Reading the Same Tea Leaves
Reading the Same Tea Leaves
Conservatives have gone on attack against anyone trying to put together the puzzle pieces to figure out John Roberts’ ambiguous stance on reproductive rights. The major talking points are:
Opposition to Roberts is opposition to those of faith:
Opponents will undoubtedly argue that Roberts is hostile to abortion rights based on a pair of briefs on which Roberts appeared while Deputy SG The unspoken undercurrent of these charges, and the likely basis for a whispering campaign against Roberts, is that he is a practicing Catholic and therefore predisposed to advancing the social policies of the Catholic Church through judicial opinions.
The anti-abortion stance of Roberts’ wife should not reflect on Roberts:
My wife has opinions on things that may or may conform with mine and I think most couples are in that situation.
Rush Limbaugh jumped into the argument:
Jennifer Palmieri, a spokeswoman for the Center for American Progress, which is, it’s a lib group, it actually should be called the Center for American Regression. “It’s unclear how all of this will affect her husband,” said Jennifer Palmieri. “It’s just that in the absence of information about this guy, people are looking at her, trying to read some tea leaves.”…But the bottom line here is, folks, that you have wholesome family right, cut right from the mainstream, and the heartland of this country and that is invoking fear, palpable fear in the minds and hearts of the American left and it’s just pathetic.
Not matter what Karl Rove says, an individual’s wife should not be “fair game” nor should religious belief be used to prejudice against someone. The problem is that it is actually conservatives who originally set up both Roberts’ faith and his wife as a way to judge which way he will vote on key social issues:
When the White House began testing the name of Judge Roberts on a short list of potential nominees, many social conservatives were skeptical…Judge Roberts’s family life and religious convictions helped sell him to Christian conservatives as well. Both he and his wife, Jane Sullivan Roberts, were observant Catholics, Mr. [Leonard] Leo [chairman of Catholic outreach for the Republican Party] told other allies…“For people like me who are reading the tea leaves, it is another marker that we can breathe easy,” said Austin Ruse, president of the Culture of Life Foundation, a conservative Catholic group.
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What is going to happen when the nearly 70% of Americans who don’t want Roe overturned are faced with a supreme court that decides aborting fetuses is a violation of right to life laws?
This is after all the legal arguement. And it is a strong one.
The new “Roe” will probably be the paradox of an anti-choice catholic upholding Roe because of precedent, which is for all practical purposes legislating from the bench.
July 25th, 2005 at 1:37 pmSummer Teeth in W. Virginia, Roberts, Anonymity
Ezra Klein wonders why, as Supreme Court nominee John Roberts’ history becomes known, that conservatives try to pretend they aren’t part of conservative organizations. Even when being a Democrat isn’t cool, we at least don’t run from it.
* Think…
July 25th, 2005 at 1:39 pmBecause deception is habitual.
July 25th, 2005 at 1:49 pmVery funny, Mr. Brian — if that is your real name. Kinda like wondering what “is” means. Love when communists think conservatives are the “deceptive” ones.
July 25th, 2005 at 2:22 pm—This man will make judgments on the actions of others and if these judgments may be faith-based then his faith is germane. Conservatives have been particularly proud that their faith carries over into their works, so we need to know what that faith is and how it might translate into decisions that will affect many of us, with fatal consequences. That is particularly true with this ’stealth candidate’ who offers virtually no judicial record particularly as it might affect the hugely important issue of Roe v. Wade.
—The followin is extracted from Hugh Hewitt’s neo-con blog, where he harps at length on Roberts’ faith while decrying those who harp on his faith:
—Yesterday, the New York Times employed the always-willing-to-play-the Catholic-card Barry Lynn to get Roberts’ faith into the story:
—”Barry W. Lynn, the executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said Wednesday that Judge Roberts’s participation in the [Lee] case makes him ‘unsuited for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.’ He said that if confirmed to the court, Judge Roberts would ‘open the door to majority rule on religious matters.’
—Friends of Judge Roberts and his wife, Jane Sullivan Roberts, a lawyer at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, say they share a strong faith. ‘They are deeply religious,’ said Fred F. Fielding, the former White House counsel for President Reagan, ‘but they don’t wear it on their sleeves at all.’
—The couple are members of the Church of the Little Flower in Bethesda, Md., a Catholic congregation that includes about 1,500 families. Like many Washington-area churches, its members have included prominent political figures. Thomas O’Neill, the former speaker of the House known as Tip, as well as Edmund Muskie, the former United States senator, secretary of state and presidential candidate, once attended, said Gary R. Davies, a church deacon. More recently, L. Paul Bremer III, who served as the United States’ administrator in Iraq, was a member.
—The church, Mr. Davies said, is not particularly political, though it does organize two or so busloads of members each year to participate in an anti-abortion rally marking the Roe v. Wade decision. ‘I have never heard anyone talk about politics,’ Mr. Davies said. ‘It just does not belong.’
