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Political Hay
John Paul Stevens Republicans
Exactly what conservatives don’t need.
Soon Washington will be gripped by the confirmation hearings of Barack Obama’s second nominee to the Supreme Court. Some Senate Republicans are saying they will take it to the mattresses if the president nominates a hard-bitten liberal activist. But let us first take a look at the liberal activist now leaving the Court.
John Paul Stevens was nominated by a Republican president, Gerald Ford. He was confirmed with strong Republican support. In the beginning of his tenure, his rulings on divisive constitutional issues could be described as mildly right-of-center. Stevens retires the most liberal justice on the Supreme Court, leading a bloc otherwise composed of Democratic nominees.
Stevens follows in the footsteps of Earl Warren, William Brennan, and Harry Blackmun before him. David Souter came afterward. There but for the grace of Antonin Scalia went Sandra Day O’Connor and Anthony Kennedy. Some of our most liberal justices were given their seats by Republican presidents, some of whom explicitly campaigned against liberal judicial activism.
Richard Nixon ran against the liberal excesses of the Warren Court. Yet it was the man Nixon served as vice president, Dwight Eisenhower, who made the appointments that created the Warren Court in the first place. With the exception of William Rehnquist, Nixon’s nominees — even the conservative-leaning ones — largely consolidated Warren’s handiwork.
After nearly 12 years of uninterrupted Republican control of the White House and no Democratic-appointed Supreme Court justice since Lyndon Johnson was president, what did the highest court in the land do? Uphold the core holding of Roe v. Wade; reaffirm precedents kicking prayer and the Bible out of public schools; and extend those precedents to side with parents who wanted to bar a rabbi from giving the invocation at a Providence middle school.
The above decisions were closely fought 5-4 affairs, for Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush nominated conservative Supreme Court justices — and they also picked justices who sided with the liberal bloc on the very questions that most aroused the conservative movement. Bush’s Souter joined Stevens as a regular member in good standing of that liberal bloc. To find a Democratic justice who unexpectedly became a conservative, one must go all the way back to Byron “Whizzer” White under John F. Kennedy.
Even after Senate Democrats savaged Robert Bork and nearly did the same to Clarence Thomas, GOP senators continued to consult their Emily Post etiquette guides when Democratic presidents nominated liberal jurists. Only nine voted against Stephen Breyer and just three dared oppose Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the former chief litigator of the ACLU’s feminist legal project. It was no surprise when they delivered rulings favorable to affirmative action and partial-birth abortion.
It wasn’t until George W. Bush became president that conservatives got serious. When he initially picked Harriet Miers to fill a Supreme Court vacancy — and was thought to be considering Alberto Gonzales for another — conservatives cried, “No more Souters!” There was a well developed legal network of eminently qualified, identifiable judicial conservatives. Why did we need to take the risk? Bush relented, nominating proven conservatives John Roberts and Sam Alito.
Half the Democrats in the Senate voted against Roberts. Only four voted to confirm Alito. Neither man’s qualifications or character were in doubt. So when Obama became president, Republicans finally stopped practicing unilateral disarmament on Supreme Court justices. Only nine voted for Sonia Sotomayor (we’ll see if that trend holds).
The calculus here is simple: If liberals will not support qualified conservative nominees when Republicans hold the White House, conservatives should not support liberals when Democrats retake the presidency. And when the president is a Republican, conservatives should support only proven conservatives, not Souters and Stevenses. It is time to take the Court as seriously as liberals do.
But what about the presidents who nominate these justices? Should not the right want them to be proven conservatives too? Despite the conservative ascendancy within the GOP, exactly two movement conservatives have gone on to be the Republican presidential nominee: Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan. Since Reagan, movement conservatives have often been complicit in their own marginalization, supporting establishment frontrunners over right-wing insurgents.
This is how the Republican Party ends up with frontrunners who dismiss the Reagan growth agenda as “voodoo economics,” who raise taxes upon taking office, who cut more deals than spending programs, who support amnesty, cap and trade, and restrictions on political speech more than they do tax cuts. This is why when it comes time to find a presidential candidate, conservatives must choose between backbenchers and architects of Obamacare Lite.
The realization that conservatives must look within their own movement for dependable Supreme Court justices ought to apply to the elected branches of government as well. No more David Souters. And no more John Paul Stevens Republicans.
