The American Spectator

Print Email

Text Size

The Spectacle Blog

Dan Flynn has a terrific piece on Republican complicity in judicial activism, right down to the GOP role in the California gay marriage ruling. He doesn't even mention the names Earl Warren, William Brennan, or Harry Blackmun. He doesn't have to: "The cases conservatives cite to demonstrate the arrogance of jurists legislating from the bench are in almost all instances the product of Republican jurisprudence"

Of course, solving the problem is more difficult than diagnosing it since, as Flynn writes, "voting for Barack Obama to teach Republicans a lesson about getting tough on judicial activism is to cut off your nose to spite your face." Republicans appoint many liberal judges but also almost all the conservative judges, with the notable exception of Byron White. But there are now so many experienced members of conservative legal networks there really is no excuse for anymore David Souters. Conservatives should learn from the Harriet Miers debacle and only support nominees with a clear track record, even if they are nominated by President Bush or President McCain.

topics:
Barack Obama