Republicans are now determined to confirm two of Bush’s most
controversial nominations to the federal judiciary; one has been an obedient
servant in carrying out this regime’s fascistic power grab, and the other
blatantly supports discrimination.
Bush’s nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit (arguably the most important court after the
Supreme Court), Brett Kavanaugh, may have little judicial experience, but he
has certainly served the Bush regime well.
He played a key role in this regime’s grab for power, working as a
lawyer for independent counsel Kenneth Starr’s investigation of President
Clinton, and to prevent a recount of the 2000 Florida ballot. As staff secretary at the White House,
Kavanaugh was likely involved or at least had knowledge of the NSA warrantless
wiretapping program and the legal justifications for torture.
Terrence Boyle, Bush’s nomination to the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the 4th Circuit, has argued that discrimination should be allowed
if it is part of a state’s “culture” and that state agencies should be exempt
from federal anti-discrimination laws.
His rulings have one of the highest reversal rates, but that doesn’t
stop him from making the same reactionary rulings over again.
All this is part of a power grab by fascists and theocrats,
where the judiciary is increasingly stacked with far-right and fundamentalist
judges who are determined to make their dangerous ideology the law of the land
and rubber-stamp every action the Bush regime takes (read Catherine Crier’s Contempt: How the Right Is Wronging American
Justice to understand the scope and scale of this power grab).
Furthermore, Republicans are working to whip up their
fundamentalist base, playing the “victim” because society is not yet a
full-blown theocracy. Whether it’s more
reactionary judges or a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, they
have lots in store before November.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party leadership only puts up the most meek
and half-hearted opposition, if any at all, preaching “common ground” with
fascists and religious fanatics. Given
their track-record on Alito, Roberts, and other far-right judicial
appointments, it’s doubtful they will even put up a fight on these two
nominees. They refuse to mobilize the
millions of people who hate what the Bush regime is doing, telling us, “don’t
worry, just wait until we take Congress in 2006”, while running anti-abortion
candidates, continuing to support the war, and making clear they will not
impeach Bush (see yesterday’s reason to drive out the Bush regime).
Stopping this regime and its grab for unchallenged power
over all branches of government will be up to us.
The World Can’t Wait! Drive Out the Bush Regime!
(Sources: Senators spar over judicial nominee, CNN News, 5/9/06;
New Report: Federal Judge Terrence Boyle Unfit for Promotion to Court of
Appeals, People For the American Way, 2/23/05)