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Stuart Taylor Jr., at the National Journal provides great background on the nomination of Judge Leslie Southwick and explains how liberals are opposing his nomination because he is conservative. Below are some excerpts.
“A Mississippi judge is the latest victim of a judicial confirmation process that has steadily become more degraded by partisan warfare.”
“Of course, liberal groups and Senate Democrats don't admit to opposing Southwick simply for being conservative. But their detailed complaints boil down to just that, as do scurrilous insinuations that Southwick is a bigot -- insinuations denounced by, among others, his former law clerk La'Verne Edney, an African-American. ‘It is unfortunate,’ she has written, that ‘there are some that have made him the chosen sacrifice to promote their agenda.’”
This WSJ article discusses the recent absurd statements by certain senators seeking greater “control” over judicial nominees and exposes the faultiness of their logic. The role of the Senate under the Constitution is to give “advise and consent” to the President regarding judicial nominees, not to “interrogate and control” them. This article shatters the recent myth that all legal precedents must be upheld all the time. If this were the case, such cases as Dread Scott (“the black man has no rights…”) and Plessy v. Ferguson (“separate but equal”) would still be enforced. The role of a judge is to uphold the Constitution and not to slavishly follow wrongly-decided precedent.
Washington Post-ABC News poll
results (scroll down to #44), July 23, 2007
LifeNews.com reports:
“A new
Washington Post-ABC News poll finds that a majority of Americans backed the
Supreme Court's decision earlier this year to uphold a national ban on
partial-birth abortions. The poll is consistent with other surveys showing
Americans strongly opposing the gruesome abortion
procedure.”
For more information on
partial-birth abortion visit the AdvanceUSA pro-life
page.
Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) made an astonishing comment on Friday saying that the Senate should not confirm another Bush nominee for the Supreme Court “except in extraordinary circumstances.” This is a stunning admission of liberal obstruction of judicial nominees by a powerful member of the Senate Democrat leadership. The words of White House spokeswoman Dana Perino, quoted in The Politico, show conservative frustration with the statement:
"This is the kind of blind obstruction that people have come to expect from Sen. Schumer," Perino said. "He has an alarming habit of attacking people whose character and position make them unwilling or unable to respond. That is the sign of a bully.”
Appointing qualified, originalist judges to the bench should be a top priority, and this blatant obstructionism should be a wake-up call to conservatives. For more information on judicial confirmations check the AdvanceUSA pro-justice page.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY)
UPDATE: Information from C-SPAN linked by Instapundit examines the historical precedent for making recess appointments to the Supreme Court.
 AdvanceUSA and a number of conservative groups held a press conference yesterday led by Sen. Specter (R-PA) to correct the record about the sterling record and qualifications of Judge Leslie Southwick and to demand he receive a fair up-or-down vote in the full Senate. Judge Southwick was nominated by President Bush to sit on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, was unanimously rated "well qualified" by the ABA, and volunteered for active duty in Iraq. However, liberal interest groups, determined to prohibit qualified, originalist judges from reaching the federal bench, have sought to derail his nomination through character assassination and blatantly misleading allegations.
Appointing qualified, originalist judges to the federal bench is one of the most important issues facing our nation and should be a high priority for conservatives in Congress and conservative citizens contemplating presidential candidates.
AdvanceUSA has more information on Judge Southwick on its home page and pro-justice page. Also, there are a number of past blog posts about Southwick's nomination, the support for Southwick from Sen. McConnell and from Sen. Specter (transcript here), the broken promises by some senators, and the shameless attempts by some liberals to use Southwick's race against him.
UPDATE: This article from Investors Business Daily adds more helpful perspective on why liberals oppose Judge Southwick so strenuously.
UPDATE: CWA has provided video clips of the press conference in support of Judge Southwick.
A press conference yesterday in the nation’s capital highlighted the amazing success stories of patients who have been treated with their own adult stem cells and the doctors who are on the cutting edge of this exciting and ethical field of research. AdvanceUSA had the pleasure to attend this press conference (see photos below) at the National Press Club sponsored by our friends at FRC and Do No Harm.
Dr. David Prentice led the discussion in which doctors and patients explained the benefits of using adult stem cell treatments. One of the main purposes of the event was to show that there are indeed ethical and effective alternatives to research that destroys human embryos. The U.S. Senate will soon vote on whether to override or sustain President Bush’s veto of an unethical stem cell funding bill so this information is critically important. Another purpose was to raise awareness of a new bill (H.R. 2807) proposed by Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA) and Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL) which intensifies support for the ethical kinds of stem cell research already showing great promise for treatments and cures. The bill has been called “The Patients First Act," focusing attention on the fact that ethical research is already treating real people right now.
