The effort to fill the Supreme Court seat being vacated by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has already become a fundraising magnet for both left and right that promises to rival the 2004 presidential campaign for the rate of cash flow, if not total dollars raised.
The prospect of shifting the Supreme Court to the right has fueled a quest for dollars by conservative and liberal interest groups that will halt only if President Bush does the unexpected and nominates someone acceptable to all sides.
Under the scenario of an ideological battle, participants predict the competition for cash will turn the Senate confirmation into the most expensive nomination fight in the nation’s history, certain to break $50 million and, if the nominee is especially controversial, likely to approach $100 million.
Most of the money raised would not be publicly reported. With the exception of such groups as MoveOn PAC, many organizations active in the fight are tax-exempt and have few, if any, disclosure requirements.
The nomination process will pit two lobbying and interest-group coalitions that have repeatedly gone head to head during the Bush administration over tax cuts, energy legislation, and class-action and bankruptcy measures. While the business-social-conservative coalition has repeatedly defeated the liberal-labor alliance, the outcome of a far more visible nomination fight would be highly unpredictable.
The mayhem following the Swift Vets cost only a couple hundred thousand dollars to generate, just to offer you a comparison. And when a significant portion of the right thinks that this is the key to what the ‘movement’ has been fighting for, and another portion of the left thinks that this nomination is all that keeps us from moving back to the 19th century, well, you get the idea.
I guess what annoys me most is that battle was already fought. Everyone knew what was at stake during the election, and Bush and Republicans won. We should just leave this to Bush and the people in the Senate who represent us. Sure, we all have a right to be free speech- that doesn’t mean we have anything valuable to say. I know I am not going to like every ruling this new Justice issues, but I am willing to live with the results. These pitched battles make it seem like a large part of the population isn’t willing to do so.
Bush is right:
The president appealed to special interest groups running ads and mobilizing supporters for the anticipated fight over the Supreme Court nominee to “tone down the heated rhetoric.”
Bus is going to appoint a conservative judge, and I am a little tired of the ‘no surpises’ stuff- no one has a right to knowing how the next justice is going to rule ahead of time. It appears that is what many of the activists on the right and the left want, and that means they do not want a judge as the next Supreme Court Justice. They want a political operative.
Jorge
Of course all either sides wants is a political operative. This country is obsessed with abortion and that’s all this is about. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I really wonder if the rank and file Republicans know what’s in store for them if Roe is overturned? The first pretty young white girl who dies from a back alley abortion will become an albatross around the Republican party’s neck. I can see little Susie Whitebread’s picture being broadcast on CNN every 30 seconds with her family crying. Liberal advocates tugging at the heart string of every soccer mom who’s ever had a pregnancy scare.
Nikki
It appears that is what many of the activists on the right and the left want, and that means they do not want a judge as the next Supreme Court Justice. They want a political operative.
Unbelievably true!
Darrell
Nigga, please! Can you leftists for once not obsess over race injecting it into everything? “pretty young white girl” dies of abortion, “pretty young white girl” getting all the news coverage in Aruba, blah, blah..
j
Of course, you’re male. My perspective is a little different, having a uterus and all.
Darrell
A lot of baby girls have been aborted too.. but their “perspective” doesn’t seem to count
j
Speaks another without a uterus. Doesn’t impact you directly, does it?
Don
Amazing how carrying a child for 9 months is an entitlement to an opinion but 18 years of financial responsibility doesn’t.
Don
errrr doesn’t offer any right to a position.
Personally I’m pro-choice but it’s insulting to be told I don’t have a dog in this fight.
Jimmy Jazz
Darrell, name one single counterexample to the Missing White Women syndrome.
One.
Waiting.
KC
John, you’re right. As I’ve been saying, I think the Dems should let Bush have his man/woman. Grill the person during the hearings, as what’s always done, but no filibuster. Let the American people decide later if they like the direction the country turns under an activist conservative court.