About the Author
W. James Antle, III, author of the new book Devouring Freedom: Can Big Government Ever Be Stopped?, is editor of the Daily Caller News Foundation and a senior editor of The American Spectator. You can follow him on Twitter @jimantle.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (82) | Leave a comment
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Louis Jenkins| 4.14.10 @ 8:24AM
What the heck? A troll already on the website. Perhaps there is some truth to the overall strategy. The presidents, with the exception of Reagan, have discovered the way, the truth, the light, of having a liberal court. After all, they are in the liberal cast up until recent times. Too often we have thought of our lives being interepreted by the senate, the house, and the presidency, and given little thought to the judiciary. Thank goodness president Bush II saw the light and gave us two nominees more to our liking.
ElGordo| 4.14.10 @ 8:41AM
The issue of the misuse of the "Commerce Clause" should be a focal point at the confirmation hearings.
The issue must be argued to alert the American public as to what it is, its original intent and how the leftists are using it to get around the 10th Amendment.
Wickard v. Filburn, the 1942 case, that started us down the road of big government via the misuse of the Commerce Clause, must be exposed and the ill conceived logic in its reasoning must be made into a public joke.
wankel| 4.14.10 @ 8:45AM
Somebody please put duct tape over Lindsey Graham's mouth...
donserge| 4.14.10 @ 8:45AM
People like Hatch, Graham, Snowe, and the other RINOS would not be voting to approve liberals if they were not in the Senate. In Graham's case we have to put up with him until 2014, thanks to the voters of SC.
Crusader| 4.14.10 @ 9:05AM
"Stevens Republicans?" Haha! Most authors on this site are Stevens Republicans.
Funny you mention Hatch. He's on Fox right now talking about his good buddy he likes so much Eric Holder. Republicans are such pansy, wussy, girlie men. About right that the only Rs with balls are Palin and Bachman.
Jake| 4.14.10 @ 12:45PM
WoW! Well put Crusader, "About right that the only Rs with balls are Palin and Bachman. " That being said where are the MEN who can turn this RINO charge!?
victor| 4.14.10 @ 6:47PM
Sessions and Kyl on the Judiciary and DeMint, Inhofe and Thune come to mind right off.
That's in the Senate.
Cantor, Ryan, Gohmert, Boehner, Pence, Blackburn and Garrett in the House.
There are enough conservatives to muscle the weak links into line.
Smitty| 4.16.10 @ 4:25PM
KYL? Balls? Many of us R's in AZ don't view Kyl much different from McCain. He may try to talk a good game but his actions (pro-amnesty, etc) speak louder.
S.L. Toddard| 4.14.10 @ 9:08AM
This is why the Principles of '98 are so important. When the federal gov't (in the form of the supreme court) itself is the final judge of whether the federal government has violated the Constitution, the rather predictable end result is perpetual government growth and the irrelevance of the Constitution itself.
S.L. Toddard| 4.14.10 @ 9:11AM
As the distinguished historian Clyde N. Wilson writes, "The awful Obama is pushing terrible things on our country like socialised medicine, big spending, corporate bailouts, affirmative action, and amnesty for illegal aliens. He must be defeated so the Republicans can get in and push socialised medicine, big spending, corporate bailouts, affirmative action, and amnesty for illegal aliens.
Obama is conducting two endless and pointless wars in Asia. He must be stopped so that the Republicans can get in and start another endless and pointless war in Asia.
Obama is making terrible appointments to the Supreme Court. He must be defeated so the Republicans can get in and appoint great conservative jurists like Earl Warren, William J. Brennan, Warren Burger, Harry Blackmun, John Paul Stevens, David Souter, and Sandra Day O’Connor.
The Democratic leadership is protecting crooks and perverts in Congress. The Republicans must get a majority so they can protect their crooks and perverts.
The Republican Party has completely failed as an opposition party. It is their turn to get in power so they can be the majority and the Democrats can be a real opposition party.
Obama is too liberal. We must replace him with a conservative Republican like Mitt Romney, Michael Bloomberg, John McCain, Jeb Bush, or Newt Gingrich."
http://www.chroniclesmagazine......n-the-gop/
Nick| 4.14.10 @ 11:52AM
Toddard,
"Compare" and "contrast" are still synonyms.
Dai Alanye | 4.14.10 @ 1:19PM
Could be wrong, but I'm thinking Toddard is one of these "cup half empty" guys.