To hear a recording of the event click here. For more information on adult stem cell research click here.
See the photos and captions below to learn more about this important press conference.
Can you see the difference? Dr. Amit N. Patel, MD, MS, shows before and after pictures of heart muscle tissue that had received bone marrow stem cells from the patient’s own body in his presentation aptly named “Mending a Broken Heart.” The increased blood vessel growth is obvious. Later, Dr. Patel had the audience in rapt attention when he showed actual footage of heart surgery in which a patient received adult stem cell injections.
At the
recent YouTube Democrat debate the 2008 presidential candidates were asked
whether or not they support the right of same-sex couples to “marry.”
Here is what the candidates (except Sen. Hillary Clinton whose comments on the
federal marriage amendment are included below) had to say…
Below is
video of a Hillary Clinton campaign speech in which she gives her views on the
federal marriage amendment which defines marriage as the union of one man and
one woman only. She also mentions ENDA, a bill in Congress which would
grant special “rights” and privileges to homosexuals regarding employment
matters.
At a
press conference on July 20 Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) lauded Judge Leslie
Southwick and called the attempts to stall and defeat his nomination to the 5th
Circuit Court of Appeals a "manufactured" controversy. Below is a video of Sen. McConnell's
statements followed by an excerpt from the transcript of his remarks.
“I know it won't surprise any of
you to know that we think that whatever controversy
there is about Judge Southwick is manufactured. I mean, it
doesn't exist. An extraordinarily accomplished individual with a
unanimous well-qualified from the American Bar Association. The
Democratic leadership of the Judiciary Committee has said that's the gold
standard.”
“…Southwick should move
forward. I haven't given up hope that he may. And he's
important.”
-Sen. Mitch McConnell, Press
Conference, July 20, 2007 (emphasis
ours)
 The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was originally created to help provide health insurance for children in low-income families who did not fall below the poverty line (eligible for Medicaid) but whose incomes were less than $40,000 a year.
Not surprisingly, the program has expanded to include more than just children and more than just the very poor. There is great fear that this year's reauthorization of SCHIP could drastically expand the number of people eligible to receive funds which would increase government dependency among America's families. Many feel this proposed SCHIP expansion is a dangerous step toward government-controlled universal health care (similar to 1990's Hillarycare). If implemented, this expansion would make as many as 71% of American children eligible for this entitlement which would no doubt draw many away from successful private-sector insurers. In fact some families considered wealthy enough to qualify for the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) would also be eligible for "low-income" SCHIP health care for their children - that means a family earning $80,000 is considered too "poor" for private health care but too "rich" for regular tax rates. Read more ...
Fox News
reports that 29,000 registered sex offenders
were discovered and removed from the popular social networking site
MySpace. This should be a warning for parents to be sure their children
know about the dangers of the internet and to monitor carefully their
children’s internet use.
Some
pro-lifers have been rather pessimistic about the benefits of the recent
Supreme Court decision upholding the federal partial-birth abortion ban.
This article at the Center Blog (which links to other helpful resources) should
bring great encouragement to pro-lifers. Even using conservative
estimates, it seems that since the Court’s decision there have been “582
averted partial-birth abortions and NO women harmed.” Not only are unborn
children being saved from a grizzly death, but because the ban highlights the
humanity of the unborn the pro-abortion cause is also losing ground.
The WSJ
yesterday reported on the dire vacancy crisis on the federal bench and explained
how Senate
Democrats seem to be stalling all the nominees (NOTE: subscription required),
holding out for a Democrat president. Particularly disgraceful is that
the liberal strategy for stalling Judge Leslie Southwick’s nomination for the 5th
Circuit Court claims he is a racist and that Bush should have nominated an
African-American for the seat. One of Southwick’s former clerks (a black
woman) has spoken in support of Southwick seeking to dispel the fabricated myth
of his supposed bigotry. Fortunately Senators like Arlen Specter appear
willing to do battle over this important issue.
How would you respond to the charge that pro-life, pro-family, proponents of traditional values in public life “just want to legislate their morality on others?” What is the difference between what is legal and what is moral? What are we to make of “unjust laws?” These questions are discussed in Ken Connor’s recent column on TownHall.
