Monday, July 04, 2005
Don't Believe the Hype
With the vacancy of Justice O'Connor on Friday, there has been a great deal of heated rhetoric regarding who the President should choose. You hear a great deal from Republicans that this is his choice and not the Senate's. In fact, you will hear from many Republicans, even many in the Senate, who think that the Senate should do nothing other than provide an "up or down" vote on the nominee.
The media, like many partisans on both sides, seems to have no institutional memory when it comes to the role played by the Senate in this process. The media have their own archives, along with the great resource provided by Lexis-Nexis, to go back and look at what happened the last time the Court had a vacancy on in in 1994, months before the famous "Republican Revolution" which gave the Republicans control of both chambers of Congress.
I went back and read a transcript from a CNN interview featuring Judy Woodruff as the interviewer and Senator Howard Metzenbaum, a leading liberal Democrat from Ohio (seems like a million years ago that Ohio could be regarded as featuring a leading liberal of anything) and Senator Orrin Hatch, Republican from Utah.
For those who are honest, they will tell you that Stephen Breyer, picked to fill the vacancy left by Harry Blackmun, was not Bill Clinton's first choice to fill that seat. Clinton initially wanted to place Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt but received a strong rebuke from then minority ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Hatch. President Clinton worked with the minority in the Senate in picking Breyer to fill the vacancy. Here is the exchange with Judy Woodruff:
WOODRUFF: Senator Hatch, you had let it be known that you had problems with at least one of the other individuals the president was considering, Secretary Bruce Babbitt, the secretary of the interior. What about Judge Breyer? Is this someone who can be confirmed without difficult?
Sen. HATCH: Everybody on the Judiciary Committee knows Judge Breyer well. He was our counsel a number of years ago before we put him on the first circuit court of appeals. He's a fine man. He's very honest. He's compassionate. He's got a big heart. And frankly, an excellent legal scholar and I think he'll make a wonderful addition to the Supreme Court. And to the president, I want to compliment him because he has literally really anguished over these positions because he understands the process. He taught Constitutional law and knows how important it is and he deserves a great deal of credit for the way he has approached this.
To further bolster just how much advice Clinton received from the minority Republicans, see if you can divine were Metzenbaum and other Democrats sit on this choice:
WOODRUFF: Senator Metzenbaum, what sort of justice would Judge Breyer be?
Sen. METZENBAUM: I'm not sure. I have some concerns. I don't share all of that enthusiasm that my colleague, Orrin Hatch, has for Judge Breyer. I know him. He did serve with the Judiciary Committee some years ago. I think he'll be confirmed, but some of his writings having to do with small business and the need to protect small business or his failure to see the need to protect small business; some of his writings in the area of antitrust give me some cause for concern. I think there will be a number of questions asked of him, but my opinion is, the bottom line, that the Republican support of Orrin Hatch and probably overwhelming number of Democrats, I have no doubt that he'll be confirmed.
WOODRUFF: When you say- let me ask you, Senator Metzenbaum, what do you mean? What specifically is it about his judicial philosophy that concerns you?
Sen. METZENBAUM: Well, I think you'd have to say his judicial philosophy is moderate to conservative. I think you'd have to say that he's been more concerned about the position of big business and less concerned about competitive factors. I think he- that would mean that he'd be more concerned about the larger corporations and less concerned about the opportunities of smaller businesses to be able to make it in our economic system.
Where are the stories about Breyer and the advise and consent that Clinton sought upon his nomination and confirmation? And this was with a Democratically-controlled Senate. Same situation today, and members of the Senate are appalled that the minority Democrats are asking for anything. And doing it while outwardly lying about a recent confirmation process involving Ruth Bader Ginsberg, all without a peep from the press.
It is in the record, folks. All you have to do is look for it.
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The media, like many partisans on both sides, seems to have no institutional memory when it comes to the role played by the Senate in this process. The media have their own archives, along with the great resource provided by Lexis-Nexis, to go back and look at what happened the last time the Court had a vacancy on in in 1994, months before the famous "Republican Revolution" which gave the Republicans control of both chambers of Congress.
I went back and read a transcript from a CNN interview featuring Judy Woodruff as the interviewer and Senator Howard Metzenbaum, a leading liberal Democrat from Ohio (seems like a million years ago that Ohio could be regarded as featuring a leading liberal of anything) and Senator Orrin Hatch, Republican from Utah.
For those who are honest, they will tell you that Stephen Breyer, picked to fill the vacancy left by Harry Blackmun, was not Bill Clinton's first choice to fill that seat. Clinton initially wanted to place Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt but received a strong rebuke from then minority ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Hatch. President Clinton worked with the minority in the Senate in picking Breyer to fill the vacancy. Here is the exchange with Judy Woodruff:
WOODRUFF: Senator Hatch, you had let it be known that you had problems with at least one of the other individuals the president was considering, Secretary Bruce Babbitt, the secretary of the interior. What about Judge Breyer? Is this someone who can be confirmed without difficult?
Sen. HATCH: Everybody on the Judiciary Committee knows Judge Breyer well. He was our counsel a number of years ago before we put him on the first circuit court of appeals. He's a fine man. He's very honest. He's compassionate. He's got a big heart. And frankly, an excellent legal scholar and I think he'll make a wonderful addition to the Supreme Court. And to the president, I want to compliment him because he has literally really anguished over these positions because he understands the process. He taught Constitutional law and knows how important it is and he deserves a great deal of credit for the way he has approached this.
To further bolster just how much advice Clinton received from the minority Republicans, see if you can divine were Metzenbaum and other Democrats sit on this choice:
WOODRUFF: Senator Metzenbaum, what sort of justice would Judge Breyer be?
Sen. METZENBAUM: I'm not sure. I have some concerns. I don't share all of that enthusiasm that my colleague, Orrin Hatch, has for Judge Breyer. I know him. He did serve with the Judiciary Committee some years ago. I think he'll be confirmed, but some of his writings having to do with small business and the need to protect small business or his failure to see the need to protect small business; some of his writings in the area of antitrust give me some cause for concern. I think there will be a number of questions asked of him, but my opinion is, the bottom line, that the Republican support of Orrin Hatch and probably overwhelming number of Democrats, I have no doubt that he'll be confirmed.
WOODRUFF: When you say- let me ask you, Senator Metzenbaum, what do you mean? What specifically is it about his judicial philosophy that concerns you?
Sen. METZENBAUM: Well, I think you'd have to say his judicial philosophy is moderate to conservative. I think you'd have to say that he's been more concerned about the position of big business and less concerned about competitive factors. I think he- that would mean that he'd be more concerned about the larger corporations and less concerned about the opportunities of smaller businesses to be able to make it in our economic system.
Where are the stories about Breyer and the advise and consent that Clinton sought upon his nomination and confirmation? And this was with a Democratically-controlled Senate. Same situation today, and members of the Senate are appalled that the minority Democrats are asking for anything. And doing it while outwardly lying about a recent confirmation process involving Ruth Bader Ginsberg, all without a peep from the press.
It is in the record, folks. All you have to do is look for it.
