A Call To Democrat Arms

Yesterday I referenced an article in the Washington Post that seemed to suggest that the Dems had given up hope of derailing the Roberts nomination and weren't going to stage a big fight. I had my doubts that the WaPo report was accurate, and have even more doubts today. It appears that the article in question was not an admission of failure, but a call to arms.

I'm beginning to suspect that the source of that article was lefty Dems who were concerned that their brethren were going squishy on Roberts, and after meeting the guy in person, might be more inclined to support him. At the least, they weren't inclined to carry on a big, nasty televised fight. This article immediately rang all sorts of alarms on the wacky left, and today the anti-Roberts activity suddenly picked up.

First we have Sen. Leahy, who has generally been complimentary of Roberts, suddenly declaring that he's a radical right-wing ideologue. Where'd that come from? My guess is Leahy got a wake-up call from People for the American Way and other lefties and was told to start fighting or kiss his campaign contributions goodbye. This from Newsmax:

Leahy's declaration came in advance of what is likely to be a string of announcements from groups going on the record opposing Roberts' confirmation.

Ralph Neas, president of People For the American Way, declined to comment on his own organization's plans Tuesday, but said a "significant number of progressive organizations will soon be coming out against the Roberts nomination."

Neas prodded Senate Democrats in public and private to outline the stakes involved in Roberts' appointment.

In a private meeting with Senate Democratic aides, Neas said angrily that the public was being left with the impression that Roberts' confirmation proceedings were a mere formality, according to several participants.

I guarantee you that the WaPo article got Neas' hairpiece all in a knot.

Today we also have Leahy and Teddy *hiccup* Kennedy calling for an investigation into some Reagan Library files on Roberts that have turned up missing. Every indication is that the files were misplaced by the National Archives folks to supervise the documents, but that won't stop the Dems from claiming that something untoward is afoot. Given that their guy, Sandy Burglar, uh Berger, made off with who knows what from the Archives awhile back in an effort to whitewash his bosses record, I'm sure the Dems will try to claim that an equivalent act has occurred here. I expect they'll try to squeeze as much juice out of these charges as they can.

Of course, Leahy and Kennedy were never going to support Roberts under any circumstances (unless, perhaps, he'd had an abortion when younger), so this is not exactly a change of position for these guys. It's just interesting that they suddenly got excited about Roberts the day after the WaPo article came out.

Sadly for the Dems, this was not a good day to be taking shots at Roberts:

Supreme Court nominee John Roberts on Wednesday received a "well qualified" rating from the American Bar Association, clearing another hurdle in his path to the nation's highest court.

The rating was revealed as the Senate Judiciary Committee announced its plans for Roberts' Sept. 6 confirmation hearings, which include having the nominee questioned by the 18 senators on the panel for almost an hour each.

This is the fourth time the ABA has rated Roberts. He was designated as well qualified in 2001 when nominated to be an appeals court judge in the District of Columbia and again in 2003 when he was re-nominated and confirmed. He had been rated qualified as an appeals court nominee in 1992, but the Senate never took up that nomination.

Roberts, 50, will replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor if he is confirmed by the Senate.

For more than 50 years the ABA has evaluated the credentials of people chosen for federal judgeships. Supreme Court nominees get the most intensive scrutiny.

If you'll recall, during the Clinton years we were told that any judge receiving a "well qualified" rating got a free pass to the bench, and when the Bush administration elected to ignore the ABA rankings, the Dems were furious. What does this well-qualified ranking mean to their chances to paint Roberts as a nutcase? It basically torpedoes it, unless you're going to declare that the ABA board is also a bunch of nutcases, something that no Dem would dare do given the importance of the trial lawyer lobby to Dem campaign coffers.

The wacky left is now in full-out panic over Roberts, and the hearings will certainly be entertaining as the Dems try to save face with their base while at the same time trying not to come off as complete morons.