Doug
100% of unaborted children die.
A lot of my sperm — white sperm, mind you– has dried up on tissues and wash cloths over the years, and their perspective didn’t count a bit. Maybe Darrell’s God thinks that’s a sin. But my God is just fine with it. Or at least indifferent. My God wound up the universe and let her rip. What we do with it is our business. Humans are no more significant to my God than ants and crusty tissues are to me. But humans are significant to me. And I’m not talking about the unborn humans or the brain dead humans. Actual, living, working humans matter to me.
And that’s why I hope Bush can appoint someone who cares about the Constitution, cares about living, already born people, and –probably most important to me– someone who is a smart lawyer. Our common law is the fertile topsoil in which our democracy is rooted. I want someone who has a deep knowledge of how the common law has evolved, how legislation interacts with that common law, and how the Enlightenment Principles of the Framers gave life to the Constitution.
I’d also like one who likes free speech and free religion but hates established religion; who likes guns but doesn’t like the idea of soldiers being quartered in citizens’ homes during times of peace. Someone who doesn’t like the idea of searches and seizures conducted without warrants; doesn’t like the idea of deprivation of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. Someone who likes speedy and public trials, access to lawyers, and jury trials but who doesn’t like excessive bail or cruel and unusual punishments. Finally, this dream nominee wouldn’t construe the enumeration of certain rights to deny or disparage other rights retained by the people and would agree that powers not delegated to the U.S. are reserved to the states or the People.
Sojourner
Funny, I didn’t hear these same words when Clinton made his nominations. I didn’t hear anyone say that Hatch should not have been allowed to participate in the decision making because Clinton won.
Why then shouldn’t the liberals expect the same consideration from Bush?
Oh, I forgot. Bush is a uniter, not a divider. Yeh, right, that’s it.
Darrell
Well J Jizz, you sure didn’t wait long, did you? Could it be that she was a pretty girl from nice family with lots of relatives making noise?… rather than your race-obsessed pretty “white” girl? Does anyone honestly think that an 18 year old Jada Pinkett Smith look-alike on a beach vacation from a middle class family wouldn’t have received as much coverage?
For that matter, when has there been overkill news coverage on missing white men, pretty or otherwise? I think it’s a matter of “pretty” and “girl” from a solid family willing to make noise. But don’t let that stop you from obsessing on the race card. It’s who you are, it’s how you people think.
Darrell
Why is it you leftist scumbags feel compelled to impose upon us all your personal details we don’t f*cking want to hear about? Sperm in tissues, huh? Nice.. and thanks for sharing that with us. Why not tell us in detail how you also eat your boogers, or how you enjoy picking your ass then throwing your feces on the wall? By all means, only a religious prude would be offended by your ‘revelations’, right?
davod
Sojourner:
It is my understanding that Bush was having discussions with the Senate (both parties) before the resigntion of O’Connor. At the end of the day it is his decision. I do not think anyone should be surprised if Bush picks a conservative nominee. Bush is a conservative. Clinton picked two liberals for the court.
Nikki
Does anyone honestly think that an 18 year old Jada Pinkett Smith look-alike on a beach vacation from a middle class family wouldn’t have received as much coverage?
And yet, there once was a very pretty black woman named Tamika Houston who went missing in Georgia about a year ago. Her relatives begged the national media to carry the story, but none would oblige. USA Today eventually told the tale in a story it published on the lack of interest in minorities who go missing.
Darrell, you are such an ass.
And I hope you are black because we minorities tend to take exception to certain folks using that “nigga” phrase.
Jimmy Jazz
Darrell: you failed.
The point about men is taken, but your failure to see that race is a blatantly obvious factor in these cases (not the only factor, class and physical attractiveness are the others) is what is embarrassing, not my pointing it out.
Nikki
Sorry, she went missing in South Carolina.
Doug
Well, if you’re concerned about perspective of a clump of cells in a woman’s uterus, I figured you’d be at least a little interested in the welfare of someone’s ejaculate.
