Now, someone please explain to me why Dubya and his neoconservative brethren on the Hill are pissing and moaning about not getting their way due to “obstructionist Democrats?” When yet again, another one of their loyal ultra-conservative judges, Thomas Griffith, have been granted a lifetime appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
Let’s start with this hilarious article from the Washington Post about so called “Obstructionist Democrats” first…
President Bush poured out his most politically confrontational rhetoric since his reelection to a huge gathering of Republican donors last night, asserting that Democrats “stand for nothing but obstruction” on Social Security and other issues on his agenda.
[…]
“This is not leadership,” he scolded, speaking in a vast hall at the Washington Convention Center that was bathed in blue light. “It is the philosophy of the stop sign, the agenda of the roadblock, and our country and our children deserve better.”
Republican congressional aides said that by framing Democrats as obstructionist, he is beginning to insulate himself against possible defeat on Social Security. Administration officials said he is as determined as ever.
Bush, referring repeatedly to Democrats as “the other party,” was addressing a crowd of 5,500 at a “President’s Dinner” that raised $23 million for the two Republican congressional campaign committees. It was one of the few audiences in which he could count on drawing hearty applause, and even a few whoops, for his plan to curb future Social Security benefit increases for middle- and upper-income Americans, while allowing workers to divert a portion of their salaries into personal accounts. Lower-income workers would receive benefits now scheduled.
[…]
Polls have shown that more people now believe Social Security has a long-term solvency problem, but a five-month drumbeat by the White House has not moved public opinion toward his solution.
[…]
Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, was the object of several one-liners by congressional leaders. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (Tenn.) — referring to Dean, a fellow physician, as “Dr. No” — said he had hoped the opposition’s chairman would be at the dinner. “But, sadly, he couldn’t make it,” Frist said. “He’s too busy helping us expand our Republican majority.”
The House chairman for the dinner, Rep. Jack Kingston (Ga.), noted Dean’s assertion that the GOP is made up largely of white Christians and said that if that is the case, the evening had been “one heck of an altar call.”
The premise of Dubya’s scolding is laughable because last time I checked the Democrats have been shamelessly capitulating to the congressional Republicans’ nearly every whim with so called “compromises,” and abandoning their party platform of promoting civil rights and women’s reproductive rights. Which subsequently will cost them their voting base and they’ll keep losing elections. Dr. Dean is the only Democrat around that seems to still “have a pair” and of course the congressional Democrats try to distance themselves from Dean, because they don’t want the Republicans to think that they actually have a spine, and might stand their ground against them. And my original question still remains: how the hell could Dubya and the Republicans bitch about not having their way all the time when another one of their ideological devotees was confirmed?
Republican Leaders Add Ethically-Challenged Lawyer to Second Highest Court
Title IX opponent Thomas Griffith was given a lifetime appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, in a 73 to 24 vote today, adding to the second highest court in the country another unqualified, right-wing jurist whose past record includes contempt for the law and opposition to civil rights, women’s rights and separation of church and state.
Senate Republicans repeatedly blocked Bill Clinton’s nominees to the D.C. Circuit, claiming that there were already enough judges in that circuit and that no more were needed, but now their fraud has been exposed as mere partisan politics: they have added two more extremist judges to that court in only one week. The Republicans clearly understand that this court is the training ground for the next Supreme Court nominees and had to ensure that the openings were theirs to fill.
“By lying about their motives, they get to have it both ways. They used ‘low caseload’ as an excuse to reject Clinton’s nominees to two open seats on this court, but now are happy to confirm unnecessary judges for those same seats as long as they’re Republicans who will change the balance of the court,” NOW President Kim Gandy said. “Lying has become a pattern in this administration, and the Republicans have now confirmed a judge whose own lies should have disqualified him.”
[…]
Griffith has a record of hostility towards Title IX, the law guaranteeing equal educational opportunities for women and girls. When Griffith served on the administration’s Commission on Opportunity in Athletics in 2003, he was clear in his opposition to equal opportunities for women in school athletics. Not only did he join a number of the stacked commission’s recommendations to erode Title IX protections, but he actually proposed a change which was so extreme that even the anti-Title IX majority on the commission overwhelmingly rejected it.
[…]
“The Bush administration got its wish for an anti-equality judge and now has a strong advocate in the courts as they try to dismantle Title IX,” Gandy said.
Not only has Griffith never had a position as a lower court judge, he repeatedly showed a lack of respect for his profession by practicing law without a license for several years. While at a law firm in the District of Columbia, Griffith allowed his license to expire … in two different states … yet continued to practice in D.C. for over a year. He also lied about the lapse in his license to Senator Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., claiming that the expiration notification had been sent to his former law firm when in fact the expiration had happened long before he even joined that firm.
Furthermore, Griffith lied under oath about his standing as a lawyer. On the application for the Utah Bar … a test he never took … Griffith stated that he had never been suspended as an attorney when in reality he had been suspended twice from the District of Columbia Bar.
“The so-called ‘values party’ decided that Griffith’s ‘ethical lapses’ were less important than his extremist judicial philosophy and willingness to ignore established precedent,” Gandy said.
“Griffith’s disregard of fundamental professional ethical requirements, as well as his disrespect for the rule of law renders him unqualified to be a Court of Appeals judge,” Gandy said. “It is outrageous that the Senators elected to represent the people of the United States are so willing to forfeit our hard-fought rights for political gain.”
How are the Republicans and Dubya not getting their way and it’s all the fault of the “Obstructionist Democrats” in Congress? Puh-leeze. Maybe the Democrats are obstructionist at first but then they roll over like well-trained dogs on command.