Yet how much good does extreme pessimism do us? There needs to be some hope of success to bring out the voters. If they become convinced all is lost they'll conserve their energy and stay home.
Kenneth E. MacAlister Jr.| 4.14.10 @ 2:49PM
I don't always agree with SLT, but he is on the mark here. The GOP has been a HUGE failure at being an opposition party in recent history. The fact that Ginsberg sailed through her confirmation hearing without so much as a whimper out of the GOP illustrates SLT's point perfectly. When the GOP became the majority party in '94 did they govern opposite the way Democrats did? Hell no, they spent just as much, if not more. I'm tired of linguine-spined RINOs like Graham, Snowe, Collins, Hatch, & former RINOs like Specter calling the shots when the GOP is the majority party. Until the GOP rediscovers real conservatism instead of RINOism they will be no different than Democrats. The only difference is Democrats DO have a spine & don't give a damn what their opponents think of them.
UpChuck.Liberals| 4.14.10 @ 11:03PM
You could have stopped at the second sentence. What we have here is failure by the Republicans to have any standards except suck up to get more control. The only difference between the two parties is the first letter of their names.
Roy| 4.15.10 @ 1:08AM
..except, every "RINO" voted against Obamacare and every Democrat voted for it.
And Republicans spent as much as Democrats except that when Democrats got into office they instantly handed a trillion dollars to the government employee unions and called it a "stimulus". They then turned around and passed a government takeover of healthcare and are merrily on their way to passing a 20% VAT to fund it all if they don't pass a government takeover of the energy market first. You can buy lots of porky bridges for that.
If this meme that the two parties are the same ever had any value it certainly no longer does.
victor| 4.14.10 @ 7:04PM
Clyde N Wilson?:
"We must replace him with a conservative Republican like Mitt Romney, Michael Bloomberg, John McCain, Jeb Bush"
This from a pauleo-con? Yer kidd'n me, right?
April Fool's day is over, but when you're SLT, it seems to be every day.
Seems to me that we have an opposition party in the form of Boehner, Cantor and Ryan in the House and Inhofe, DeMint and sessions in the Senate. Thet put up a united front against health deform and they are helping and organizing the Tea Party People.
They are also weeding out the rinos and fellow travelers out of the Republican Party.
David Homer| 4.15.10 @ 2:46AM
Right on SLT, I read about Ryan's version of Obamacare lite. If that's an example of the opposition then I will give up all hope. Our nation is circling the drain. Perhaps we should hope that we can find enough good people to rebuild after the socialist destruction. Prevention seems like a dream more than reality.
Joe Heathen| 4.16.10 @ 8:59PM
Who is Clyde N. Wilson and what are his qualifications to be, as you call it, "distinguished"? How about facilitating your comment by presenting his CV.
P.Smith| 4.14.10 @ 10:06AM
It interesting that John Paul Stevens is referred to by all three of his names. Many times when you see this in the media, the person is a serial killer, or a murderer of some type.... This is probably appropriate for Stevens.
victor| 4.14.10 @ 6:54PM
You mean like:
"Barack Hussein Obama"?
"Ruth Bader Ginsburg"?
"Hillary Rodham Clinton"?
"James Earl Carter"?
I wonder about these three-names as well, don't you?
Ken (Old Texican)| 4.14.10 @ 10:37AM
P. smith,
If you have been around a while, you will have noted me teasing the AMspec authors using their three names or their IIIs.
It is some sort of eastern establishment pedigree "badge" to the best of my understanding.
...Sorta' like a "badge" that allows one to ride up front while fox hunting horseback in those eastern States.
(Heh, Episcopal ministers always sign with three names as well if you care to notice.)
Margie| 4.14.10 @ 2:12PM
Ken,
Here is the One to whom I will look having three names, His is "Holy, Holy, Holy, the Lord God Almighty."
phil| 4.14.10 @ 3:47PM
Ken: FYI: Stevens is from the mid-west, Chicago.
Bob Miller| 4.14.10 @ 2:03PM
From now on, are you Ken Texican or K.O. Texican?
Margie| 4.14.10 @ 2:07PM
A call to Patriots,
Contrary to the "popular" beliefs of the Toddard's amongst us, the truth is that the Republican party is the last best hope for America right now. If we do not restore the party (by voting for conservatives) back to its roots, we will get another reign of the Obama dictatorship. While the liars and obfuscators amongst us preach that we ought to avoid voting Republican, and even vote Third party, they are in their fantasy world of no return and do not not wish us well!
