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Leftist Desperation Culminates in Times Editorial

by John F. Tamburo, Editor in Chief, Publisher
Originally Posted: 1/26/2006 11:58:18 AM
Last Updated: 1/26/2006 12:00:22 PM

The New York Times has issued a strongly-worded editorial urging the extreme leftists in the Senate (i.e.: All Democrats except Nelson, Lieberman and Johnson) to filibuster the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.  They acknowledge that such a move will fail, although they predict that the filibuster would be killed by cloture rather than the Nuclear option.  Read the editorial here.  At least one Senator, Mary Landrieu of Louisana, has come out againt the NYT suggestion.  Not because she disagrees with their premise, mind you, but because she does not want anything to get in the way of hurricane Katrina relief funding that will benefit her state.  So now, we finally see it.  Desperation.  Last-stand desperation reminiscent of Hitler in the bunker in April 1945.

"Just three weeks ago, Democrats were swaggering around D.C., bragging that they would retake both houses of Congress in 2006, and the White House with Hillary Clinton in 2008.  Since then, James Carville and Paul Begala are touring the talk circuit with the Democrats’ eulogy and Hillary Clinton has a firm 51% vote -- against her."

Just three weeks ago, Democrats were swaggering around D.C., bragging that they would retake both houses of Congress in 2006, and the White House with Hillary Clinton in 2008.  Since then, James Carville and Paul Begala are touring the talk circuit with the Democrats’ eulogy and Hillary Clinton has a firm 51% vote -- against her.  Others are urging the Democrats to cut the pro-"choice" / anti-life movement loose, as Ann Coulter notes with no small amount of well-deserved satisfaction.  How does that jibe with the co-ordinated Alito-hearings attack, the primary subject of which was Roe v. Wade?  The Times’ editorial is also primarily an expression of terror at the spectre of the end of mass murdering the unborn.

The Times makes passing mention of other issues, such as the illusory "elevating the presidency over everything else" argument.  Judge Alito is a scrupulously honest man.  He testified that the President is not above the law.  The Times assumes he lied.  In fact, they wondered openly why he did not lie, as they implicitly libel Chief Justice Roberts: "Judge Alito’s refusal to even pretend to sound like a moderate was telling because it would have cost him so little. Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., who was far more skillful at appearing mainstream at the hearings, has already given indications that whatever he said about the limits of executive power when he was questioned by the Senate has little practical impact on how he will rule now that he has a lifetime appointment."

"Honest judges have severe reservations about the notion that the Constitution means one thing on Monday and another on Tuesday, depending on which liberal interest needs servicing.  And this is the root of their desperation."

The Left assumes that the Right lies to get power, just like they do.  They cannot countenance that there is such a thing as an honest judge.  And that’s what worries them.  Honest judges have severe reservations about the notion that the Constitution means one thing on Monday and another on Tuesday, depending on which liberal interest needs servicing.  And this is the root of their desperation.  Yes, it is important to the Left to appear that they actually care about civil rights.  In lieu of actually giving minorities equal opportunity, they throw a bone to some unqualified college students and government contractors, give them token "equality" and call it "affirmative action."  That way, they ensure that their clubs full of rich white liberals remain full of rich white liberals.  They look as if they care about the poor by throwing government money at them (after all, it’s not their money since most of them are living off of trust funds that are effectively sheltered from taxes).  They give illusions of liberty in lieu of actual liberty. 

The tide, however, has turned.  The government is controlled by more conservative factions, who seek and achieve true Liberty.  The Constitution has a firm meaning to Judge Sam Alito.  That is what is "frightening" about Judge Alito on the court.  He is not a liberal who will mold the Constitution to fit his world view, ala justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Stevems and Souter.  It does not matter how leftist the 9th Circuit is if the Supremes are loyal to the Constitution.  The 9th will just get reversed over and over again.  Terrorists will not get superior rights to the citizens who they kill.

"As to the illusion issue of Presidential powers, a conservative court will limit the executive power to strictly comport with the Constitution.  This, in the long run, will benefit the Congress, unless its goal is to emasculate the executive and return the country to the era of the Whigs."

As to the illusion issue of Presidential powers, a conservative court will limit the executive power to strictly comport with the Constitution.  This, in the long run, will benefit the Congress, unless its goal is to emasculate the executive and return the country to the era of the Whigs.  This is ironic, since the ideological heirs to the Whigs are the Republicans.  Democrats are the party of Andrew "almost a despot" Jackson.  The Clinton presidency was one where the executive tried to extend his powers; the G.W. Bush presidency has made unprecedented efforts to accomodate the Congress and seek its permission before acting, even where previous acts of Congress gave the President the power to act without consulting the Congress.

The Democrats can see the writing on the wall.  They are becoming absolutely irrelevant.  Their response to the country’s rightward move has been to go even further to the left.  And they wonder why Ohio stomped on all of their election stealing ballot initiatives.  And now, the leftists whose accuracy is essential to their livelihood, like Carville and Begala, are out there saying there is desperate trouble.  The Howard Deans of this world can live in la-la land and predict the 180 degree turn of the electorate in 2006, but the simple fact is that the Democrats and their extreme leftism are a rolling snowball about 500 feet down the mountain.  Their destruction is picking up momentum, and the extreme left factions are behind the snowball giving it a big push.

This desperation is not a good thing for us.  Why?  Because we’ll lose in the end.  We’ll get powerful and complacent and forget our ideals.  We’ll start acting based not on our values but our desire to retain power.  And the left will resurge.  True, this may happen while I am approaching 90 years of age.  But we have the capacity to stop it.  We simply have to keep on reminding ourselves what we stand for, and the people as well.  However, with no effective opposition, we’ll not be motivated to do so.  To that end, I, like Sean Hannity, wish that the Left would listen to Carville and Begala and others, and come up with an intellectual challenge to us.  That will sharpen us and make us able to continue to cleave to our values.