Bush nominates his own counsel for Supreme Court

[kestra]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4304684.stm

Does this strike anyone else as weird??
I have no idea how this sort of process works, but nominating someone from your own administration doesn't exactly ring "impartial" to me. And apparently she's never been a judge either. Isn't that kinda important??

Just asking.

[Aristotle]

Originally posted by kestra

Does this strike anyone else as weird??
I have no idea how this sort of process works, but nominating someone from your own administration doesn't exactly ring "impartial" to me.

Partial or impartiality is not a requirement or element of choosing a nominee. Presidents choose who they think will be best for the job- and that includes who they think is philosophically best for the job (for example, believing in a reserved judiciary rather than an active one).

Originally posted by kestra

And apparently she's never been a judge either. Isn't that kinda important??

Nope. Some of the most famous and learned justices were never judges before their appointment:

Louis Brandeis (appointed in 1916)
Felix Frankfurter (appointed in 1939)
William O. Douglas (appointed in 1939)
Robert Jackson (appointed in 1941)
Earl Warren (appointed in 1953)
Abe Fortas (appointed in 1965)
Lewis Powell (appointed in 1971)
William Rehnquist (appointed in 1971 by President Nixon and elevated to Chief Justice in 1986 by President Reagan).

From that list, Brandeis (right of privacy), , Warren (Brown v. Board of Education, Miranda v. Arizona), and Rehnquist stand out as extremely well respected Supreme Court justices who were never judges before their appointment.

[Pyrosama]

All in all I think I heard that there have been approximately 40 or so supreme court justices who were never judges, so why would that be an issue now?

[Gromgor]

Originally posted by Pyrosama
All in all I think I heard that there have been approximately 40 or so supreme court justices who were never judges, so why would that be an issue now?

Because the public is ignorant for the most part. Democrats can make out like this is some HUGE controversy and people will believe it to be true.

[Graeblyn]

Originally posted by Gromgor
Because the public is ignorant for the most part. Democrats can make out like this is some HUGE controversy and people will believe it to be true.

Nothing I have seen or read supports the contention that Democrats are making the fact that she hasn't served on the bench into a huge controversy. However, this story is only a day old, so I haven't had a chance to absorb everything about it yet. Consequently, if you have some examples of Democrats criticizing her nomination on the basis of her lack of judicial experience, please share, because I would be very interested in reading about that.

[Aristotle]

From everything I have read so far, this seems like a pretty crappy nominee.

My initial reaction is that once again CEO, not President, Bush is demonstrating a lack of guts and leadership by nominating an unknown person. Her biggest qualification is that she has no "paper trail." To me, that sounds like she is someone who is so unaccomplished that it is hard to find anything she has actually done, written, or stood for.

The idea of a Supreme Court that leans too heavily to the left or right really scares me, so maybe these seemingly dull candidates are not a bad thing. But it just seems to me that this latest candidate in particular is not very distinguished.

Honestly, I can't wait for a new President. I don't think Bush is a horrible person, and I get sick of the whole "Blame Bush for Everything" crowd, but it gets depressing to have a President that makes very little effort to inspire or LEAD our country. The President of the United States is not a goddamn bureaucratic manager! The President is the leader of the most powerful nation in the world! Act accordingly!

What happened to Presidents with bold ideas to take our country in exciting new directions? I wonder if our crappy media and the popularity of the political smear game make it impossible for truly great people to rise to the top. I am way off on a tangent now so I'll stop before I bum myself out too much.