The Republicans’ devastating losses in last week’s election have been so traumatic to the Family Research Council that, in their disorientation, they have apparently forgotten how the judicial confirmation process works.
FRC says that Senate Republicans need to act during these last weeks of power to ensure the confirmation of a handful of judges, bizarrely claiming
Five of these nominees have been resubmitted for consideration after waiting months, even years, for an opportunity guaranteed to them by the U.S. Constitution–the right to a full Senate vote. If our friends in Congress don’t act now, the liberal leadership certainly will, filling the bench with judges who have no qualms about rewriting the law to favor same-sex marriage, hate crimes, abortion, religious intolerance, and more.
First of all, if FRC is really concerned about judicial nominees not getting an up-or-down vote, perhaps they can start hounding Sen. Sam Brownback to lift his hold on the nomination of Janet Neff.
Secondly, where does FRC get the idea that “the liberal leadership [will start] filling the bench with judges who have no qualms about rewriting the law to favor same-sex marriage, hate crimes, [and] abortion”?
President Bush, being the President, is still the one responsible for putting forth nominations to the federal bench – so if suddenly pro-marriage equality and pro-choice judges get nominated, it will be because he nominates them.
Of course, that is not very likely to happen, considering that for the last six years he had been committed to nominating ultraconservative ideologues and just re-submitted several controversial nominees, as if to prove his stubbornness on the issue.
So what grounds does FRC have for making this sort of claim? Other than their need to sow baseless fears among their activists, they have none whatsoever.