Is there some kind of guide book that tells you which clumps of human genetic material are sacred blessings of god and which ones are too foul to be discussed in polite society?
Jimmy Jazz
Hee!
Check the Texas Republican Party Platform.
Darrell
Nikki wrote:
Tell us Nikki, why would you take exception to “certain folks” using that ‘nigga, please’ phrase, but not others.. assuming you’re not a music fan.. I want to hear more about your racist attitudes and assumptions.
Sojourner
Clinton picked two liberals for the court who had been suggested by Hatch. That’s a whole lot more than “discussions” with the Dems.
This is an opportunity for Bush to pick someone who is acceptable to both parties. Or he can do what he usually does and show his middle finger to almost half the population he supposedly represents. We’ll see what he does.
But given the way the polls are going, he could end up quite the lonely boy.
Darrell
You know, after Democrat Senators accused Bush of being a “chickenhawk”, Sr. Dem Senator from Mass. claiming that the Iraq war was nothing but a “fraud cooked up in Texas”. After Hillary and Cynthia McKinney said Bush knew about 9/11 before it happened.. after all that, Dems acting like the childish aholes that they are.. and the onus is supposed to be on Bush to mend fences? Puh-leeze
ppgaz
Uh, Doug? Might I say, unwanted information. Thanks in advance for understanding.
J, great comments. As a uterus-challenged person myself, I have always thought that the way to handle abortion was to leave the issue entirely to women for any matter that precedes viability. It’s my hunch that Pro Choice would win decisively, and consistently. Which is fine with me.
Doug
ppgaz, sorry to offend. Normally I do not discuss the welfare of my bodily fluids. But when folks get puffed up about the “perspective” of a clump of cells in a woman’s uterus, things go all topsy-turvy on me. Since I don’t know why, logically, sperm would be treated differently than a blastocyst, I can’t know whether I’m simply being polite or SILENTLY CONDONING MURDER (not to mention committing mass murder on a level that would make Stalin blush.)
albedo
From CBS News:
“Since May 1, FBI statistics indicate there were 25,389 men and 22,200 women listed as missing. Of the total of missing women since May 1, 8,681 were minorities (this includes Asian, African-American, American Indian and other minorities except Hispanics.) This compares to 13,519 white and Hispanic women. (It is not clear how many of those are Hispanic.)”
Given those statistics, and assuming, say, 2-3,000 of the non-minority missing women are Hispanic, that means there’s roughly a 50/50 chance of a missing woman being white. If there wasn’t a bias, you’d expect to have roughly equal name recognition between white and non-white missing women. First, the white women: Laci Peterson, Jennifer Wilbanks, Natalee Holloway, Lori Hacking, Chandra Levy, Elizabeth Smart, Shasta Groene, JonBenet Ramsey, and Jessica Lynch. Now, for the minorities: Ummm….
KC
Gawd. Bush is going to pick who he wants to pick. My bet’s on Gonzales, but who really knows? And, speaking as a Dem, honestly there’s simply not much the minority party can do about Bush’s choice. I realize a lot is at stake, but what power do Dem Senators actually have to stop the nominee from passing? Dragging the nominee through a tough committee hearing is one thing, but is filibustering really going to stop anything from happening? My bet is that any filibuster lasts for a week or two at most, then ends, either by Republican force or lack of Democratic will.
As for all of us lay person Dems, we can sign petitions, protest in the street, and scream like loons, but it’s not going to change a thing? The President holds the cards right now. He can choose whoever he wants regardless of what anyone, Republican or Democrat, thinks. The truth is Dems are going to have to ride this one out and see what happens. After all, the country might not like a conservative activist Supreme Court anyway. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Darrell
albedo, I’m willing to stipulate that our ‘diversity obsessed’ MSM does seem to pick racial favorites in who they select for 24/7 news coverage, MJackson excepted..well, sort of. Although in each case you mention, those were all EXTRAORDINARY circumstances. Any missing black interns who were having an affair with a congressman? No? How about any black 6 year old beauty contestant winner allegedly killed by her own parents? No again? Well then, that settles the race issue, doesn’t it?