Concerned and active citizens must think about how morality should effect the public policies they advocate and should be prepared to defend their positions intelligently and politely against a skeptical and often hostile liberal, secularist agenda.
It should
come as no surprise that a recent study finds that 85% of men
convicted of internet child pornography charges have sexually abused a minor.
This indicates that there could be a strong causal link between viewing child pornography
and actually committing sexual crimes on minors. While the vast majority
of attention is given to extreme cases of child pornography and exploitation,
this evidence suggests that a more stringent enforcement of “minor” cases could
have a preventative effect on actual child sexual abuse.
Many
Democrats are seeking to bridge the “faith gap” by communicating religious
sentiments and thus garner more votes from evangelicals than has been the case
in the last three decades. A common tactic is to portray “social justice”
issues such as poverty, health care, and the environment as more important than
traditional concerns over abortion, same-sex marriage (and other family
issues), and the role of religion in the public square. As this WSJ
article reveals, they have their work
cut out for them.
Several pro-life amendments have been proposed to the Labor/Health and Human Services
appropriations bill in the House of Representatives.
- AdvanceUSA
blog reported
on the important
amendment proposed by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), a staunch pro-life
ally, and Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL) which brings the funding of the National Cord
Blood Inventory program to the full $15 million originally allocated for the
program. AdvanceUSA is happy to report that this amendment passed in
committee by a voice vote. Under the original bill the program would have
been drastically under-funded so Congressmen Smith and Davis deserve great
credit for supporting this promising and ethical medical program.
- Rep. Mike
Pence (R-IN) has proposed an amendment which would prevent tax dollars under
Title X (family planning provisions in U.S. law) from going to Planned
Parenthood or any of its affiliates. As recently mentioned
on this blog, Planned Parenthood is a major force for the evil of abortion
in our nation, and any effort to prevent tax-payer dollars from supporting it
should be applauded.
- Rep. Phil
Gingrey (R-GA) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) proposed an amendment which forbids
any of the funds relating to the Labor/HHS bill from being used to enforce mandatory
HPV vaccinations, and it was approved by voice vote yesterday. The
concern is that when state governments force parents to vaccinate their
children for a malady that is spread by sexual content it usurps parental
control over their children’s health care and could undermine parental teaching
on sexual activity.
- Rep. Jean
Schmidt (R-OH) proposed an amendment which would have denied funds for
recipients of Title X money if they do not abide by state reporting
requirements in regard to child abuse, child molestation, sexual abuse, rape,
or incest. There have been numerous cases of alleged abuse coverup by
Planned Parenthood (also see here
and here*),
and efforts to bring real accountability to this organization are
commendable. Unfortunately, the Schmidt amendment was ruled “non-germane”
and was subsequently withdrawn.
* A story
archived at the Cincinnati Enquirer’s website entitled “Planned Parenthood
looked the other way, Mason rape victim says” by Peter Bronson also chronicles
another outrageous Planned Parenthood alleged coverup in Ohio. This article is not free but can
be purchased at Cincinnati.com.
UPDATE: Unfortunately the Pence
amendment to prevent federal funds from supporting Planned Parenthood failed
last night by a vote of 189-231. To see how your representative voted on this
important pro-life amendment click
here.
Yesterday Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), the ranking
member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, took to the Senate floor to defend
the nomination of Judge Leslie Southwick to be an appellate judge on the 5th
Circuit Court. Southwick is an excellent
choice whom radical liberal groups have been seeking to vilify without
cause. In this age of judicial activism
it is crucial that qualified, originalist nominees like Southwick make it to
the federal bench. Below is an excerpt
of Senator Specter’s statements in defense of Southwick, followed by his full
statement.
“This man has an impeccable
record, an outstanding record, with 985 authored opinions. The two
opinions that have been called into question are opinions which he didn't
write, but merely joined, on matters which -- while they might have been
articulated differently, might have been more sensitive -- certainly are not
disqualifiers. This man ought to be confirmed.”
Below is a copy of Senator Specter’s floor
statement:
Mr. President, as stated a moment ago, I have sought
recognition to speak about the nomination of a Mississippi appellate court
judge, Leslie H. Southwick, to be Federal Court for the Fifth Circuit Court of
Appeals. I have asked for this time because Judge Southwick has been
before the Judiciary Committee on several occasions and, because there is not
much known about his record, there have been certain objections raised.
