In today's Wall Street Journal,
the column by our friend John Fund contains this enlightening
revelation: More recently, Mr. McCain has told
conservatives he would be happy to appoint the likes of Chief
Justice John Roberts to the Supreme Court. But he indicated he
might draw the line on a Samuel Alito, because "he wore his
conservatism on his sleeve."
Wow. This supports every single thing I and so many other
critics of McCain's "Gang of 14" deal have been saying: It
indicated not an interest in fighting for conservative judges, but
a capitulation. There is absolutely no reason to believe that a
president John McCain would EVER appoint conservative judges. The
best we could expect from him -- the BEST -- would be along the
lines of O'Connor and Kennedy. And that would be all up and down
the federal courts, not just at the Supreme Court. To not be
looking for and demanding judges/justices like Alito is to shoot
the finger at every conservative in the country -- or, worse, the
political equivalent of subjecting us to waterboarding.
But what can you expect from the same senator, McCain, who said
as recently as 1999 (to the San Fran Chronicle editorial board)
that "in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support
repeal of Roe vs. Wade, which would then force X-number of women to
undergo illegal and dangerous abortions."
Seeing as how there are numerous pro-abort liberals who
nevertheless acknowledge that Roe, as constitutional law/legal
reasoning, is utter nonsense, this window into McCain's real views
shows a man with absolutely no understanding or even concern about
the Constitution.
On the other hand, I have been trying to work out a theory,
which I haven't quite been able to finish putting together in full,
that Rudy Giuliani would OPERATIONALLY be more pro-life than McCain
or even Huckabee. It's sort of the "only Nixon could go to China"
thing: With a highly partisan Democratic Senate, ony Giuliani could
appoint an originalist without the originalist AUTOMATICALLY being
blocked/filibustered on the grounds that the president obviously
was looking for an anti-Roe justice.
It is also true that Giuliani has proved to be a man of his word
on public policy: What he says he will do, he does. In that light,
it is more believable coming from him than it would be from another
pro-choicer when he says he would veto any relevant bills that try
to drop the Hyde Amendment or Mexico City language (i.e., the two
key pro-life statutory matters handled by the president and
Congress). He would actively promote parental notification, oppose
partial-birth abortion, and work particularly hard to promote
adoption.
While we are on the subject of McCain vs. Giuliani (meaning I
have gotten off subject, because originally this was just a post
alerting readers about just how godawful McCain is on the subject
of judges), it is also worth noting that Giuliani is equally as
strong on defense as McCain -- actually, stronger, considering that
Rudy doesn't want to let jihadist terrorists have access to our
domestic courts, but McCain does -- and that he is far, far better
on economics. He's both a tax cutter and a spending cutter,
succeeding at both endeavors even in liberal New York City. There,
of course, he also cut crime, fought smut, took stands against
Arafat and Castro at public events, helped break some corrupt union
influence, promoted school choice, eliminated racial quotas, and
(as prosecutor) broke the back of the mob.
McCain? He merely pounds his chest and boasts about his war
record and his moral superiority, all while blocking energy
exploration and trying to kill the American pharmaceutical
companies (he called the "the enemy") that develop so many
life-saving drugs for all of us. Plus, he joins his "beloved" (HIS
word!) Sen. Lindsey Graham to smear a Republican judicial nominee,
Jim Haynes of the Pentagon, who was given the ABA's highest rating
and who is the very model of a qualified, wise, thoughtful,
brilliant, and yes, judicious lawyer -- all
on behalf of a purely private vendetta of Graham's, the same Graham
who called opponents of illegal immigration "bigots" and who
follows McCain like a lovesick puppy.
Oh... and McCain lies about Romney's record, as well as lying
about his own.
And now we learn McCain would "draw the line" against choosing
another judge like Samuel Alito.
So why would ANY conservative ever vote for this guy?
topics:
John McCain, Economics, Abortion, Constitution, Law, Supreme Court, NATO, Conservatism, Immigration, Energy