Back to the objection I originally raised regarding the following example of the left’s obsession with race:
You see, everything is about race with the left. They’re obsessed. Because what ‘Jorge’ is clearly suggesting here is that Americans would not become outraged over not being able to have abortions until a WHITE GIRL DIES. See? Not so difficult to figure out how you kooks think
Sojourner
Yeh, Darrell, it’s called LEADERSHIP. It is the leader’s job to unite his/her followers. If you and the other Bush supporters expect us to consider Bush to be OUR president and not YOUR president, then he’d bloody well do something to unite us.
Telling us that we’re either with him or against him demonstrates just how lousy a leader he has been. His international poll numbers have been lousy for a long time, undermining his role as leader of the free world. Now his poll numbers are tanking in this country.
What do you a call a leader who has no followers?
A guy taking a walk.
ppgaz
Doug — then you won’t be supporting the Defense of Zygotes Amendment?
I’m sure it’s coming. Since, you know, the Constitution provides no recognition of rights before birth, and all.
Once zygotes are made citizens, then …. well, I guess they can apply for Faith-Based assistance, and everything.
Can we sign you up?
Sojourner
But they better not expect any help once they become babies.
Darrell
Now that is funny..
although can we have some acknowledgement that after say 2 months, we have something more than zygotes, with a beating heart, sex organs and distinguishable arms and legs? Always curious as to what extent the pro-choice crowd pushes the ‘clump of cells in a uterus’ point. 6 months still just a “clump”? 4 months? 2 months? at what point is it more than a clump of cells?
Tim F
In case you’re actually wondering and not just making noise, many draw the line at viability.
albedo
“Any missing black interns who were having an affair with a congressman? No? How about any black 6 year old beauty contestant winner allegedly killed by her own parents? No again? Well then, that settles the race issue, doesn’t it?”
Begging the question
“Because what ‘Jorge’ is clearly suggesting here is that Americans would not become outraged over not being able to have abortions until a WHITE GIRL DIES.”
And?
“See? Not so difficult to figure out how you kooks think”
You’re just totally incapable of disagreeing with someone without name-calling, huh? You jerkoff, wingnut, doodyhead, piece of crud, you.
Darrell
Well, at least you didn’t call me a ‘Susie Whitebread’
albedo
Almost forgot – you’re also a Susie Whitebread.
Ben
Darrell,
Thanks for confirming what I always suspected. BTW, you are the one who introduced “nigga” into the discussion so don’t complain. See those quote thingies? That means that someone is quoting you and noting using the slur.
Darrell
Ben, always glad to help. But what did you “always suspect” and what did I write to “confirm” it?
Jorge
Actually, Darrel is somewhat right. My language was a bit over the top. As for the reaction that the general public has to the plight of missing young white girls, I’m afraid you’ll have to blame Bernie Goldberg and his book “Bias” for my having that opinion. I’m not sure how liberal a POV it is to quote the bible on the horrors of the supposed liberal media bias.
And it isn’t as much racism as it is identifying with people. When a white middle class person sees another white middle class person suffering, it hits close to home and ellicits a much deeper emotional response. The same with blacks and other blacks or hispanics and other hispanics. Trust me, as a half-cuban American, I can tell you that Miami’s hispanic community wouldn’t have raised much of a fuss if Elian Gonzales had been a Chinese boy who swam all the way to Miami from Beijing.
The reason we don’t see a big fuss being made about anyone but pretty white women or small white children is because those stories don’t make the ratings meters jump.
Back to the abortion issue, the moment a white, middle class girl dies from a back alley abortion, every white, middle class soccer mom is going to get hit right in the gut. They are going to have a reaction that is much more than intellectual and will transcend sympathy and become empathy.
