Bush to nominate Latino to Supreme Court?
[It is a sad state of affairs when the nomination of someone like this guy, is viewed as a positive development. Have our expectations fallen so low? -Thomas]
Bush Ally Is Top Contender for Nomination to Supreme Court
White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, the soft-spoken son of migrant farm workers, has emerged as the overwhelming favorite for a Supreme Court nomination in the months ahead, a move that would give President Bush a historic and politically powerful chance to name the first Latino to the nation’s highest court.
[…]
As White House counsel, Gonzales has moved to strengthen Bush’s power as a wartime commander by saying, for example, that the president on his own authority can designate terrorism suspects as “enemy combatants” and lock them up without criminal charges, a trial or even access to a lawyer.
At the same time, he has moved to shield the White House from outside scrutiny. His office refused a request from the General Accounting Office to learn who met with Vice President Cheney when he was formulating the administration’s energy plan.
The GAO went to court, but the administration won the first round when Judge John Bates, a new Bush appointee, threw out the lawsuit.
Gonzales also won plaudits from conservatives for ending the American Bar Assn.’s long-standing special role in evaluating judicial nominees and for surrounding himself with young lawyers with conservative credentials. They include Brett Kavanaugh, 37, formerly a key staffer for Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr and the reputed author of much of the “Starr Report” that called for President Clinton’s impeachment.
Source article in L.A. Times linked to from the page above.
Commonweal Institute buzzer: the LAT article ends with a quote from “Roger Clegg, general counsel for the Center for Equal Opportunity” (implicitly identified as conservative). Note: there’s also a quote from “Nan Aron, who heads the liberal Alliance for Justice” (he is apparently the go to person on the liberal side when it comes to judicial nominees). Let’s check MediaTransparency.org, shall we? Hmm… I see $2.7 million for the Equal Opportunity Foundation, $1.7 million of which is aimed at the Center. Or $1.9 million… it isn’t really clear. Lots of dollars, though. They’re part of the Federalist Society cabal. These people have some scary ideas!
