February 28, 2007
DID I SAY "SCALIA?" I MEANT, "SOUTER":
Giuliani-Appointed Judges Tend to Lean to the Left (Ben Smith, February 28, 2007, Politico)
When Rudy Giuliani faces Republicans concerned about his support of gay rights and legal abortion, he reassures them that he is a conservative on the decisions that matter most."I would want judges who are strict constructionists because I am," he told South Carolina Republicans last month. "Those are the kinds of justices I would appoint -- Scalia, Alito and Roberts."
But most of Giuliani's judicial appointments during his eight years as mayor of New York were hardly in the model of Chief Justice John Roberts or Samuel Alito -- much less aggressive conservatives in the mold of Antonin Scalia.
A Politico review of the 75 judges Giuliani appointed to three of New York state's lower courts found that Democrats outnumbered Republicans by more than 8 to 1. One of his appointments was an officer of the International Association of Lesbian and Gay Judges. Another ruled that the state law banning liquor sales on Sundays was unconstitutional because it was insufficiently secular.
A third, an abortion-rights supporter, later made it to the federal bench in part because New York Sen. Charles E. Schumer, a liberal Democrat, said he liked her ideology.
Cumulatively, Giuilani's record was enough to win applause from people like Kelli Conlin, the head of NARAL Pro-Choice New York, the state's leading abortion-rights group. "They were decent, moderate people," she said.
The candidate of New York City values.
Posted by Orrin Judd at February 28, 2007 10:22 PM
Thank you, Mr. Judd. This was extremely informative.
Posted by: Gerald at March 1, 2007 1:32 PMOrrin, your hero might be in a better position to criticize Rudy if he would only stop being dumber than four mules tied together. McCain (a.k.a. Mr. Senility) went on the NYC-based Letterman show last night to announce that the lives of American soldiers were "wasted" in Iraq. Today he's doing backflips:
"Last evening, I referred to American casualties in Iraq as wasted. I should have used the word, sacrificed, as I have in the past."
Wasted lives. Just the ticket for GOP primary voters. But hey, the New York Times thinks their lives were wasted, so of course McCain agrees.
Before I recommended that McCain never give another interview to the NYT. Now I recommend that he stay out of New York City, period. The town makes him even dumber than usual.
As for Rudy's judges, he picked Democrats in New York. Shocking. But McCain can never exploit even itty-bitty specks like these if he insists on being stupid. There's a reason the Arizona grouch was fifth-last in his Annapolis class. Every time he opens his mouth, he slips further towards fourth place in the GOP primary.
Posted by: Casey Abell at March 1, 2007 1:44 PMHero? I'm not even a fan.
It would be smart of the Senator politically though to strand the Mayor as the only pro-War candidate.
Posted by: oj at March 1, 2007 4:10 PM