March 29, 2005
What the Schiavo case means for the Dem filibuster of Bush judicial nominees
Frank Cannon and Jeffrey Bell explain in
The Weekly Standard how the "culture of Life" momentum of the Schiavo case will change the dynamics of the Senate filibuster dramatically.
Here's the red meat:
[...]
For President Bush and the social conservatives who comprise the central rampart of his base, the courts' naked assertion of judicial supremacy in deciding the fate of Terri Schiavo represents an important moment. This is because the premise of the Democratic filibuster of the president's conservative judicial nominees is that the Roe v. Wade decision must never again be called into question.
The judicial confirmation debate will now unavoidably be about whether democratic decision-making on abortion should continue to be prohibited by our courts and (effectively) by the American legal profession. From the beginning, those who believed Roe would corrupt the rule of law feared that state sanction of private killing would put all public order and all private restraint in doubt. The fate of Terri Schiavo makes clear that those fears were utterly on target.
Sure enough, we heard yesterday that
Congress is ready "take up rights for the incapacitated."
What can we hope for?
Will they rein in the judiciary now or pass more laws that violate the boundaries of family, home and personal privacy?