Notice that I say this with out making a moral judgement on abortion. I’m not saying whether I feel abortion is right or not (but for the record, I think its a sin). I’m speaking of what I think will happen if Roe gets overturned and states start deciding to ban abortions. And what you will eventually have is women dying from illegal abortions. And the way the media and activism works in this country, that fact will become major news. Terri Schaivo sized news. Isn’t it interesting that with so many abortions etc, it took the plight of this one woman to make the issue a media circus. Couldn’t Randall Terry and Delay have made the same deal over a father objecting to his wife getting an abortion? Nah, because there would not have been a “face” to the issue. The majority of American’s wouldn’t have emotionally connected. But with Terri, the majority of Americans had pictures of someone who could be them or their daughter or their sister. And all of the sudden, you have empathy and you have a captive, emotionally invested audience.
ppgaz
Ripley’s has been notified.
Jimmy Jazz
Jorge, I was with you right up until you tried to draw some analogy to Schiavo. The “emotional reaction” most Americans walked away with from that freak show is that they didn’t want the pandermonkeys in Congress getting involved with their personal medical decisions, which is also why most Americans support legal abortion even if they find it morally objectionable.
Mr Furious
Alright, I’ve been away from the internet for four days, and I just wrapped up my unblemished-by-the-blogoshere thoughts at my place, and Balloon Juice is my first foray into the chum-ridden waters…
John is right: It’ll get ugly. This will likely be ugly no matter who Bush picks. Too far to the right, the Dems will howl. Too moderate, Dobson and Bush’s own base will flip out. Bush is damned no matter what. So, where do you think he want to drive that wedge? In his own Party? Split his own support? I don’t think so, look for a very conservative pick, with the “upside” pick being Gonzales.
John is wrong: “that battle was already fought. Everyone knew what was at stake during the election, and Bush and Republicans won.” That’s bullshit. You and I knew that, but that wasn’t what was in the campaigns or what was on the news and in the coverage and you know it. This was a fringe issue [in coverage] at best. Just like Social Security. Bush campaigned on one thing — War and Terror — and that’s it. And yes, I count those two things as one thing. Kerry? His campaign strategy was as one-dimensional as Bush’s, which is even worse because he was the challenger.
Even if everyone who voted “knew the stakes,” half of the country that voted, voted for the other guy! This is a 51/49 country right now, and he is replacing the swing Justice, not Rehnquist. The “mandate” and “political capital” is all bluster.
John nails it: “It appears that is what many of the activists on the right and the left want, and that means they do not want a judge as the next Supreme Court Justice. They want a political operative.” Yup. And it’s a fucking shame.
and the comments… I don’t care about missing beauty queens, who gets to say “nigga” or Doug’s kleenex.
ppgaz
This is the worst book signing I’ve ever been to.
Stormy70
Bush’s mandate is the Constitution. He wins the election, and he gets to pick the nominees, then the Senate gets to vote to confirm. What about the rumors swirling that Ginsberg may be retiring in the fall? That will set the cat among the pigeons!
I think the rumor was floated in the Spectator, but I’m too lazy to look it up.
ppgaz
Welcome back, Stormy.
The only thing I can add to this lovefest is:
George Washington Redux
KC
In the end, Stormy70, I think you’ve got it about right. It’s just impossible for me to see how the Dems can really derail a nominee if the person has a solid record.
Darrell
Jorge, thanks for the clarification.. well said, and point taken, especially regarding your analogy about a Chinese boy swimming from Beijing would not get the same publicity in Miami as an Elian Gonzalez…I agree people tend to react more to things which we identify with. However, let’s acknowledge that most Americans sincerely empathize with suffering and/or death, no matter whether that person is of another race than themselves
KC, the Dems have become increasingly extreme as evidenced, among other things, by their choice to head the DNC. You watch..the nominee will have a solid record, but that solid record will count for nothing, because the Dems will try and derail him/her anyway.
