What Is Pat Leahy Thinking?

[babylonsister]

What Is Pat Leahy Thinking?
By: Christy Hardin Smith Sunday February 24, 2008 7:00 am


Last week. Sen. Pat Leahy managed to sneak a judicial nominee hearing in under cover of recess, scheduling the hearing on the fly...and reportedly leaving a number of Democratic Senators and their staffers on the committee less-than-pleased at his high-handed tactics on scheduling this. What is Pat Leahy thinking?

I'm trying to get to the bottom of it. Here's what I know:

-- Catharina Haynes is a former Texas District Court judge who has been nominated by the Bushies to a seat on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals -- which covers Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Every other judge on the Fifth Circuit has been appointed by a Republican president, to a court which used to stand up for civil rights concerns but now sadly rubber stamps Bush Administration gutting of enforcement. (Can you hear the blistering speech that Barbara Jordan would have given about something like this?)

-- Haynes has a relatively tiny paper trail, leaving not much to be discerned about her judicial temperament, which is likely one of the reasons she was nominated. That and she's currently a partner at Baker Botts, after losing re-election to the bench in 2006.

-- This WH has a pattern of nominating people with relatively tiny paper trails to judicial positions so that public objection potential and real oversight is muted on that basis. Remember Alito and Roberts, for starters? But do you think for a moment that the Monica Goodling clones working at the DOJ's Office of Legal Process haven't vetted her from stem to stern (the current head of the department was a Larry Silberman clerk)?

-- I have heard through the grapevine from sources that Judiciary staffers and several Democratic Senators were not pleased (fuming was one word that I heard) about the high-handed, swift and without consulting colleagues way this hearing was scheduled -- because many of the Senators who would have liked to question the nominee were not able to be there due to the quick nature of the hearing being scheduled.

more...

http://firedoglake.com/2008/02/24/what-is-pat-leahy-thinking/

[Vanje]

1. Pat Leahy is taking Dick Cheneys advice

The Senator is fucking himself

[babylonsister]

2. I wouldn't say that and no one knows, but his actions do beg

some questions and answers.

[madokie]

3. all I can think of is if we don't have Pat Leahy then who do we have on our side

our supposed ranks are getting mighty thin

[anamandujano]

4. He's endorsed Obama, right?

Correct me if I'm wrong.

[bbgrunt]

5. they are all taking turns fucking us over--

Reid, Pelosi, Shumer, Feinstein, Conyers, and now Leahy. There are so many disappointments that it is hard not to conclude that it is orchestrated.