TASTELESS: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

Somebody Somewhere Will Try to Sell You the Story of John Roberts.  Much will be made of his experience and his judicial temperment.  You will be sold the story that the President deserves to have his choice respected and if the man is capable, the Senate must capitulate to those compelling realities.

The Choice Is Whether We Live In The Light Of This Century or whether we return to a darkness of the past.  John Roberts is a two hundred rich white man in younger man's body.

John Roberts Is Entitled To His Opinions, legal and otherwise.  Whether we have to live with them will soon be decided by other, mostly rich, mostly white men in the United States Senate.  Whether more women die for Roberts' opinions is certainly worth a fight.

The Picture of John Roberts Is Tasteless and meant to leave a bad taste in the mouth.  Whether this is but a taste of things to come is up to you.

Comments

[Michael Hawkins]

I'm sitting here listening to the hearings on Pacifica, and what keeps coming to mind is that this guy is already in there. All the kleig lights, TV cameras, water pitchers, microphones, spectator galleries and plush carpeting amount to nothing more than an elaborate stage show. The D's asking "tough" questions understand that their presence is superfluous, that they're just going through the motions. For them, as U.S. Senators, the game has altered slightly, only to continue tomorrow and the next day.

For the rest of us, the stage show really does represent a significant step toward a return to the Dark Ages. The changes come slowly but methodically. We are frogs in a water-filled pan over a medium flame. Most of us don't realize that we're being cooked.

[Agi T. Prop]

It's a pure dog and pony show. The Senate might as well slap a black robe on him and prop him up in his Chief Justice chair. I've listened a little bit today. He sounds like a typical lawyer speaking legalese and weaseling his way out of all the questions.

I know that everyone talks about Roe v. Wade but we shouldn't forget what other damage he can do. I don’t mean to diminish these important issues but what about his views on separation of powers?

So far I think Senator Leahy asked the best question which dealt with executive power. His question was a hypothetical (and I'm paraphrasing here):

What if the Congress were to approve a bill ordering the withdrawal of U.S. forces from a foreign country, then, the president vetoed it, but then Congress overrides his veto… would Roberts support the decision of Congress or grant the president special executive powers to continue the war against the wishes of Congress.

Clearly Leahy was referring to Iraq.

He based his question off of Roberts' defense of Reagan's actions in Lebanon. Apparently Roberts supported Reagan’s wishes to prosecute war without the approval of Congress. Roberts defended the actions of the Iran Contra scandal.

From that I think we can infer how we will defend Bush's powers to conduct eternal warfare in the War on Everything...

[Shakespeare's Sister]

So far, I pretty much think he's a nightmare, but I stand by my first impression, which is that he's not as soul-shattering a nightmare as I would have predicted from a Bush nominee.

[jillian]

Here's an image for you...

http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2005/9/13/215252/238/3#3

[xristim]

A fine legal mind mummy-bound in ultra-conservative wrappings from which it will probably never struggle free. I suspect he's still weighing whether it was really a good idea to allow women the vote and status as human beings rather than chattel.

He is so waxenly, amiably perfect that I am automatically suspicious of him...particularly when I see photographs of his wife, who looks sunken-cheeked and strained.

[Linkmeister]

Kabuki, I agree.

[Kate S.]

His eyes are freaking me out. Pin-point pupils, that strained, "contact-lenses bug me" stare, and what the hell color is that mud that is supposed to be his irises? The texture is all wrong. He has his concerned, "please, purty please like me, 'cuz I'm innocent and for the Law" look down really well, though. Typical. Wolf in sheep's clothing; Bush lap-dog in black robes, same difference. Notice how he got blasted up from just a supreme court nominee to head, uh, bobbing head, on a rocket ship, while everyone was distracted by the other mud, down south.