Musings on Roberts, Bolton, and memorial services
Nomination of John Roberts
As I said in And the nominee to the Supreme Court is..., I was wrong about who would get the nomination. I thought it would Priscilla Owen, with Alberto Gonzales as my second choice. I am truly happy that neither of them got the appointment.
Still, the choice of Roberts caught me by surprise--because it was a sensible choice, and I honestly did not think Bush was capable of anything sensible. Roberts has plenty of real, practical experience with the Supreme Court, he is liked and respected by conservatives and liberals in Congress, and he has solid conservative Republican credentials. In other words, Bush chose someone who would satisfy his winger base and could get through the confirmation process relatively easily. The Democrats are going to have a hard time going after Roberts.
I have concerns about Roberts being on the Supreme Court, but he is so much a better choice than Owen or Gonzales.
Perhaps the truly insane choice is yet to come, so I pray for the health of Rehnquist (and, by the way, I fully supported Rehnquist's nomination as Chief Justice).
Recess appointment of Bolton
With this bullshit move, the Bush administration went back to its SOP of doing stupid, arrogant things. Monday morning at 9:00 a.m. I was listening to Carl Kassell deliver the news on NPR. He started by saying that there was a strong possibility that Bush would make a recess appointment of John Bolton as U.N. Ambassador, and then two minutes later he said, "This just in..President Bush has appointed John Bolton as U.N. Ambassador."
Beside the fact that Bolton is a completely boneheaded choice, this move shows the true colors of the Bush administration. I will address in detail is a subsequent post, but for now I will sum it up by citing Sen. Joe Biden's comment last night on "The Daily Show" when he called the appointment "an abuse of power."
Bush plans to go to a memorial service
In case you did not know, four Boy Scout leaders were killed in an accident at the recent Scout Jamboree. A memorial service was scheduled for Wednesday last week, and it was announced that Bush would attend. Due to weather problems, Bush did not appear at the Jamboree until this past Sunday. Let me make some things clear. First, the Boy Scout leaders deserved a memorial service. Second, I have no problem with Bush attending such a memorial service. Third, I have no problem with Bush cancelling that appearance because of bad weather. In fact, the cancellation of events was the Boy Scouts' idea.
What I have a problem with is the fact that Bush will decide to go to a memorial service for Boy Scout leaders, but he STILL has not and will not go to even one memorial service for those who lost their lives in the Iraq war that he ordered.
Still, the choice of Roberts caught me by surprise--because it was a sensible choice, and I honestly did not think Bush was capable of anything sensible. Roberts has plenty of real, practical experience with the Supreme Court, he is liked and respected by conservatives and liberals in Congress, and he has solid conservative Republican credentials. In other words, Bush chose someone who would satisfy his winger base and could get through the confirmation process relatively easily. The Democrats are going to have a hard time going after Roberts.
I have concerns about Roberts being on the Supreme Court, but he is so much a better choice than Owen or Gonzales.
Perhaps the truly insane choice is yet to come, so I pray for the health of Rehnquist (and, by the way, I fully supported Rehnquist's nomination as Chief Justice).
Recess appointment of Bolton
With this bullshit move, the Bush administration went back to its SOP of doing stupid, arrogant things. Monday morning at 9:00 a.m. I was listening to Carl Kassell deliver the news on NPR. He started by saying that there was a strong possibility that Bush would make a recess appointment of John Bolton as U.N. Ambassador, and then two minutes later he said, "This just in..President Bush has appointed John Bolton as U.N. Ambassador."
Beside the fact that Bolton is a completely boneheaded choice, this move shows the true colors of the Bush administration. I will address in detail is a subsequent post, but for now I will sum it up by citing Sen. Joe Biden's comment last night on "The Daily Show" when he called the appointment "an abuse of power."
Bush plans to go to a memorial service
In case you did not know, four Boy Scout leaders were killed in an accident at the recent Scout Jamboree. A memorial service was scheduled for Wednesday last week, and it was announced that Bush would attend. Due to weather problems, Bush did not appear at the Jamboree until this past Sunday. Let me make some things clear. First, the Boy Scout leaders deserved a memorial service. Second, I have no problem with Bush attending such a memorial service. Third, I have no problem with Bush cancelling that appearance because of bad weather. In fact, the cancellation of events was the Boy Scouts' idea.
What I have a problem with is the fact that Bush will decide to go to a memorial service for Boy Scout leaders, but he STILL has not and will not go to even one memorial service for those who lost their lives in the Iraq war that he ordered.
posted by WCharles @ 8/03/2005 10:34:00 PM
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