Thank You Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Posted on January 14, 2006
Who would have considered for a moment that Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the darling of the left, the liberal legal legend, the lady of “I’ll decline to answer that…” fame, would turn out to really be the savior of the conservative court? That certainly wouldn’t have entered the minds of those conservatives who watched in virtual agony years ago, as their Republican representatives in the Senate gave this declared far-left ideologue a free pass to the Supreme Court – actually it was more like an award of honor with a 96 – 3 vote in favor of her nomination.
Like a missed foul shot by the conservative home team when they found themselves down by one point with 2 seconds left in the game,it was a disaster. Ginsburg, however, turned out to provide the conservative team with a rebound and the game-winning basket after all. Thanks to the Ginsburg Rule. Wikipedia reminds us of this scene:
During her subsequent confirmation hearings in the U.S. Senate, she refused to answer questions regarding her personal views on most issues or how she would adjudicate certain hypothetical situations as a Supreme Court Justice. As she noted during the hearings, “Were I to rehearse here what I would say and how I would reason on such questions, I would act injudiciously.
That, to use an overused liberal buzzword, set a precedent –nay – a super duper precedent. The Ginsburg rule, to paraphrase Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter, had itself become “settled law.” How the liberals must have sung and danced in the streets after that coup, how they must have gleefully admired themselves for their cleverness in creating a way in which they could avoid the conservative gauntlet of tough questions which tended to give a candidate opportunity to slip up and make “gotcha” statements.
But, there was no gauntlet of tough questions, as the conservatives choose not to fight her nomination – perhaps through decency, perhaps through wimpishness. Little did they know then, that they were helping to set a visible precedent for all time – a precedent so blatantly clear and understandable by voters that even bald-faced lying Democrats dare not deny it exists – a precedent that would allow candidates in the future to avoid answering specifics to liberal “gotcha” questions merely by invoking what has come to be known as the Ginsburg rule.
How well has it worked? Well, in spite of the fact that most liberal Democrats have already decided to vote against any conservative candidate (and set out to “Bork” them upon marching orders by their key constituencies), conservative candidates are winning in these sham Senate hearings big time. John Roberts breezed through, though the usual liberal character assassination attempts occurred, but they failed to lay a glove on him because of the Ginsburg rule. “I’m sorry, I can’t answer that question because…” has become a phrase that causes the liberal Democrats to cringe in frustration whenever it’s invoked.
Democrat Joe Biden fell victim to it the other day in the Alito hearings when the Ginsburg rule defeated liberal “Borking” plans soundly, causing Joe in total dismay to announce its potency to the world. From a story from CNN.com titled “Biden: Supreme Court confirmation hearings should be scrapped“:
Supreme Court nominees are so mum about the major legal issues at their Senate confirmation hearings that the hearings serve little purpose and should probably be abandoned, Democratic Sen. Joe Biden said Thursday.
“The system’s kind of broken,” said Biden, a member of the Judiciary Committee considering the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito.
“Nominees now, Democrat and Republican nominees, come before the United States Congress and resolve not to let the people know what they think about the important issues,” such as a president’s authority to go to war, said Biden.
What Biden didn’t admit was that this nomination charade as constructed by the left, had little to do with “letting the people know”, but was about opportunity for showcasing senate egos and character assassination while grasping at shadows, labeling them as reasons to vote against the candidate. Thanks to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Joe now says we should…
“Just go to the Senate floor and debate the nominee’s statements,” the Delaware senator said, “instead of this game.”
Since the liberal Democrats have blatantly exposed themselves as having little, if any, sense of decorum or decency in their quest to destroy all conservative candidates, maybe Joe is right. Maybe it’s long past time to close this disgraceful committee and begin again by returning true statesmanship and civic pride to the Senate – it’s worth a try and has to be one giant improvement over this “Great Constituency Show” that masquerades as the nation’s serious business.
Oh, I almost forgot, thanks again, Ruth!
“You’re quite welcome… er, I think…” (image)
Originally posted at TMH’s Bacon Bits
» Filed Under Activist Judges
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9 Responses to “Thank You Ruth Bader Ginsburg”
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You posted, “Since the liberal Democrats have blatantly exposed themselves as having little, if any, sense of decorum or decency in their quest to destroy all conservative candidates, maybe Joe is right. Maybe it’s long past time to close this disgraceful committee and begin again by returning true statesmanship.”
Amen, and I say:
Have we stooped so low in our public discourse that we would insult a good and honorable judge in this manner and somehow think this is okay?
My goodness, I cannot imagine wanting to instill in my children human qualities that would make it okay to insult a good and honorable judge and drive his wife to tears. Great Caesar’s Ghost, we can do better than this.
The hearings over Ruth Ginsburg’s nomination demonstrated how hearings should be held; in a civilized, decent manner.
There no longer is civility, decency, or common courtesy in the system. It is all about empty suits and blank minds bloviating and spewing insulting remarks and exhibiting behavior we would never tolerate in our own children.
HEAR, HEAR! BANG THE GAVEL! IT’S OVER! –THANKS, RUTH (BUZZY) GINSBURG!
Had Republicans done to Ginsburg what the Dems unleashed on Alito, there would have been an earthquake of Biblical proportions in the Eastern Media Elite. Bang The Drum Slowly….
It is no surprise that the left lashes out in such astounding and dramatic fashions. The reason the Ginsberg precedent came into play was because Republicans were too decent and self-respecting to behave in the manners of Kennedy and Biden. Respect for the tone of the Constitution and obligations of a sitting president reigned in the disputes of the right-wing at the time.
It was reported that none of the seven Democrats from the Gang of 14 have indicated that Alito’s nomination should be filibustered. This appears to be a start on their part to pull themselves away from the negative media surounding their counterparts in the Nominating committee. Stay tuned – maybe some will have the guts to pull away from their party and confirm Judge Alito!
The problem is that senators like Feinstein and Kennedy know Alito is qualified, yet can’t bring themselves to let go of their pride and prejudices and do the right thing–confirm him! Where is the media pressure on this thing?
The other problem is that the lamestream media are on the side of senators like Feinstien and Kennedy (and Biden and Schumer and Durbin and…), and so don’t want to make them look bad by harping on their idiotic partisan games.
Nor do they ever both to question their outrageous accusations or ever point out the blatantly false statements they made during the hearings.