Janice Rogers Brown - the easiest choice...

President Bush has had plenty of time to look over replacement candidates for retiring Supremes but O'Connor's unexpected move gives the White House an opportunity to appoint a true reliable originalist to the court and make history at the same time - and Democrats would have a nearly impossible task ahead of them.

For the record, I am totally opposed to an appointment simply because of race or gender. In my opinion Brown is not only a leading candidate but is likely headed to the Supreme Court sooner or later (assuming we get at least one more retirement in the next three years) so what better time than now?

Brendan Miniter in OpinionJournal.com today lays out the case:

She's a conservative with a long record on California's Supreme Court and had been one of several judges being filibustered by Senate Democrats. But after being confirmed last month, she now sits on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, a court that has produced more than its share of Supreme Court justices. Thanks to the deal seven Democrats hammered out with seven Republicans she is, by definition, not "extreme" enough that her nomination would constitute "extraordinary circumstances" justifying a filibuster.

Anyway, filibustering Judge Brown would also block the first black woman from taking a seat on the high court. Never underestimate the power of "a first" in getting Supreme Court nominee through the Senate. Justice O'Connor, the first woman to sit on the high court, sailed through 99-0 in 1981. Five years later, President Reagan sent up Antonin Scalia to be the first Italian-American to sit on the highest court in the land. He is now the bane of the left, but in 1986, he won confirmation 98-0.

How does a Democrat Senator who just voted for her a month ago say "no" today (with a vote or a filibuster) without completely losing credibility? You get an excellent Associate Justice on the court AND you further expose this obstructionist sham, giving another opportunity for African-Americans to see the hypocrisy of the party they so blindly support. If Democrats want to play politics in this process, Republicans can play just as well.

Posted by: Gary at 09:30 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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