As I have talked to our colleagues on both sides of the aisle, when they hear
about his record, they are surprised that he is not moving through
expeditiously. I thought it would be important to take a few moments to
acquaint Senators with his record and, beyond that, to acquaint the public with
the pending nomination.
While
acknowledging the serious health and pro-life concerns over the drug’s
availability, the Washington Post reports
on the growing use of Plan B (the “morning after pill”) since it was
approved for over-the-counter purchase last year.
For more
information on Plan B check the AdvanceUSA pro-life page.
A mere
$15 million has been budgeted for the National Cord Blood Inventory program,
but the current Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations bill only
designates $4 million for this crucial stem cell banking system. Rep.
Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL) have proposed a bipartisan
amendment to bring the cord blood banking funding to its full level. The House will likely vote on this
important amendment this week.
Umbilical cord blood is rich in stem cells which have
already been used in treating
a number of ailments and show great promise for future research, and, unlike
embryonic stem cell research (which
requires killing human embryos), cord blood has shown these results without the
ethical controversy.
For more
information on exciting adult stem cell developments click here.
 In a
blatant display of judicial activism, the 2nd Circuit Court of
Appeals recently ruled that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) could
not intervene in cases of “fleeting instances” of indecent words or images over
the broadcast airwaves. This ruling, in effect, makes last year’s penalty
increase passed by Congress totally ineffective. Senator Sam Brownback
(R-KS) recently proposed an amendment to the Financial Services and General
Government Appropriations bill to give the FCC authority to enforce indecency
regulations even for “single word[s] or image[s].” The amendment was
defeated in committee, but thankfully Senators Rockefeller (D-WV) and Pryor
(D-AR) have introduced
the same legislation as a separate bill (S. 1780).
It is crucial that this bill be passed before the oral arguments begin in the
notorious “Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction” court case so that the FCC has
solid guidelines with which to defend its intervention in that perfect example
of “fleeting indecency.”
Senators
should be aware that “a vote against S. 1780 is a
vote for airing the f-word and s-word [and indecent images] at any time of day
on broadcast airwaves.” AdvanceUSA applauds the efforts of Senators
Brownback, Rockefeller, and Pryor to protect
the publicly owned airwaves from being used to broadcast indecency
during hours when children are watching.
A court in Pennsylvania has awarded custody of two children to three parents. The mother, her lesbian partner, and the sperm-donor father were all awarded custody rights of “Co. J” and “Ca. J” (only abbreviations of the children’s names were used in the court document to protect their identities) and are required to pay child support.
Concerned citizens should remember that “if marriage (family) means everything, marriage (family) means nothing.”
For more news and information on the battle to preserve traditional marriage click here.
Do you want your tax dollars to fund China’s forced abortion and sterilization policies? The Senate’s “State, Foreign Operations Appropriations” bill, as currently written, would not include the important Kemp-Kasten provision which prohibits U.S. funds from supporting an organization that “supports or participates in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization.” In fact the legislation was intentionally changed in order to allow federal funds to go to groups such as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) which is directly involved in helping to enforce China’s brutal one-child policy.
For more information on this and other important pro-life riders click here.
Louisiana has become the first state to ban the gory and medically unnecessary partial-birth abortion procedure. It is encouraging to see a state legislature emboldened after the recent Supreme Court ruling upholding the constitutionality of partial-birth abortion bans. "This places a statute in law that gives Louisiana the right to prosecute and not wait on a federal prosecutor," said the state senator who sponsored the ban. Hopefully more states will follow Louisiana’s example and help cultivate a “culture of life” across the country.
For more information on partial-birth abortion check the information on the AdvanceUSA pro-life page or home page.
Do you think
the federal government should be able to prosecute people for their
beliefs? Do you think some citizens should receive more legal protection than
others? All these things could happen if the Senate passes S. 1105, the
hate (thought) crimes bill. Senators Kennedy (D-MA) and Smith (R-OR) have
proposed adding this
legislation to the Defense Reauthorization bill (H.R. 1585, currently being
debated) as Amendment 2067.
Besides
the important “equal justice” concerns, there is reason to believe that hate
crimes laws such as S. 1105 could infringe on our cherished rights of
religious freedom as similar laws have been used to prosecute Christians for
proclaiming a Biblical perspective on homosexuality.
Call both your
senators today and urge them to vote “No” on Amendment 2067!