—Some who know Judge Roberts say he does not let his personal beliefs affect his legal views. ‘He’s not going to allow political or theological interference with his opinions,’ said Mark Touhey, a partner in the Texas law firm of Vinson & Elkins.
—Shannen W. Coffin, a friend of Judge Roberts and a former Justice Department lawyer, said: ‘John’s faith is his faith, and his approach to the law is a separate issue. If it has any effect, it is in the sense of restraint, that he is not and the role of the judge is not to be the center of the universe. It stems from the sort of humility of a faithful person.’
—The Robertses frequently attend events at the College of the Holy Cross, in Worcester, Mass. Jane Roberts is a graduate of the school and has been a trustee for the last four years.
—’They are devout Catholics,’ said the Rev. Michael C. McFarland, the college president. ‘They are not the kind of people who would be in your face,’ he added. Their religion ‘would affect their personal lives, but they are very professional in their work.’
—In a sign of just how small the elite world of the Supreme Court bar and bench can be, the Robertses have attended Holy Cross events with Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife, Virginia, according to Father McFarland. Justice Thomas is also an alumnus of Holy Cross and a trustee.”
Senator Schumer, who sits on the Judiciary Committee:
—”There’s no question that Judge Roberts has outstanding legal credentials and an appropriate legal temperment and demeanor. But his actual judicial record is limited to only two years on the D.C. Circuit Couirt. Fot the rest of his career he has been arguiong cases as an able lawyer for others leaving many of his personal views unknown. For these reasons it is vital that Judge Roberts answer a wide range of questions openly honestly and fully in the coming months. His views will affet a generation of Americans and it is his obligation during the nomination process to let the American people know those views. The burden is on a nominee to the Supreme Court to prove that he is worthy, not on the Senate to prove that he is unworthy.”
Robert Novak’s column from August 11, 2003 provides the key history to the expected assault on John Roberts:
July 25th, 2005 at 2:24 pm—”On May 1 in a Senate Judiciary Committee session, Schumer raised religious questions in connection with the nomination of lawyer J. Leon Holmes as district judge from Arkansas. Holmes has the support of his state’s two Democratic senators, but not Chuck Schumer. The New Yorker argued that the conservative religious views of Holmes, a devout Catholic, disqualified him because of disagreements interpreting the separation of church and state. Schumer contended that ‘religious beliefs cannot dictate government policy, even though they can infuse our values.’
—That was preparation for Schumer’s opposition to Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor for the appellate bench, another conservative Catholic who is the most recent of the filibustered Bush nominees. In the Judiciary Committee June 11, Schumer said Pryor’s beliefs ‘are so well known, so deeply held that it’s very hard to believe that they’re not going to influence’ him on the bench. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, another Judiciary member, also has cited the ‘deeply held beliefs’ standard.”
—end of extract from hughhewitt.com
The “culture of life” is the hammer and sickle. Real name is Brian.
July 25th, 2005 at 2:33 pmIt must really suck to outwardly want to outlaw abortion, but inside know it would destroy your party.
Brian, I think you mispelled “suckle.”
July 25th, 2005 at 2:57 pmAdam,
a little challenge. Please provide documents, that show direct support for establishing communism by the democratic party.
Or
Try to debate a point instead of being insulting..
July 25th, 2005 at 3:03 pmCommunists??? Who is this weirdo troll and what does it want?
July 25th, 2005 at 3:12 pmhe most likely just wants to bait people.
July 25th, 2005 at 3:15 pmI would advise checking this NY Times article out:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/22/politics/politicsspecial1/22lobby.html?pagewanted=1
It would appear that the perception of Roberts as an unknown entity is only for public consumption. His qualifications as a reliable conservative have met with approval from the appropriate parties. Note,
“…[W]ith a series of personal testimonials about Judge Roberts, his legal work, his Roman Catholic faith, and his wife’s public opposition to abortion, two well-connected Christian conservative lawyers – Leonard Leo, chairman of Catholic outreach for the Republican Party, and Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of an evangelical Protestant legal center founded by Pat Robertson – gradually won over most social conservatives to nearly unanimous support, even convincing them that the lack of a paper trail was an asset that made Judge Roberts harder to attack.”
**what does ‘well-connected Christian conservative lawyer’ mean? Does it require ‘membership’ in the Federalist Society?
As well as this statement by the above listed Mr. Sekulow, quoted in the article as knowing Judge Roberts for 17 years,
“Although Judge Roberts said at his confirmation hearings that his work as a legal advocate did not necessarily reflect his own views, Mr. Sekulow said he knew that Judge Roberts’s heart was in it. “He doesn’t argue just to argue,” Mr. Sekulow said.”
July 25th, 2005 at 3:37 pmI know Adam, he is the 1st cousin of Abe Noxious and has been sent here to do some more of Gods work.
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