What Republicans mean when they say "activist judge:"

[DFW]

One who rules against them.

No more, no less.

[WeDidIt]

1. YOU'RE WRONG!

On who rules against something they support or rules for something they are against EVEN ONE TIME!

Fixed it for you.

[supernova]

2. Exactly,

Funny how their radically reinterpreting judges aren't activist in their minds.

[HopeHoops]

3. The BEST example of "Activist Judges" was the 2000 presidential election!!!

Oh, and so much for "States' Rights", eh?

[noiretextatique]

17. absolutely...they created a one-time only law for Bush, Inc

with zero precedent. some call it treason.

[xchrom]

4. exactly right.

there is no moral highground treating a law as or the constitution as if it were written in stone.

they don't when they make rulings -- those are interpretations -- i don't even know how we got this ridiculous place.

[Howzit]

9. "treating a law as or the constitution as if it were written in stone."

The constitution is written in stone until you have it amended by due process.

Activist judges are those that don't base their rulings on the constitution as it is written at the time of their ruling.

[xchrom]

10. to one degree or another -- the constitution or the law -- is interpreted.

you don't have to like it -- but disgreement over what it says is how you wind up in court to begin with.

[Howzit]

12. "disgreement over what it says is how you wind up "

discussing it on DU...

[xchrom]

14. now you're not telling the truth -- but i suspect you know that. nt

[RaleighNCDUer]

11. IOW, everybody except Scalia and Thomas.

Thanks for outing yourself.

[Howzit]

13. See post #12

If full mutual agreement is a prerequisite for posting an opinion on DU, what is the point?

[Kingofalldems]

5. I bet they forgot that 'up or down vote' meme.

[Strawman]

21. No, I heard Sessions use it

Because they don't have a snowball's chance in hell at sustaining one.

They are going to smear her and President Obama by proxy, drag out the hearings and then allow a vote so they can claim they were " tough but fair." They'll peddle the "tough" to the base while they raise money during the hearings and the "fair" to Latino voters afterward.

[Echo In Light]

6. Right-wing reference to any judge whose rulings don't lean in favor of police state

[bobburgster]

7. Thanks!!

Been scratching my head for years trying to figure out what they meant ;)

[book_worm]

8. but it's okay to have an activist conservative judge like Scalia.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

15. They come up with "original intent" bullshit.

They say they want to go back to the Constitution the way it was written.

The buzzword in the 1970s was "Strict constructionist".

However, there's a principle called "judicial review" that they like when it goes in their favor (Bush v. Gore) and don't like when it gives rights to people they don't like (minorities, women).

That's been the law of the land since 1803, Marbury versus Madison.

[Wednesdays]

16. K&R

:kick:

[TahitiNut]

18. They've been nay-saying REACTIONARIES for so long that they don't even comprehend ...

... how INSANELY ridiculous it is to assume that "activist" is an epithet. Under ANY sane and rational reading of history and the advancement of humankind, it is ACTIVISM that achieves progress and betterment of the human condition.

Infected warts on the diarrheal ass of progress they are. :puke:

[RaleighNCDUer]

19. In 1776, they'd be Tories, and seeking refuge in Canada and South Africa. nt

[NeedleCast]

20. Anyone Left of Glenn Beck

[DFW]

23. That's everyone in the world except Ann Coulter

[jmondine]

22. It's their attempt to turn "activist" into a pejorative

Hell, they even tried to do the same with "community organizer".
The last time this strategy actually worked for them was in 1988, when Bush41 successfully turned "liberal" into a stick to whack Dukakis over the head with.

[Cary]

24. It is now and has always been code for Roe v. Wade. n/t

[NMMNG]

25. Activist Judge