Redstate

I suspect that being between Sen. Schumer and an emergency exit is never... wise.

By Moe Lane Posted in Congress — Comments (2) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

June 13, 2003. From a letter by Senator Schumer "advising" President Bush on Supreme Court nominees.

While there are scores of Democrats whom I would hope you would consider, I am offering only individuals who either are Republicans or have previously been nominated by Republican Presidents. The candidates I would advise you to consider are:

[snip]

The Honorable Michael Mukasey, Judge, Southern District of New York, nominated by President Ronald Reagan.

[snip]

All of these individuals appear to be legally excellent, ideologically moderate, and several of them would add diversity to the Court. All of them have a history of bipartisan support, are within the mainstream, and have demonstrated a commitment to the rule of law. While I would need to do additional research on them and question them personally before announcing my unqualified support, my initial review of their records is promising.

Read on.

Meet The Press transcript, 03/18/2007:

And, Tim, if they--if Attorney General Gonzales steps down, the White House has a real chance to clear the air, to restore faith that the rule of law will come first and politics second in the Justice Department, not the other way around, if they nominate somebody who, by their reputation and career, shows that they put rule of law first, a person like a Michael Mukasey, a person like a Larry Thompson, a person like a Jim Comey. These are conservative Republicans, but they put the rule of law first. And I hope that's what the White House will do. (bolding mine)

(First two quotes via Wikipedia. Hey, you get primary source references where you can.)

Last weekend, upon hearing that President Bush is actually going to nominate Mr. Mukasey:

"For sure we'd want to ascertain his approach on such important and sensitive issues as wiretapping and the appointment of US attorneys, but he's a lot better than some of the other names mentioned and he has the potential to become a consensus nominee," (again, bolding mine)

(Via Captain's Quarters)

So, Chuck. Can I call you Chuck? Well, I'm going to, anyway - you're a Senator, not an earl or count - anyway, Chuck: can you tell me which one of these three times was the time that you were talking out of your anal sphincter? Because I've been paying serious attention to politics for something like half a decade now, and this is impressively shameless even by Democratic Party leadership's standards. I'm almost sorry that you won't be getting an award for this; the situation seems to call for a small plaque, or something.

Look, Chuck - all right, Senator Chuck. Happy? Look, Senator Chuck, you had two good options here, and you took neither of them. The first was to smile when the fox gnaws. President Bush called your bluff, as he is wont to do at the most inconvenient times for your Party, and it does seem highly unreasonable to offer hiring advice and then backtrack when it looks like people are going to take it. You'd think that this would have sunk in after the Trent Lott Affair*, but apparently not. Pity.

Your other option? Well, you could have brazened it out - no, right now you're just weaseling. Brazening it out would involve a wink to the camera and a smile as you said something to the effect of "Shoot, George, that was just politics. I didn't think that you were going to actually take me seriously." You'd have gotten some negative press out of it - but why would you have cared? You're never going to be President, and like most Senators (Representatives, too) you're probably going to have your job until you feel like retiring. You'd have been the toast of your Party's base, too: they don't really care about why or how people go after the Bush administration, just so long as they do, preferably in as loud, crass, and obsessive a manner as possible. Alas - for you - you decided on being betwixt and between. Which is, by the way, one major reason why you'll never be President. No... solidity to you.

Tamanend would weep to see how low his acolytes have fallen in these times.

Moe

*Pardon my little joke; if we had better-educated journalists that would have been a headline somewhere. Shoot, for all I know it was**.

**Oh, what did I mean? Only that the single most humorous thing about Lott's fall from power was the collective look on the Left's faces when they hit the metaphorical door of the Right's resistance to removing the Senator - only to find that we not only were not bracing the door, but had instead left it slightly ajar. Pleased surprise rapidly replaced with a sudden appreciation of their lack of balance, a belated reassessment of the actual long-term consequences of their action, and a glum realization that the concrete floor was rushing upwards to meet them at high speed.

And I think that metaphor's been tortured enough for one day.