Obstructing Justice

Ari Fleischer blames the "liberal wing" of the Democratic Party for monkeywrenching the nomination of Miguel Estrada to the US Court of Appeals. "Some Democrats view the lesson of the last election as to go out and to run as far to the left as possible," he said. "The reemergence of the liberal wing of the Democratic party is in full swing, which is making many of the moderates of the Democratic party increasingly uncomfortable." He called the Democratic filibuster an "obstructionist tactic." In fact, what the Dems want is some basic information on Estrada's philosophy as a judge. A reasonable request considering an Appeals Court judgeship is seen by many as a stopover on the way to the Supreme Court.

During Judiciary Committee hearings last year, Estrada was utterly evasive, offering only this repeated phrase on his judicial philosophy: "My view of the judicial function, Senator, does not allow me to answer that question." And: "I'm very firmly of the view that although we all have views on a number of subjects from A to Z, the job of a judge is to subconsciously put that aside and look at each case . . . with an open mind." Sen. Chuck Schumer says that, "By remaining silent Mr. Estrada only buttressed the fear that he's a far-right stealth nominee, a... candidate who will drive the nation's second most important court out of the mainstream." If you recall, George W. Bush ran for president as a moderate, a "unifier not a divider," but has since showed his true colors by squandering the world's goodwill after September 11, isolating key allies France and Germany, insulting the UN and destabilizing NATO. What he did was unite the world--against him, as 30 million world citizens spoke out against his war on Iraq on Saturday. A wolf in sheep's clothing Estrada, too, might be. But to characterize the Democrats' filibuster as an tantrum by the liberal wing of the party continues the Republicans' so-far-successful campaign of pushing the national dialogue further to the right. They convinced the world the media has a "liberal bias." And now they're saying that seeking full-disclosure in judicial nominations is "liberal"? Of course, in the age of Operation TIPS, Code Orange, and the USA Patriot Act, it most certainly is.

Click here to urge your senator to keep the pressure on Estrada and Bush for full disclosure. Or visit MoveOn.org to learn more.