situation. The chickens of past practices have finally come home to roost in the aftermath of Katrina.
Like World War II before it, Katrina’s aftermath has the ability to change everything as we know it. The social engineers of the 50’s and 60’s had their chance with the Great Society. The results speak for themselves in Ward Nine. Now the Republicans are in charge and the Republicans have a small chance to begin anew. Through tax incentives, free enterprise zones, empowerment zones, and public-private partnership, the government can, should it choose, reject old, failed ideas, and try new ideas based on the free market.
Our nation has for far too long privileged the equality of her citizens over their liberty, and the result has been neither equality nor liberty, but only impoverishment and bitterness. Just as President Bush aspires to spread liberty abroad, so too should he advance it at home – for equality without liberty is slavery to the state (see e.g., the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, North Korea). Liberty is, in and of itself, the great equalizer and the wellspring of opportunity.
Government money will be spent. Much money will be wasted. Some will be stolen. But in writing checks and using the power of the government, we encourage the Republican Party to fight for liberty. The President has dreamed of an ownership society. The time is right to create such a society and to use one of the poorest areas of the nation to begin that free market deal.
The President and Congress must foster efficacious reforms by bringing the ownership society to life. The government must recognize that private industry and the free market will be better providers of the people than the government. The President must avoid writing blank checks to federal, state, and local agencies and instead assist private industry through tax credits, tax breaks, deregulation, and incentives to support the public good through private efforts.
We are willing to rebuild the Gulf Coast. But we are not willing to support another Great Society, another New Deal, and another poorly run government program wasting taxpayer money and corrupting the individual spirit of the American citizenry.
Support the Troops
This coming weekend, we have a great opportunity to support the troops and their mission. From September 23-26, 2005, Operation Iraqi Hope will be leading counter protests to the peaceniks and communists who, along with Cindy Sheehan, intend to march on Washington.
On September 23, 2005, there will be a rally outside Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Remember, the left has been protesting outside the hospital in opposition to the war. The morale of the troops who are being treated at the hospital could use your support.
On September 24, 2005, there will be a counter demonstration against Cindy Sheehan and the Communists.
On September 25, 2005, there will be a rally to honor military families.
On September 26, 2005, Operation Iraqi Hope will lead military families to meetings with Senators, Congressmen, and their aides to let them know we support the war and Cindy Sheehan does not speak for us.
You can help. You can participate. Operation Iraqi Hope will arrange transportation for groups of ten or more to get to the events. Do your part. Details are here.
Ga Photo ID Law Attacked
The ACLU and others have taken Georgia to court over the photo id law.
“Photographic identification as a requirement for voting is antidemocratic and prevents people from exercising their fundamental right to vote whether proposed by the General Assembly of the state of Georgia or the Carter-Baker commission,” said Daniel Levitas of the American Civil Liberties Union’s voting rights project.
On Being Baby Wise
Our peditricain and a friend have both recommended On Being Baby Wise. The book has lots of good tips and information about babies and I recommend it. One of its suggestions is to put the baby on a regular schedule. We have and we are very glad we did.
Instead of feeding Evelyn whenever she cries, we have her on a set schedule. At first it was every three hours and now we’ve moved to every four hours. We’re in a troublesome shift right now as she gets use to going every four hours. However, a benefit is that Evelyn goes to bed at 10pm and generally does not wake up until 3am for a feeding and then again at 6:30 to 7am. Christy has been taking the 3am, but we’ll start rotating that one when she goes back to work. I’m doing the 6:30 am shift, which I really like.
Evelyn and I visit in the morning and I get to do some work.
It’s nice.
Pork Busters
Instapundit is taking a lead on showing Congressman relevant pork to cut. It’s a great idea.
The Blonde Ditch Project
Over at RedState, we’re spending this week focused on the Peace Movement. Of note is Cindy Sheehan, who the press adored until they realized she was a nut job. Nick Danger has up a great post on Sheehan and her backers.
To hear the media tell it, antiwar celebrity Cindy Sheehan has become famous because of her unique position as the grieving mother of a fallen solder… a woman who left her home and family to camp out in Crawford, Texas, near the President’s ranch, to cry her way into our hearts and so end the war in Iraq by speaking truth to power. The truth about power is that virtually anyone can become famous in America today if they have enough money. How else to explain Victor Kiam, the man who “bought the company,” or Frank Perdue, the “tough man” who looked suspiciously like a chicken? Or for that matter long-time liberal activists Ben and Jerry of ice cream fame… one of whom, Ben Cohen, has been spending a lot of money lately turning Cindy Sheehan into the Mother of All Protestors.