July 18, 2005
Specter on replacing O’Connor
For a few moments, at least, I found this quite encouraging. From a Brit Hume interview with Arlen Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee:
HUME: Let me ask you about another matter. You’ve mentioned balance on the court. Justice O’Connor was viewed as a moderate, centrist justice. Do you think the president is under any obligation by this or any other nomination to preserve the existing balance on the court?
SPECTER: […] I think that’s a very weighty factor for him to consider.
The president is in his second term. Many people contributed to his election. But now I think he stands above the fray, and he stands in a position where he has to put a person on not where the president would be beholden to any group, no matter how much they contributed to his election, but something in the national interest.
And when you have these very delicate questions, it’s helpful to the country to have somebody who is a swing vote, which maintains the balance.
[…] Where you have cases like the right to die and whether you’re going to execute 17-year-olds, what you’re going to do with medical marijuana, it is important to have somebody who is not ideologically bound in one camp or the other on one extreme or the other.
Of course, Bush doesn’t give a flying fuck about such issues, but Specter’s comments can’t hurt. Plus I can dream.
Posted by Stephen at 12:00 AM in Legal issues | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
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