Compuglobalhypermeganet
Since a common assumption on this board right now is that O’Connor was a swing vote, and that abortion rights are at risk, we might all do well to remind ourselves that the last big abortion case was a 6-3 decision, not a 5-4, so she wasn’t a swing vote — Kennedy supported the core principles of Roe, as well. Stenberg v Carhart a few years ago was a 5-4 vote on the State’s power to ban partial-birth abortions, but that decision was complicated and had not much to do with the principles of Roe.
As to “the first pretty, young, white girl to die” from a back-alley abortion (sigh, you left out “coathanger!”), I don’t recall any media outcry over the white girls who died last year (or since 1973, even) from legal abortions, so if it did happen like you say, it would be a great example of the Lefty Media Hypocrisy.
Last, as much as we’d like to think that race (not necessarily racism, but race) isn’t an issue in MSM coverage of missing persons, the stats bear out that it likely is. The Big News Industry isn’t about reporting what is going on in the world. That’s so last century. It’s about getting ratings or readership, period. It’s a business with people’s jobs and money on the line if they don’t make their news sensational enough and emotionally-intriguing enough to get target audiences to watch or read.
The reason that the News doesn’t have 30 minutes of “Good News from Iraq” is the same reason that they didn’t cover two Hispanic girls missing in Texas for three weeks which is the same reason that they didn’t cover Rwanda. They have an idea (which I’m sure they get from testing) what will get ratings with their target audience and what won’t.
Since the “racial inequity” criticism of the MSM has been repeated often over the last few weeks, look for the next big We Interrupt Normal Programming story in the next few weeks to be about a missing person of color — just to take the take the heat off, you know. Then the next 10 will be white people…
Sojourner
Funny, the head of the DNC, when governor, balanced the budget in Vermont, something the president has proved incapable of doing. He is also pro-gun. He was for the Afghanistan war and against the Iraq war. Take a look at the polls and see how radical that is.
Sounds pretty mainstream to me.
Darrell
If this strikes you as someone that would be considered “mainstream”, you *know* you’re an extremist yourself
Mr Furious
Good God, Darrell, I was really hoping you had something better than the scream…
That strikes me as a guy shouting over the din of his supporters. the resultant bullshitstorm strikes me as the dumbest thing to happenin politics in years.
Sojourner
Is that the best you can do, Darrell?
Darrell
Could you try to be a little less dishonest next time? *Nobody* honestly interprets Dean’s nutcase eaaahhhhh!! scream as merely “shouting over the din” of his supporters..
ppgaz
Well, Darrell, your perfect record of wrongness is unblemished.
Actually, eveyr person who knows the facts knows that the “scream” was actually nothing more than an artifact of television audio.
The tapes of the event, which have the audio from the room mikes, and not the speaker’s own mike, show quite clearly that noone in the room, including probably Dean himself, heard the scream …. the din was literally deafening due to the roaring mob of campaign workers whooping it up. Only the noise-cancelling mike in Dean’s face created an audio track in which the scream itself was audible. The truth is, there was no scream event as you apparently understand it, it was a fabrication and manipulation by television and then ginned up as an issue by detractors who played us — that is, you — for fools.
Anyone who has seen and heard the relevant tapes knows that I am right about this. Anyone who doubts it should seek out that footage and judge for themselves. NBC news was honest enough to come back a few days later and admit, the thing was essentially an oddity of the recorded audio. What you think happened, never actually happened. That’s a fact, whether you like it, or understand it, or not.
RSA
Everyone knew what was at stake during the election, and Bush and Republicans won. . .These pitched battles make it seem like a large part of the population isn’t willing to [live with the results].
Well, there’s your large part of the population. Bush did win, but there are a lot of people who didn’t vote for him, and those that did voted more on the basis of national security concerns than his domestic agenda. If Bush’s two Supreme Court picks end up overturning Roe v. Wade, of course that’s going to upset a lot of people.