Stories by Leon H Wolf
Posted at 5:15pm on Oct. 12, 2005 Wednesday Open Thread
By Leon H Wolf
Your one and only chance to discuss this (HT: Jonah Goldberg)
Posted in Miscellanea — Comments (8)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 4:45pm on Oct. 11, 2005 Tuesday Open Thread
By Leon H Wolf
Just a reminder that the posting rules still apply in the Open Thread - specifically, this provision:
Banning for ideological reasons will take place only in the cases of fundamentally anti-American ideologies.
In other words, bemoaning the fate of the Yankees is not welcome here, or anywhere else at RedState.
:-)
Posted in Miscellanea — Comments (34)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 11:05am on Oct. 10, 2005 Monday Open Thread
By Leon H Wolf
You know what I always say: if c17wife says we need more open thread, we need more open thread.
Posted in Miscellanea — Comments (58)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 1:13pm on Oct. 9, 2005 Sunday Open Thread
By Leon H Wolf
This is your one and only chance for open thread. On Sunday. This Sunday, at least.
Posted in Miscellanea — Comments (69)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 2:48pm on Oct. 8, 2005 Let's <i>Not</i> Wait Until the Hearings
By Leon H Wolf
Judges are not politicians who can promise to do certain things in exchange for votes.
-Justice John Roberts
Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings, Day One
Those of us who oppose the nomination of Harriet Miers are continually told to "wait until the hearings" to make our final decision. There are several reasons why, for this nominee, that tactic may not be a viable one.
Chief among these reasons is the fact that it takes a certain kind of individual in a certain kind of circumstance to get away with making a statement like John Roberts did in a room full of egos as large as the ones on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Harriet Miers, whatever her positive qualities may be, is not that kind of person. And for that reason, there is only one path for her out of the committee hearings, and that path is one of defeat for the conservative base.
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Posted in The Courts — Comments (127)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 2:41am on Oct. 8, 2005 On Judicial Philosophies and "Legislating from the Bench"
By Leon H Wolf
Here we are, almost a whole week after the announcement of Harriet Miers as the President's nominee to fill the seat of Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court. A lot of things have been said and feelings have been hurt, and I've seen folks at each other's throats that I never in a million years expected to see on the opposite side of any argument.
Putting aside for a moment the unhelpful accusations of elitism and true believer syndrome, I'd like to look for just a moment at why Bush's constant assurance that Miers will not legislate from the bench is accurate in distinguishing, say, a Scalia from a Stevens, but not a Stevens from a Kennedy.
Jurisprudence, like most disciplines, is not easily reduced to one-sentence platitudes - and like most other disciplines, it is also difficult to predict performance on the part of one who has never before performed.
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Posted in The Courts — Comments (41)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 6:10pm on Oct. 6, 2005 From the Elitist Horse's Mouth
By Leon H Wolf
A lot of the criticism of the critics of Harriet Miers over the last few days has basically stemmed from an assumption that it's impossible to judge from history what the current nominee will be like, absent personal knowledge. This is often expressed in terms of, "Bush has known her for over 10 years," or "Bush is in a better position to know about her than you are."
Over the last couple of days, David Frum has been compiling information from folks who have worked personally with Miers (including himself), and the picture simply isn't getting any better with a closer viewing.
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Posted in The Courts — Comments (26)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 6:36pm on Oct. 5, 2005 Trent Lott: Neither Satisfied nor Comfortable
By Leon H Wolf
Earlier today on MSNBC, Trent Lott became the first Republican in the Senate to voice open displeasure with the Harriet Miers nomination:
Lott, appearing on MSNBC-TV on Wednesday morning, told anchor Randy Meier that wants more information about Miers.
* * *
His first impression, however, was not a positive one.
"I don't just automatically salute or take a deep bow anytime a nominee is sent up," he said. "I have to find out who these people are, and right now, I'm not satisfied with what I know. I'm not comfortable with the nomination, so we'll just have to work through the process in due time."
* * *
With all that in mind, Lott said he isn't ready to take President Bush's suggestion that she has the same judicial philosophy as he does.
"I have a lot of confidence in this president. I do think he has picked some really good nominees and like all of us, we make mistakes now and then, and it's our responsibility under the constitution in the Senate to review this nominee," Lott said.
"He's not the nominee, and it's not enough to just say 'Trust me.'"
It is a strange day when I find myself on the exact same page as Trent Lott, but there you have it. As further evidence that these are strange times we are living in, Atrios has loads more evidence (including some that I also found) about how we've heard this exact. same. garbage before.
Posted in The Courts — Comments (54)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 11:36am on Oct. 5, 2005 48 Hours Later<br>Still the Wrong Nominee
By Leon H Wolf
United Press International July 8, 1981, Wednesday, AM cycle
Copyright 1981 U.P.I.
United Press International
July 8, 1981, Wednesday, AM cycle
SECTION: Washington News
BYLINE: By WESLEY G. PIPPERT
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
In Texas, television evangelist James Robison expressed his support for Mrs. [Sandra Day] O'Connor based on a conversation Tuesday with presidential counselor Edwin Meese.
A Robison aide said Meese told the evangelist:
''Sandra O'Connor thinks abortion is abhorrent and is not in favor of it. She agrees with the president on abortion. There was a time when she was sympathetic toward the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) movement, but the more she studied and found out about it, the more she changed her mind.
''She is very conservative ... Sandra O'Connor assured the president that she was in agreement with him and she totally supports pro-family issues and the Republican platform.''
Posted in The Courts — Comments (135)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 11:06pm on Oct. 4, 2005 Anybody know what the <i>Republicans</i> have been doing?
By Leon H Wolf
Okay, I admit it, I'm just as ready to throw the President overboard as anybody right now. And further, the number of Senators on my good list could be counted on my digits with several left over. But in the midst of all this disgust, we should not neglect to mention that there's a group of Republicans in the House who are working very hard for some actual Republican principles.
Regrettably, the story of their work has largely been sucked into the undertow of the Harriet Miers nomination. I'm talking, of course, about the Republican Study Committee - who are trying to fulfill the promise of fiscal conservativism in government.
UPDATE (10-05-05 09:30:00 EDT) by Leon H: Mike Pence is also firing back at Dana Milbank in a WaPo editorial today.
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