James Rowley
16 minutes ago
Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Senate, over the objections of most Democrats and civil rights groups, confirmed a Bush administration appeals court nominee who has been accused of insensitivity to racism.
The Senate voted 59-38 to approve President George W. Bush's nomination of Leslie Southwick, 57, of Mississippi to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after 12 Democrats voted with Republicans to shut off debate on the appointment. Republicans warned that blocking Southwick by use of a filibuster could subject judicial nominees of a future Democratic president to the same treatment.
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Three Democratic senators seeking their party's 2008 presidential nomination -- Hillary Clinton of New York, Barack Obama of Illinois and Joseph Biden of Delaware -- voted against ending the filibuster. Democrat Chris Dodd of Connecticut, also a presidential hopeful, didn't vote.
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Feinstein ``took a tough stand and she showed a lot of courage,'' Mississippi Republican Trent Lott told a news conference today, choking back tears.
Feinstein said today that fights over judges can hurt both parties, and ``It's got to end.''
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Every time we take a look at the United States attorney scandal, more evidence emerges that Alberto Gonzales politicized the Justice Department to the point where it sometimes seems like a branch of the Republican National Committee.
Yesterday, for example, Richard Thornburgh, a former Republican attorney general, told a Congressional hearing that his client, Dr. Cyril Wecht, a Democratic officeholder in Pennsylvania, was indicted on federal charges that should not be federal charges by a United States attorney who targeted Democrats.
more Former AG Unsparing in Criticism of Bush DoJRoll Call (Southwick)NAYs ---38
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Brown (D-OH)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Clinton (D-NY)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Kerry (D-MA)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Kohl (D-WI)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
McCaskill (D-MO)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Obama (D-IL)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (D-NY)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Webb (D-VA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)
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Senator Reid:
“There is no reason why the President can’t find a nominee with a record of fairly representing all people. If we reject Judge Southwick, the president would still have an opportunity to nominate a more suitable candidate.
“Judge Southwick’s record has been fully documented by my colleagues who have spoken before me. His most grievous failure – a failure to give full weight to the vile meaning and history of the N-word – is deeply disturbing and cannot be overlooked.
“I urge all my colleagues to join me in voting no, so that we can find a candidate truly befitting this important and lifetime appointment, a candidate who will give the people of the Fifth Circuit the confidence they deserve that their claim to justice will be heard with the respect and equality that every American citizen deserves.”
Does anyone remember Roberts and Alito, when Republicans played politics with the Supreme Court?