TWN hopes everyone is having a refreshing 4th of July weekend — and remembering that this Republic we have requires some hard work to keep.
Squaring off over the replacement of retiring Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court will dominate the attentions of this town for some time. But the Battle over Bolton still looms out there.
The White House can’t afford to push Bolton — and lose again — with judicial appointments to the Supreme Court in play. Thus, if Bolton remains a likely recess appointee, then it will happen after the three week long July legislative session ends.
It really does sadden me that despite what many have written (and TWN has written) about the administration’s obsession with winning all battles and ignoring the costs of the effort, that it is staying true to form and sacrificing a highly visible foreign policy appointment at the United Nations with this Bolton appointment.
After the weekend, TWN will stay on the Bolton battle — but plans to work on articulating what Americans should be demanding and expecting by way of U.N. reform. The Bush administration is cobbling together a bill that it wants Lugar to push in the Senate. Let’s set some benchmarks for what we care about — and what Bush and Cheney pull together.
On the Supreme Court front, I have much to say — but I wrote long ago before the last election, that the choice between Bush and Kerry was all about the next judges on the Supreme Court. Democrats failed to motivate this nation sufficiently to that call. And it seems to me that the only direction we are likely to go on the Court is into negative territory for those who care about tolerance, balance, and the protection of our freedoms from an over-reaching executive branch.
Happy 4th.
— Steve Clemons
