Bush defies EVERYONE. Again.

In an unprecented act of defiance . . . oh wait. Let me start over. In yet ANOTHER act of political defiance, President Bush has gone against the advice of both Republican and Democratic politicians, naming conservative federal appellate judge John G. Roberts, Jr. as his Supreme Court candidate. Roberts, long considered one of the Republicans' legal heavyweights, was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in 2003 by Bush. He was also nominated to the same court by Bush's father, president George H.W. Bush, but never received a Senate vote. (Washington Post) Although he has never made a judicial ruling on abortion, Roberts has voted against reproductive rights legislation as well as explicitly stated the consitituion does not validate Roe v. Wade and that it should be overturned. As one of the government's top lawyers before the Supreme Court, he argued in 1990 in favor of a government regulation that banned abortion-related counseling by federally-funded family planning programs. A line in his brief noted the first Bush administration's belief that Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, should be overruled. The brief said the court's conclusion "that there is a fundamental right to an abortion . . . finds no support in the text, structure or history of the Constitution." (Washington Post) And since we've become fond of the overwhelming feelings of pain and defeat, this should be no surprise: Republicans have a 10-to-8 advantage on the Judiciary Committee, and they have 55 seats in the Senate, so chances for confirmation would appear to be good - unless the nominee's views arouse enough opposition to inspire a Democratic filibuster. (NYTimes) So as I see it, we've got two options: hope that 1) Roberts starts talkin' crazy or 2) it leaks that he slept with a minor. While your fingers are crossed for the latter, take action however you can.