The Political Fish

Judge Sonia Sotomayor today was cleared by the Senate Judiciary Commitee by a 13-6 vote along party lines, to be moved into the Senate for a full confirmation hearing to the Supreme Court of the United States. Party line vote, except for one….

Senator Lindsey Graham, who all but admitted he would vote against his conscience during his opening statement in the hearing, was the lone GOP vote that allowed Sotomayor to get past the committee and into a full vote. Rule 4 of the Judiciary committee states that the candidate needs at least one vote from the minority party in order to clear through the panel. Senator Graham saw to it today that he was that lone vote. The singular reason she is able to sweep into the Senate, where confirmation is all but guaranteed.

Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) wrote an op-ed in the USA Today yesterday detailing why he would vote against Judge Sotomayor, laying out clearly that her decisions (the majority of which have been overturned by the Supreme Court) go against the Constitution.

In the end, her testimony served as a repudiation of judicial activism.But pledging “fidelity to the law” and practicing judicial restraint are different things. Which Sotomayor will we get? At the hearings, which were praised for their substance and respectful tone, we looked closely at the record:

 

– Her 2006 private property decision permitted the government to take property from one developer and give it to another.

 

– Her 2008 Ricci decision allowed a city to discriminate against one group of firefighters because of their race. That ruling was recently reversed by the Supreme Court.

 

– Her 2009 Second Amendment decision would give states the power to ban firearms.

These rulings have three things in common. Each was contrary to the Constitution. Each was decided in a brief opinion, short on analysis. And each was consistent with liberal political thought.

I don’t believe that Judge Sotomayor has the deep-rooted convictions necessary to resist the siren call of judicial activism. She has evoked its mantra too often. As someone who cares deeply about our great heritage of law, I must withhold my consent.

Apparently, these clearly articulated Constitutional values do not hold water with Senator Graham. Apparently, the voices of his constituency do not hold water with Mr. Graham. Reagan.org along with a host of other conservative organizations in South Carolina and across the country pushed hard to convince Mr. Graham to vote with the Constitution. He chose today to enable the majority party to continue their slash and burn on our sacred founding document.

Senator Graham today exudes for all of us to see exactly what is wrong with the Republican party. Even moderate voices in the committee such as Senator Chuck Grassley and Senator Orrin Hatch could not bring themselves to vote in favor of Judge Sotomayor. Senator Graham showed a lack of conscience and principle in stating his opposition on ideological grounds, stating his distaste for her judicial philosophy, stating his entire mindset of political posturing and division, and voting her through anyways. Its spineless, and as I have opined before on this blog, dangerous for the GOP and for America.

Well done Senator Graham, your legacy had just changed. And it will live on throughout the career of nearly confirmed, future Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

You can believe that you will be hearing from your constituency today, and when you come back up for re-election.

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