John McCain castigates Obama on judges

Just thought this was interesting ....

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Republican John McCain castigated Democrat Barack Obama for voting against John Roberts as Supreme Court chief justice in a speech about the kind of judges McCain would nominate.

McCain offered an olive branch to the Christian right in a speech planned for Tuesday at Wake Forest University. The far right has been deeply suspicious of McCain, the expected GOP presidential nominee, because he has clashed with its leaders and worked against them on issues like campaign finance reform.

McCain promised to appoint judges who, in the mold of Roberts and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, are likely to limit the reach of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.

"They would serve as the model for my own nominees if that responsibility falls to me," McCain said in his prepared speech.

Obama likes to talk up his image as someone who works with Republicans to get things done, McCain said. Yet Obama "went right along with the partisan crowd, and was among the 22 senators to vote against this highly qualified nominee," McCain said.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, Obama's rival, also voted against Roberts, although McCain focused his criticism on Obama......

The terror these people would bring down on the populace of the US?

How Quaint!

Clinton in 2005: "I agree with McCain" on long term Iraq presence.


Three years ago, during an appearance on CBS, Sen. Hillary Clinton stated that she agreed with the overarching premise of John McCain's Iraq policy: that America's commitment to the war shouldn't be based on time frames but rather on the level of troop casualties. She even cited, as McCain now regularly does, that the United States would be well suited to follow a model for troop presence based on South Korea, Japan, or Germany.

"Senator McCain made the point earlier today, which I agree with, and that is, it's not so much a question of time when it comes to American military presence for the average American; I include myself in this. But it is a question of casualties," said Clinton. "We don't want to see our young men and women dying and suffering these grievous injuries that so many of them have. We've been in South Korea for 50-plus years. We've been in Europe for 50-plus. We're still in Okinawa with respect to protection there coming out of World War II."...........

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/05/clinton-in-2005-i-agree-w_n_100168.html

and thought that he was a poor choice. Most troubling wasn't his positions on the issues, but his belief that his judgment is vastly superior to anyone else's. I remember one comment in particular when he was asked to explain how he reaches judicial decisions (common question for these hearings), and he said that he might look at the oral arguments and briefs from the lawyers, but that they're rarely helpful. And he said it in a way as if to suggest that it was a burden to have to sit in court while lawyers made their arguments. I thought that comment alone was good enough to rationalize voting against him. Too closed-minded to even listen to arguments does NOT make a good judge. Alito actually came across as a very competent judge. McCain should have made the point about Alito, not Roberts. Roberts was too power-hungry to make a good Chief Justice.