The Sotomayor Hearings Expose the Judicial Activism Myth

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The Republican Myth is that they are the party of "Conservatism." The party, its disciples and talking heads are selling a right wing activist agenda on the American people that has no real grounding in modern time honored principles of "Conservatism". To the contrary. Neconservatives have taken hold of what most think of as American Conservatism and they are not following any logical intellectual pattern that emanates from the principles espoused by the Godfather of Modern Conservatism, Barry Goldwater. Much of what is passed off as "Conservatism" is farcical right wing activism. The corporate mainstream media may have more liberal, intellectual and thoughtful folks among their ranks, but ownership of most if not all of the mainstream media is in the hands of the most right wing forces in American Society. Barry Goldwater is rolling over in his grave right now. Anything that is not right wing activism is falsely labeled leftist. They perverted and demonized the term "liberal" beginning in the 1980's and now are falsely trying to co-opt the term conservative for what is most right wing activism.

Christopher London of NY 4:09PM August 06, 2009

I'm so tired of Justices being labeled "activist" every time they uphold the Constitution.
I prefer a Court that errs on the side of caution. A Court that looks at a law that could be in violation of the Constitution and strikes it down. A Court that says to the legislature, "Whoa there! We think you crossed the line."
The Court's job is to make sure that the government doesn't overstep its bounds. To make sure that the government doesn't try to exercise more power than the Constitution has granted it.
A Court like that sounds awfully conservative to me. So, how come this isn't the kind of Court the party of small government is in favor of?

Meryl of CA 1:21PM July 14, 2009

Right-wingers now roundly deplore
The "activist" Sotomayor;
But the next time they screech
About court overreach
Just remind them of Bush vs. Gore.
News Short n' Sweet by JFD8
http://twitter.com/JFD8

JFD8 of CT 12:23PM July 14, 2009

That prohibits congresspersons from making any more speeches once elected so that they have ample time to actually do the work of the nation.
All that the confirmation committee accomplished yesterday was making speeches.
The day was totally wasted as far as doing the business of confirming the nominee.
This is the pattern of all congressional committees as long as tv cameras are present.
We already know that congresspersons are accomplished speech makers by the time they are elected (or sometimes appointed by the same court that the nominee is supposed to be being confirmed to become a member of==my bad English).
So, I will end this comment lest I become identified as a speech maker.

HillbillyBill of TN 7:09AM July 14, 2009

Schaefer says abortion is "evil." In Isaiah, the Lord days He creates evil. Abortion is surgery that ends cell division. The zygote has 2 cells, the egg entered by sperm. That is at 4 weeks. Then the blastocyst attaches to womb wall. Two of the cells are part of the amniotic sac and placenta. At 8 weeks, the collection of cells is the size of a kidney bean. If Pro-Life forces the woman to wait to 3 months, the doctor must deal with an ounce of cells filling a length of 3 inches. At 4 months, the cartilage is turning to bone. Pro-Lifers tell horrible lies to make people obey church law that bans abortion. They hire artists and photographers to create inaccurate drawings and posters that do TERRIFY girls and women and make them give up abortion. Pro-Lifers believe all conceptions have the potential to "accept Christ and become tithers," If a person pays the 10% lifetime tithe for forty years on a yearly income of $40,000, that's $160,000. (.10 x $40,000 x 40 = $160,000) It's all about MONEY, MONEY, MONEY.

AUra dawn veirs of CA 11:11PM July 13, 2009

While the Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse citation is nice, I prefer Sen. Orrin Hatch's statement:
"I share [President Barack Obama’s] hope that we have arrived at a point in our country’s history where individuals can be examined and even criticized for their views, no matter what their race or gender. If those standards were appropriate when Sen. Obama opposed Republican nominees, they should be appropriate now that President Obama is choosing his own nominees."

Peter M. of NY 9:25PM July 13, 2009

one would notice that Sotomayor was FOLLOWING precendent with her decision on the court of appeals---only to be over-turned 5/4 by the right-wing side of the Roberts Court which itself was "activist" and did not follow either precedent or the spirit of the law.

Muser of NM 9:25PM July 13, 2009

Chief Justice Roberts promised Congress that her would take an "umpire" approach on the court. So far, he has consistently sided with the prosecution over the defendant, the corporation over the individual, the strong over the weak. He is the walking, talking definition of the activist judge, courtesy the Bushies.

jack mclaughlin of CA 6:51PM July 13, 2009

Not Clarence Thomas. He's just retarded.

Sam of TX 5:37PM July 13, 2009

is judicial activism on steroids - And stop that tired old crap about "women's health" ... More than 95% of aborted babies die because a couple irresponsibly engaged in sex and then found it more "convenient" to kill the baby than to accept responsibility for their actions - even for 9 months.
At least have the intellectual honesty to swallow the evil of abortion without the sugar coating.

R.L. Schaefer of CA 5:21PM July 13, 2009