For more
information on hate crimes and this particular bill, check the hate crime
material on the AdvanceUSA home
page.
The Creation Museum
(just outside Cincinnati, OH
in Petersburg, KY) seeks to bring the pages of the Bible to
life while highlighting the scientific evidence that supports the biblical
account of creation and the flood. The museum and the Answers in Genesis
resource materials also link the principles and divine directives in Genesis to
certain public policy issues including marriage and the sanctity of life.
Recently, Josh Scheiderer, AdvanceUSA’s policy director, and his family
had the opportunity to visit the museum, meet Ken Ham (President/CEO of Answers
in Genesis) and even be
mentioned in Mr.
Ham’s blog.
For more
information on this fabulous resource and family-friendly facility check the Creation
Museum website.
Theravitae,
a biotechnology company working in adult stem cell research, was recently awarded the title
“Biotechnology Company of the Year” for its innovative work in regenerative
heart medicine. Despite what the mainstream news media would have us
believe, adult stem cell research offers the most promise for successful
regenerative therapies.
At the
award ceremony the President of Therivitae offered these important words:
"We are honored to be a recipient of this prestigious
award and we carry the responsibility to further help the progress of
discoveries within the regenerative medicine field. Our industry is on the
verge of redefining conventional healthcare through the miracles of adult stem
cells and their remarkable ability to facilitate the regeneration of personal
health. Despite the constant questionable claims of those in the embryonic
lobby, it is adult stem cells which will be the first to successfully treat
diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimers - embryonic stem cell therapies lag not by
months, but by years, if not decades!"
For more
information on the exciting developments in ethical adult stem cell research click here.
In this
piece Jonathan Adler examines our current Supreme Court and asks the question,
“How
conservative is this Court?” Adler notes the “minimalist”
conservative approach by the new justices but counters the argument that there
is conservative legal revolution since Justice Kennedy effectively holds sway
as the swing vote in contentious cases.
“Follow
the Money”
Jennifer
Roback Morse, Ph.D. looks at one seldom-mentioned motivation for unethical stem
cell research that destroys human embryos; the money. She explains how some
proponents of embryonic stem cell research and cloning are more
interested in government subsidies rather
than treating illness or saving lives.
Exploiting
Poor Women
This blog
post by Nancy Reyes highlights the potential for the dangerous
exploitation of poor women to obtain the necessary human eggs to conduct
unethical forms of stem cell research. Egg harvesting is already big
business on many college campuses, but unfortunately the serious health risks
involved with the procedure are seldom mentioned. If proponents of
unethical stem cell research succeed in expanding this research, impoverished
women in third-world countries could be likely health victims.
More
Good News from Adult Stem Cells!
Ending on
a happy note, LifeNews reports on two encouraging developments for sufferers of
heart disease and amyloidosis. New research suggests that adult stem cells could be used to
treat these dangerous maladies.
 For more
information on these important issues check the AdvanceUSA stem cell, adult stem cell, or human cloning
pages.
Ever get
the feeling that you cannot make a difference?
Take heart from the recent pro-life
victory in Delaware. A controversial
stem cell bill in the Delaware
legislature would have provided state funds for embryo-destroying research and
would have opened the door to human cloning (a.k.a. Somatic Cell Nuclear
Transfer). The “Rose and a Prayer”
campaign of pro-life activists worked tirelessly to encourage state legislators
to oppose this unethical research. The
measure failed by a surprising 4 to 1 margin in the State Assembly even after
the State Senate heartily
approved the bill.
Links:
A Rose and a Prayer
AdvanceUSA Stem Cell Page
Liberals
in Congress are apparently constantly on the lookout for ways to undermine
traditional marriage. Appropriations
bills for the District of Columbia
have normally been structured to prevent federal funds from being used to
support domestic partnership programs, but House Democrats neglected to include
these stipulations in this year's D.C. appropriations. Fortunately an amendment proposed by Rep.
Virgil Goode (R-VA), which prevents the federal government
from supporting Washington's domestic partnership programs (Disclaimer:
this article is from a gay publication), passed in the House last Thursday.
The summer of 1776 was an uncertain time for the representatives of the American colonies assembled in Philadelphia. After peacefully resisting the steady encroachments of their liberties and their common rights as Englishmen by the British Crown and Parliament, the American colonies were now in open military conflict with their mother country and considering whether or not a more drastic course of action was needed.
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