There are plenty of excellent conservatives, unlike the ones mentioned above, to focus on. Paul Ryan, Jim DeMint, Jeff Sessions, John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Louie Gohmert, Michelle Bachman, Marsha Blackburn, Scott Garrett, Marco Rubio, and many, many more!
They are Republicans~watch out!
Conservatives are winning and the doom and gloomers will keep on keepin' on.
Patriots watch this~
"The Blood of Patriots and Tyrants: The Tea Party's Founders"
http://www.pjtv.com/v/3353
David| 4.14.10 @ 2:18PM
I would like to refer everyone to an excellent article by Jeffrey Lord in yesterday's National Review online. He argues that because of healthcare, Republicans can make a solid case to the voters that lame duck democratic senators who have announced retirement (3) and 4 or 5 others who are likely to lose their re-election bids, should not be allowed to vote on a supreme court nominee who will serve for decades. He says the interpretation of the Commerce Clause as it relates to the individual mandate in the healthcare bill is a big, big issue and repubs should not allow 7 or 8 lame duck dems to put a nominee on the court who will find it constitutional to make individuals purchase insurance and then whatever else congress will demand from us over time.
Anyway, Jeffrey Lord, at nationalreview.com. It is lengthy but excellent. He compares the current situation to when LBJ tried to nominate Abe Fortas as chief justice when there was several lame duck dem senators and the big issue of the day was out-of-control crime.
1FreeMan| 4.14.10 @ 2:59PM
Folks, all of this talk is meaningless if people don't get out and vote in November!
Take a pledge to vote. I agree that there will be some shuffling of candidates between now and then but we, as American's who love liberty, must come together as one voice and reinstall leaders who will stand for freedom.
This third party garbage, this "I wanted to make a point so I voted libritarian" stuff, has cost us enough of our freedoms. Get behind a conservative candidate who will win or shut up and join the Democrats and expose yourself for the RINO you are.
Indy Voter| 4.14.10 @ 10:27PM
We cannot wait until November and we need to do more than vote. Primaries are key and they are starting in May. Find a candidate and volunteer, contribute what you can, make phone calls, send emails to your contacts, help good candidates get elected. I have been pounding the pavement meeting voters, discussing candidates and making sure voters know when voting begins. http://www.ncsl.org/?tabid=18629
and please do not forget state legislatures are critical since districts will be re-drawn.
Actively working on a campaign is a great way to get engaged. I'm tired of yelling at my TV or posting comments on the net, get out and be involved in your local community. I've found voters are so busy caught up in day to day activities, many were not aware that the primaries start so soon. Please join me, it's hard to give up precious family time but so much is at stake...you can also get your family engaged, it's a great way for children to learn about the process.
1FreeMan| 4.15.10 @ 2:40PM
Indy,
Thank you. I got focused on the November elections and failed to recognize the "NOW" you wrote about.
Thank you! Agree completely.
Key here is to act now and promise to act again in November! Indy ROCKS!
David| 4.14.10 @ 3:20PM
Hey folks, my above post referred you to National Review for Jeff Lord's excellent article. Mr. Dimwit here got that wrong. It was actually published in Am Spec yesterday.
Howard| 4.14.10 @ 5:14PM
The nominees for Supreme Court generally reflect the politics of the President. Hence Nixon, Ford, and GHWB nominated country club Republicans (except for Rehnquist and Clarence Thomas). Stevens was politically similar to Ford. In fact he recently praised Ford as a great man, etc. Living in D.C. for all of those years changed Stevens into a lefty. I agree that the GOP was being too courtly in approving Ginsberg and Breyer. This tit for tat doesn't work. Bork go clobbered by the Democrats, and the GOP left bygones be bygones.
Pingback| 4.14.10 @ 6:07PM
FamilyFoundationBlog.com » Blog Archive » Virginia News Stand: April 14, 2010 links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Tyler S.| 4.14.10 @ 7:15PM
As a law student, I've read more judicial opinions than I care to count. The opinions of Stevens will always have a special place in my heart, however. He's no Scalia or Brennen when it comes to prose, sure, but he was a powerful and compelling voice on the courts for many years. His impact on this nation is undeniable and lasting. I will miss him dearly.
