latest LTTE regarding judicial filibusters

[PghTiny]

Here's my latest attempt at a LTTE ... any thoughts before I submit it for publication? The Free Lance-Star (http://www.fredericksburg.com/flshome) is a notorious right wing rag that is backing the rapture right's attempts to end filibusters. I'm betting that James G. Lakely, formerly of the FLS but now of the Moonie Times, is writing all these editorials. BTW If possible, I am hoping to cut the letter's length from its current 296 words to the paper's recommended 250 word limit, but I want to keep as many of the facts as possible in it.

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Several proponents of the GOP’s current efforts to end judicial filibusters, including the FLS editorial page, have been spouting outright falsehoods from the right wing echo chambers. i will address their claims below.

In 1968, Senate Republicans initiated a filibuster to prevent President Johnson’s nomination of Abe Fortas to the chief justice of the Supreme Court. At the time, Sen. Robert Griffin stated that denying votes for nominees was already an established practice for blocking nominations. More recently, Sen. Bill Frist lead unsuccessful filibusters of judges Richard Paez and Marsha Berzon in 2000. Now, in a brazen show of hypocrisy, Frist is leading the charge to end judicial filibusters.

George W. Bush has had 205 of his 215 judicial nominees approved by the Senate. 35 of his 52 appellate court nominees have also been approved, a similar rate that Clinton’s appellate nominees enjoyed (35 of 51). In contrast, 65 of Clinton’s 400-plus judicial nominees, including 15 of his 16 blocked appellate nominees, never got even committee hearings, let alone a Senate vote.

A recent FLS editorial stated that Priscilla Owen has a unanimous well-qualified rating from the American Bar Association. No mention is made of the 10 similarly rated Clinton judicial nominees that never got up-or-down votes, however. While Owen was on the notoriously corporate-friendly Texas Supreme Court, she made her mark for trying to legislate through the bench in a 2000 case dealing with Texas’ parental notification law. She earned strong criticism from her then colleague and now attorney general Alberto Gonzales, criticism Gonzales had to retract due to administration pressure.

The hard right GOP leadership is behaving much like spoiled children that are not getting their way. I suggest that Democrats and GOP moderates work together to give the leadership some much-needed discipline.

[tech3149]

1. You might want to avoid the parental notification issue

and instead reference Owens willingness to diecide an Enron case after receiving over $100,000 in campaign contributions. If you include any reference to Brown, be sure to refer to her barely acceptable rating by the ABA.

edit: finger twitch

[Kerrytravelers]

2. I agree with teach3941 and congratualte you on a conceise and well written

LTTE

[PghTiny]

3. A revised letter has been sent

tnx fer the suggestions