A Year of Work To Sell Roberts to Conservatives

[springhill]

Told you he has just been waiting in the wings. That's why Bush made him a judge two years ago. Just a lap-dog who will obey his masters.

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: July 22, 2005
WASHINGTON, July 21 - For at least a year before the nomination of Judge John G. Roberts to the Supreme Court, the White House was working behind the scenes to shore up support for him among its social conservative allies, quietly reassuring them that he was a good bet for their side in cases about abortion, same-sex marriage and public support for religion.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/22/politics/politicsspecial1/22lobby.html?

[norml]

1. This looks interesting.

I'll have to get back to it later. Recommended

[springhill]

2. I'm hoping people are actually reading this.........

even if you are not responding. I think it's very important.

[JDPriestly]

3. I have the feeling that we know very little about this man

in fact. He and his wife did not marry until they were in their 40s. That is unusual. They recently adopted two blond children -- also unusual. It almost looks like they created themselves in order to fit a certain image. I'm sure that can't be true, but the whole family values thing looks oddly staged like everything else that the Bush administration presents to us. I wonder how long the Roberts knew each other before they married. There is something so bizarre about Roberts. I can't put my finger on it. Maybe he is just frightfully repressed.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

6. He and his family are Stepfords. n/t

MKJ

[RPM]

7. in his defense (and i loathe to defend the man)

he and his wife are both lawyers - and i think they were both pretty bigshot lawyers. At the end of the day billing 2500 hours a year doesnt leave much time for a social life, so I am not uncomfortable with the fact they married so late.

Furthermore, I commend them for adopting a pair of children (so what if htey are tow-headed white kids). Even if their motivation was to adopt so that the misses would not miss time from her practice of law. If their reason was that she felt that the risk of bearing children after 40 was too great, then double kudos to her for not putting a child at risk to fulfill her maternal instinct.

Seriously, the way their family was put toghether is not uncommon among big-shot lawyers (and bankers and business people) who have little if any free time and are unable to start a family until they are in their 40s.

Attacking this is a losing issue - their plan made sense for them (family planning should be one's personal choice - remember) and it's not unusal.

Find other reasons to pick on this guy - there are many to choose from. but his is not it.

[JDPriestly]

9. As a lawyer, I know what it is to bill 2500 hours.

I also know how many lawyers are totally consumed by ambition. Roberts and his wife may be great lawyers, but if they did not have enough time for a social life, did not have the time to meet potential husbands and wives, what do they know about life outside the law firm? It's a big world out there you know.

A Supreme Court justice must decide cases that affect the lives of all kinds of people, not just the sorts of people you meet in the big law firms, the wealthy clients, the politicians and the occasional lowly, reviled plaintiff and the plaintiff's scruffy attorney. Did Roberts and his wife have the time to develop compassion? to enjoy nature and treasure the beauty of our environment? Do they understand how hard a poor man works just to put food on the table? Can they comprehend how much a couple of hundred dollars a year in a promised pension can mean to an elderly couple who can no longer work? Do they know what it is to be the great great grandson of a slave? The legal profession is full of very self-important folk who have no clue about life beyond the walls of their firm. Do Roberts and his wife fit this profile. If so, he should not be on the Court.

[RPM]

12. looking at it that way - yes

i agree - having an out of touch justice would be a disaster.

my point was merely, dont rag on the guy for the way he assembled his family.

Certainly rag on him for being aloof, if that be the case.

[realFedUp]

8. I agree

something about this guy and his family
creep me out.

[aquart]

4. Sell out your country. Make it to the Supreme Court.

[Gormy Cuss]

5. kick

The article is a good read. I hope that Roberts turned out to be more like Souter than his handlers think. I'd rather have another Souter than another Scalia or Thomas.

[MissMarple]

10. Sadly, he may be a lot more like Bork.

Both have strong and shady political ties and don't support a broad view of civil rights, any civil rights.

[Gormy Cuss]

11. Yes I know. I'm trying to retain a little optimism.

There doesn't seem to be enough of a history to bork him so I'm afraid we'll be stuck with Roberts.