The new, improved bipartisan Bush, but wait ... White House Resubmits 6 Court Nominees By DEVLIN BARRETT, The Associated Press Nov 15, 2006 5:30 PM (2 hrs 30 mins ago) Current rank: # 1 of 9,810 articles WASHINGTON - The Bush administration, trying to push through judicial nominations before Republicans lose control of the Senate, resubmitted six nominees deemed by Democrats too conservative for the federal bench. Five nominees were the subject of an angry exchange in August when Democrats said their selection was a sop to the president's conservative base. The White House on Wednesday submitted Terrence Boyle of North Carolina and William James Haynes II of Virginia to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va.; Michael Brunson Wallace of Mississippi to the 5th Circuit in New Orleans; Peter Keisler of Maryland to the District of Columbia Circuit; and William Gerry Myers III and Norman Randy Smith, both of Idaho, for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco. Everyone except Keisler has generated intense opposition from Democrats. ...
Damn straight. Hey! Where's basso? He should be here, telling us how awful it is that Bush has renominated these guys. After all, basso claims that Bush isn't his hero, and that he supports him only because Democrats are, well, whatever basso thinks Democrats are. D&D... Truck Stop!
This is a formality. Nothing more. It's no news. Don't read anything into it. Everyone knows the controversial nominees have zero chance of being approved.
Nothing is going to happen during the lame duck session in terms of nominees. Arlen Specter pretty much came out and said that he wasn't going to sneak anything through. Also, Lincoln Chafee pretty much came out and said he was voting with the democrats on everything so the Bolton nomination isn't getting out of committee either.
The President did not have to resubmit these names; thus, it was not a formality. It was politics. These names need to be voted down, to provide fodder for campaign fund raising letters.
Whatever. The administration had already decided to submit these names again after the election for political purposes. The vote (or filibuster) to stop/reject these nominees is also a formality. Everyone already knows they will go down to defeat. This is no news.
