There's no doubt, Bush 43 appointed 2 hard core conservatives to the SCOTUS...After reading the enclosed New Yorker article, Justice Roberts is certainly no moderate...

I hope President Obama can equal the outstanding picks made by President Clinton (Ginsburg, Breyer)....


From the article:

"The kind of humility that Roberts favors reflects a view that the Court should almost always defer to the existing power relationships in society. In every major case since he became the nation’s seventeenth Chief Justice, Roberts has sided with the prosecution over the defendant, the state over the condemned, the executive branch over the legislative, and the corporate defendant over the individual plaintiff. Even more than Scalia, who has embodied judicial conservatism during a generation of service on the Supreme Court, Roberts has served the interests, and reflected the values, of the contemporary Republican Party".

Yea I am sure Obamessiah will pick  a lady with empathy

-- Modified on 5/19/2009 10:46:50 AM

That had nothing  to do with  empathy but it was  a stupid pick of a woman who was unqualified .

-- Modified on 5/19/2009 11:39:33 AM

this is the whole statement, not the edited version so many focus on regarding the word "empathy."


Quotes from Obama on Supreme Court nominees
By The Associated Press, The Associated Press

1:57 p.m. May 1, 2009

A look at what President Barack Obama has said about potential nominees to the Supreme Court:

–––

During Friday's White House press briefing:

– "Now, the process of selecting someone to replace Justice (David) Souter is among my most serious responsibilities as president, so I will seek somebody with a sharp and independent mind and a record of excellence and integrity. I will seek someone who understands that justice isn't about some abstract legal theory or footnote in a casebook; it is also about how our laws affect the daily realities of people's lives, whether they can make a living and care for their families, whether they feel safe in their homes and welcome in their own nation. I view that quality of empathy, of understanding and identifying with people's hopes and struggles, as an essential ingredient for arriving at just decisions and outcomes. I will seek somebody who is dedicated to the rule of law, who honors our constitutional traditions, who respects the integrity of the judicial process and the appropriate limits of the judicial role. I will seek somebody who shares my respect for constitutional values on which this nation was founded and who brings a thoughtful understanding of how to apply them in our time."

I know, I know! Orin Hatch thinks empathy is a code word for activist judge. But, he is purely speculating, given the whole context of Obama's statement. For the Republicans this is an ongoing fight about abortion. And, a deciding factor in GW Bush getting elected was the religious right feeling so strongly about having Supreme Court justices that would over turn Roe V Wade.

Justice is supposed  to be blind .

The only competent pick General Powell couldn't stand so left after 4 years.

Long list to post, just say the entire fucking cabinet was filled with retreads and incompetents.

Good Riddance.

This thread  is talking about Supreme Court Justice nominees and picking Roberts and Alito was the best and some can argue one of the few decisions that Bush made that was conservative.