by Senate Democrats have managed to confirm only eleven of over thirty judicial appointments made by President Bush, this according to the Houston Chronicle. While there seems to be plenty of time to posture over Houston’s own Enron scandal and more than enough time to pester President Bush over a decade-old, trivial stock transaction, there apparently are not enough hours in the day for Congress to perform one of its simplest functions: confirm nominated judicial candidates.
Read about a specific case, Texas’ own Priscilla Owen in the Houston Chronicle.
This has been a problem for many years. Long enough, this author suspects, that no one can remember who initiated the process of politicizing the appointment of judges. It is time to put an end to this pathetic display of partisan bickering. Congressmen, do your jobs. Confirmation of judges is an embarassingly simple function that revolves around one simple question: is the person competent to apply the law in the cases set before him or her?
It is time, as President Bush alluded to some two years ago, to return a sense of decorum, filiaty, and duty to politics. Once again: Congressmen, do your jobs.