Mel Torme| 4.14.10 @ 8:47PM
Yeah, I will miss Fidel Castro dearly too. Also, I miss Chairman Mao a lot - he will have a special place in my heart along with those of maybe 500,000,000 people in his country who were kin to the 30,000,000 people that starved due solely to the man. (Still, he wrote some damn good prose, see, that's what I'm talking about, that whole powerful and compelling thing, and he had an undeniable impact.)
We'd all have been better off if this pathetic excuse of a justice had stayed on playing bass for Led Zeppelin. He was really damn good, and they could have looked for another drummer, though none could match the great John Bonham.
Joe Heathen| 4.16.10 @ 9:34PM
Mel: Nice demonstration of the tea bagger absence of personal and intellectual integrity.
-
Rather than present a cogent refutation of Tyler's statement, you lurch off into a vacuous and vapid that is to be expected from you people.
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Has being intellectually dysfunctional hampered your productive existence as a citizen?
J.C.Eaton| 4.14.10 @ 7:47PM
Tyler, With due respect: You really need to get out more.
Mel Torme| 4.14.10 @ 8:53PM
Why give this guy respect, J.C.? He's a freakin' lawyer. Not only that, he was stupid enough to even admit it!
Mickey White| 4.14.10 @ 8:22PM
Marsha Blackburn Voted FOR:
Omnibus Appropriations, Special Education, Global AIDS Initiative, Job Training, Unemployment Benefits, Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations, Agriculture Appropriations, U.S.-Singapore Trade, U.S.-Chile Trade, Supplemental Spending for Iraq & Afghanistan, Prescription Drug Benefit, Child Nutrition Programs, Surface Transportation, Job Training and Worker Services, Agriculture Appropriations, Foreign Aid, Vocational/Technical Training, Supplemental Appropriations, UN “Reforms.” Patriot Act Reauthorization, CAFTA, Katrina Hurricane-relief Appropriations, Head Start Funding, Line-item Rescission, Oman Trade Agreement, Military Tribunals, Electronic Surveillance, Head Start Funding, COPS Funding, Funding the REAL ID Act (National ID), Foreign Intelligence Surveillance, Thought Crimes “Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act, Peru Free Trade Agreement, Economic Stimulus, Farm Bill (Veto Override), Warrantless Searches, Employee Verification Program, Body Imaging Screening.
Marsha Blackburn Voted AGAINST:
Ban on UN Contributions, eliminate Millennium Challenge Account, WTO Withdrawal, UN Dues Decrease, Defunding the NAIS, Iran Military Operations defunding Iraq Troop Withdrawal, congress authorization of Iran Military Operations.
Marsha Blackburn is my Congressman.
See her unconstitutional votes at :
http://mickeywhite.blogspot.co.....votes.html
Mickey
Margie| 4.14.10 @ 8:39PM
Funny. The American Conservative Union gives her a 100% rating.
They are trustworthy.
Let me guess. You're either a Ron paul non-interventionist or a Libertarian?
http://www.conservative.org/co.....-standouts
Roy| 4.15.10 @ 12:52AM
This is a major reason why I just could not sympathize with anybody who thought eh, why not 4 years of Obama. 4 years of Obama = 40 years of Sotomayor + 40 years of someone like her = 40 years of vivisected infants.
Whatever else Bush did wrong, his picks were great(although as the author points out Miers was a wtf? moment). 4 more years of Bush, and we'd have another Alito instead of Sotomayor and thousands of unborn infants currently in garbage dumps around the country would still be alive.
Pingback| 4.17.10 @ 11:41AM
Virginia News Stand: April 14, 2010 « Economic Play Pin Statement links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 4.17.10 @ 12:43PM
Katie Stevens – Let It Be | Simon Cowell Celebrity Monitor links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
gene hauber| 4.17.10 @ 5:47PM
i like scott garrett as much as the next guy, BUT and i'm only sayin'......we all know what he has said, but his deeds bear watching to see what he does and he needs to be interviewed by people who will throw CONSERVATIVE hardballs to determine his bonafides as a conservative.
let's not just go with the pretty face and past words....lets not be fooled...he seems WAY TOO independent to be a true believer in conservatism. lets find out.
Pingback| 5.6.10 @ 9:28PM
Whose Originalism? - Opinionator Blog - NYTimes.com links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 5.11.10 @ 12:57PM
Kagan Might Pass as a Bush Supreme Court Choice: Ann Woolner | BingSite links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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