More Reaction From Lefty Blogs To The John Roberts Nomination

by John Hawkins | July 21, 2005 4:17 am

Yesterday, I posted the early reaction from the left side of the blogosphere to the John Roberts nomination[1]. Well, after giving the lefties a day to think it over, I decided to take another crack at it.

The general consensus seems to be that…

1) They don’t like Roberts but acknowledge that they can’t stop him from being confirmed.
2) They still want the Democrats in the Senate to go after him, even if they can’t win.
3) They’re actually much more interested in getting Karl Rove than John Roberts.

In fact, I’d say there were roughly 3 Rove/Plame related posts for every John Roberts posts on the left-of-center blogs I read today and late last night.

Here are a few of the quotations from the lefty blogs that stood out…

“George W. Bush’s nomination of John Roberts, Jr. is a setback for American women, just has his policies in Iraq have produced a setback for women’s rights in the Arab world. Indeed, Bush has been bad for women all around the globe.” — Informed Comment[2]

“Roberts happened to be standing in the right place at the right time. Maybe Rehnquist pushed him into Bush’s office. Maybe he had paper over rock. Maybe he was caller ten. Whatever.

John Roberts is a very undistinguished choice. And he’s small potatoes. He’s anti-Roe v. Wade, but despite that and Roberts’ wife’s activism against abortion, it ain’t going anywhere. John Roberts is a flea.

We have a bigger fight to fight than this nebbish. We have to stop this administration. For failing in Iraq. For failing us on 9/11. For fostering the American vs. American mentality. For failing us on truth and honesty.

I’m not going to sign any petition against John Roberts. It’s a waste of time. It’s a waste of bandwidth. If Bush wants his legacy to be a human speed bump like John Roberts, so be it.” — Hoffmania[3]

“Well Bush certainly didn’t pull any punches. John Roberts’ nomination not only serves as a convenient distraction to the Rove madness, but is also a great big “f*ck you” to all the folks that thought Bush was leaning towards a moderate nominee.

…So pretty please take some f*cking action and put a stop to this nightmare nominee.” — Feministing[4]

“For now, the Roberts announcement was moved up a week two knock Rove out of the news. Had Bush chosen a nutball, we could’ve wailed and beaten our breasts for the next six weeks. But in their rush for good press, the President chose a guy that there’s nothing much to say about. So let’s not say anything. Let him drift out of the news cycle and, in a day or two, make it all Rove, all the time. That’s where their weak spot is, let’s not lose focus and attack at the only smart thing they’ve done in months.” — Ezra Klein[5]

“Anyone who saw young John cavorting on the stage last night should concede now that, barring something major, John G. Roberts, Jr. will be confirmed. That family is his secret weapon. Even Rick Santorum, who likely is cringing at a Harvard educated Justice, will go along with this one. (Rick is unswerving in support of the Harvard educated Dubya, for instance, but perhaps Santorum sees a fellow traveler there. . . one likes dogs, one likes horses. . . )” — The All Spin Zone[6]

“Roberts is a pleasant-looking white guy who wears suits well. Smoke does not billow out of his ears, nor does he have horns and a forked tail. Some leftie bloggers are saying the nomination could have been worse. Yeah, like ebola is worse than cholera.” — Mahablog[7]

“We know that Justice Roberts will get voted in. But that in no way means that he should go without a fight. I’m an optimist. I say we have a basketful of lemons, let’s make lemonade. This is leverage to expose the fact that the Republicans, including the President, are a bunch of far-right wingnuts who are beholden to Bible-thumpers who are single-handedly determined to ruin the lives of average Americans by taking away, first and foremost, the right to privacy that ensures that we can live as we choose.” — Pandragon[8]

“But if the Party of God was hoping for an appointee who is obviously one of their own — a Janice Rogers Brown or an Allen Keyes is a black robe — they didn’t get that, either. Professionally and culturally, Roberts is very much a Bush I throwback: a product of Harvard, government service and K Street (the pre-DeLay K Street). He clerked for Rehnquist, not Scalia or Thomas. It’s a lot easier to imagine Roberts eating a working lunch in a corporate boardroom than breaking bread at a prayer breakfast with a bunch of Christian Dominionists.

These days, though, the two subcultures often overlap. Which is precisely what makes Roberts so scary. In his heart of hearts, he may be a raving Ayatollah — as militant in defense of the New Theocracy as he appears to be in defense of property rights and corporate privilege. But in the clubby world of legal and political Washington, he’s managed to convince an awful lot of people, including some staunch liberals, that he’s really an OK guy — a “reasonable” conservative.” — Whiskey Bar[9]

Endnotes:
  1. the early reaction from the left side of the blogosphere to the John Roberts nomination: https://rightwingnews1.wpenginepowered.com/archives/week_2005_07_17.PHP#004141
  2. Informed Comment: http://www.juancole.com/2005/07/roberts-nomination-and-iraqi.html
  3. Hoffmania: http://www.hoffmania.com/blog/2005/07/2006.html
  4. Feministing: http://feministing.com/archives/001641.html
  5. Ezra Klein: http://ezraklein.typepad.com/blog/2005/07/sabers_quiet.html
  6. The All Spin Zone: http://www.allspinzone.com/blog/index.php?itemid=890
  7. Mahablog: http://www.mahablog.com/2005.07.17_arch.html#1121858505429
  8. Pandragon: http://www.pandagon.net/archives/2005/07/dear_democrats.html
  9. Whiskey Bar: http://billmon.org/archives/002038.html

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