ESTRADA PRECEDENT

The Democrats succeeded in preventing a vote on the nomination of "highly qualified" Miguel Estrada to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The press is calling this a setback for the Bush Administration, and it is. It will be a major Constitutional failure if the nomination is defeated by the Democrats' filibuster, effectively requiring 60 votes to confirm judges despite the Constitutional requirement of only a majority of Senators. Of course, we know that Democrats don't really care about the Constitution anyway, but this is a breathtaking power grab as Tom Daschle gives the finger to Madison, Hamilton, et al.

Daschle and Schumer claim they don't have enough information about Mr. Estrada, despite a day-long hearing (more than most get) and opportunity after opportunity to submit written questions to Mr. Estrada -- the most recent opportunity was this weekend, but no Democrat offered any questions. Instead, they want all the memos he wrote while working in the Solicitor General's office, despite a letter from all living Solicitors General supporting the White House's decision not to release them (that includes four Democrats and liberal hero Archibald "Saturday Night Massacre" Cox). You wouldn't know this if you read The Nation's story, so the left will continue to be misinformed. Ignorance is bliss, after all.

But The Nation did get one thing right. While reporting Daschle's lame excuse for screwing the Constitution, The Nation's John Nichols made it clear who was really pulling the Democrat Caucus' strings....People For the American Way, which "has been a key player in the campaign to block Estrada's nomination as part of a broader effort to prevent the Administration from packing the federal courts with rightwing judicial activists." But I thought we didn't know enough about Mr. Estrada's views...that he was a stealth candidate? No, they just fear he is conservative and that's reason enough to wipe their feet on the Constitution.