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My personal musings about anything that gets on my radar screen--heavily dominated by politics.

2005-09-29

A Word About 22% and the "Mainstream"

John G. Roberts was confirmed and sworn in today as Chief Justice of the United States' Supreme Court by a vote of 78-22. All 55 Republicans voted for his confirmation, as well as 22 (of 44) Democrats and one Independent.

So, do you remember when the battle cry on the Left was that they could not vote for anyone who was not a "mainstream" conservative? That he was clearly "out of the mainstream" of judicial thought? Well, just what does it say about the mainstream when 78% of the Senate votes in favor of him? You would have to have a pretty unusual stream for the far left 22% to be the "main" part of the stream.

But, more importantly, what does that portend for the next battle? If the bulk of the Senate Dems get in line with the 22% who are already identified as "out of the mainstream," then do they lose any legitimacy in this argument?

Now, I realize logic is not the strong suit of liberals, so let me slow down a bit and, as my teacher used to say in Algebra class, show my work:

:by any reasonable definition, 78% is clearly the "mainstream"
:which renders the remaining 22% as "out of the mainstream"
:given that they've already identified themselves as out of the mainstream, these 22% are no longer qualified to speak on or label anything or anybody "mainstream"
:so if the other 22 Democrats align themselves with this group, aren't they likewise identifying themselves as "out of the mainstream"?

Which is all just a long way of getting around to the point that the Democrats are really stuck in a corner on the next nominee. Anybody short of a Robert Bork, and in particular a woman or minority, has a fairly easy road to establish that they belong in the "mainstream." And given the near certainty (in my opinion) that this President will keep his word and nominate a solid conservative, I would say it's also nearly certain that a filibuster is in the offing.

And I don't think the American people are going to buy that the Senate has an obligation to NOT VOTE on a nominee; nor do I think the Gang of 14 can hold together through this sort of highly visible public battle.
Posted by: Michael / 9/29/2005 11:23:00 PM

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