May 10, 2010

All New SCOTUS Fun!

Old and busted: Obama's Katrina.

New hotness: Obama's Harriet Miers!

Now that President Obama has announced his choice to succeed Justice Stevens, we can look forward to a thoughtful and informed confirmation process, in which the nominee's views on Constitutional issues can be probed...

The president wanted a highly credentialed non-judge who would serve for a long time and wouldn’t cost too much political capital. He got a 50-year-old solicitor general and former dean of Harvard Law School – the first female in each post – whose record the Senate (and media, and activists) already examined in a confirmation process that put her into her current post. That her appointment would put three women on the high court for the first time also doesn’t hurt. So this ought to be a breeze...

JUST kidding:
Far-Right Group AFA Demands To Know Kagan’s Sexuality, Since ‘No Lesbian Is Qualified’ To Sit On SCOTUS

RNC uses Thurgood Marshall speech to attack Supreme Court nominee Kagan

The tendency of Republicans to view electoral setbacks as being the result of insufficient ideological fidelity, whereas Democrats view defeats as the result of being insufficiently appealing. The result is that when Republicans lose, they double down on the crazy, whereas Democrats decide that they need to punch their hippie friends harder. But, Democrats punch the hippies when they're winning, too, so maybe it's just part of the modern Democratic party DNA?
But if we can get past all that, and get through the static of both sides being complete buttheads... I hope that she's asked about her opinion on the Commerce Clause, the Necessary and Proper Clause, and the General Welfare Clause, to name but three provisions under which courts have ratified incredible assertions of federal power divorced from those the Constitution discretely enumerates. If Elena Kagan refuses to answer such queries substantively – employing the usual dodge that she may be called upon to interpret these clauses as justice – we can rightfully hold that response against her, as she herself counseled in a law review article 15 years ago.

And if you really, really want to know her opinions... here's a list based on her previous confirmation.

Otherwise, it'll just be about her lack of judgment in kicking off Army Recruiters out of Harvard because of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. When 8 of her potential peers completely disagree with her, then I think that speaks volumes to her ability. And since she wrote a letter about how stupid the whole SCOTUS nomination process is, with pre-arranged questions and answers, I hope they grill her.

PS, she looks JUST LIKE British comedian David Mitchell.

Just sayin'.

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