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All the entries posted on November 15, 2007.
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Home > Window on Washington > Archives > 2007 > November > 15
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Rove’s new gig
Former Bush adviser extraordinaire Karl Rove is about to weigh in with his two cents.
Newsweek today announced that the former White House deputy chief of staff, who resigned earlier this year, will be a “contributor” to the magazine and offer “occasional opinion pieces” in the publication’s print and on-line versions.
Says Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham: “Whether one agrees or disagrees with Karl, there is no arguing that he has been a critical player in the political world with insights and experiences that we think will give our readers something unique.”
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Airspace gets Thanksgiving “express lane”
President Bush has decided to open what Press Secretary Dana Perino today called a “Thanksgiving express lane” for air traffic during the upcoming holiday travel crush.
The express lane will be created next Wednesday through Sunday by allowing commercial air traffic in portions of military air space from Florida to Maine, Perino said. The lane will be reopened during the Christmas travel rush season, she said.
Also on tap is a Bush plan to double the compensation for passengers bumped due to overbooking. That, however, probably won’t be in place until next summer, according to Perino.
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Bush complains about judicial selection process
In a speech tonight to the Federalist Society, President Bush will bemoan the state of the judicial confirmation process.
Big ol’ mess, Bush will say.
Excerpts released in advance by the White House.
On the Senate confirmation process: “Senate confirmation is part of the Constitution’s system of checks and balances. But it was never intended to be a license to ruin the good name that a nominee has worked a lifetime to build. Today, good men and women nominated to the federal bench are finding that inside the Beltway, too many interpret ‘advise and consent’ to mean ‘search and destroy.’ As a result, the Senate is no longer asking the right question - whether a nominee is someone who will uphold our Constitution and laws. Instead, nominees are asked to guarantee specific outcomes of cases that might come before the court. If they refuse - as they should - they often find their nomination ends up in limbo instead of on the Senate floor.”
On the loss of good judicial candidates: “Everyone in this room has watched a good person who has had his or her name unfairly tarnished by the confirmation process. What you do not see are the good men and women who never make it to the confirmation process. Lawyers approached about being nominated will politely decline because of the ugliness, uncertainty, and delay that now characterize the confirmation process. … When people like this decline to be nominated, they miss out on a job. But America is deprived of something far more important: the service of a fair and impartial judge.”
On activist judges: “When the Founders drafted the Constitution, they had a clear understanding of tyranny. They also had a clear idea about how to prevent it from ever taking root in America. Their solution was to separate the government’s powers into three co-equal branches: the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary. Each of these branches plays a vital role in our free society. Each serves as a check on the others. And to preserve our liberty, each must meet its responsibilities - and resist the temptation to encroach on the powers the Constitution accords to the others. For the judiciary, resisting this temptation is particularly important - because it is the only branch that is unelected, and whose officers serve for life. Unfortunately, some judges give in to temptation and make law instead of interpreting it. Such judicial lawlessness is a threat to our democracy - and it needs to stop.
On a “living Constitution”: “Advocates of a more active role for judges sometimes talk of a ‘living Constitution.’ In practice, a living Constitution means whatever these activists want it to mean. They forget that our Constitution lives because we respect it enough to adhere to its words. It is the oldest written Constitution in the world. It is the foundation of America’s experiment in self-government. And it will continue to live only so long as we continue to recognize its wisdom and division of authority.”
On upholding the Constitution: “The president’s oath of office commits him to do his best to ‘preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.’ I take these words seriously. I believe these words mean what they say. And I ask my nominees to the federal bench to take seriously their own oath to uphold the Constitution - because I strongly believe our freedom depends on the willingness of judges to be bound by the Constitution and the law.”
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Viva Rudy
Raul Romero, a President Bush buddy and former Houston businessman, was named today as national chairman for Viva Rudy, the Hispanic outreach operation in Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign.
Romero now heads Alliance Consulting Group in Washington. Previously, he was CEO of Houston-based S&B Infrastructure, an engineering/construction firm that made a nice profit from government contracts. As governor, Bush appointed Romero to the state’s General Services Commission and University of Texas Board of Regents.
Romero was a top fundraiser for Bush’s two presidential campaigns.
“Mayor Giuliani has consistently demonstrated a commitment to the issues important to Hispanic families, like lowering taxes and standing up for small businesses,” Romero says in the Giuliani release announcing the appointment. “I look forward to helping grow support for him in communities across our country”
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Out to lunch
This gem today in The Washington Post’s weekly listing of health code violations:
“The Washington Post executive kitchen. 1150 15th St. NW. Closed last Thursday for operating without a license.”
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