SamSaid!

THE CUTTHROAT

     Many Americans can recognize the handsome features of Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy. He is the handsome, grey-haired, distinguished, grandfatherly looking guy who gets his share of TV time as the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Nice guy?  Not quite!

     After Turncoat Jeffords switched party affiliation last year, Leahy, a Demnocrat, became the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Among its duties, this Committee passes judgment on the Judicial Nominees offered by the President to fill vacancies in our Federal Courts. Almost a year ago, President Bush submitted a list of more than 90 nominees to fill at least that number of vacancies that now exist, and there is little doubt that the Federal Court dockets are overcrowded and the vacancies need to be filled.

     It is the entire Senate that has the “advise and consent” obligation when it comes to filling Federal Court vacancies, but the first step is to get past Mr Leahy's Committee. Thus far, Mr Leahy has deignd to allow hearings on 7 judge nominations over the past 6-8 months, saying that his Committee is too busy. And so the vacancies go unfilled. What Mr Leahy is really saying to the President is “if you give me a half dozen picks that I can pass along to my cronies, I'll schedules hearing for more of your nominees”. Otherwise, the Presidential nominees will continue to sit in limbo, the court vacancies will remain unfilled, and the court dockets will continue to be over crowded. Now I am not so naive as to ignore partisan politics, but I think there is an obligation to give the President's nominees a fair hearing in the Judiciary Committe and then vote them up or down in the full Senate. Our Judicial system should not be held hostage by the cutthroat tactics of Senator Leahy. But our dear Senator from Vermont defies the system through his control of the Committee agenda. He simply doesn't schedule hearings for any nominees. Thus, he stiff-arms the President.

     While George Bush is leading our Terrorism War effort and is grappling with other foreign and domestic issues, Senator Leahy is quietly stabbing him in the back  –  or should I say stabbing US in the back. When people get disgusted with our politicians or feel that our Federal Government simply isn't functioning as it should, they need to look no further than Senator Leahy and his kind. Don't let those patrician looks fool you. He is a Congessional cutthroat if there ever was one. But maybe I am too harsh. Maybe he is just a puppet bouncing at the end of the strings being pulled by his New England buddy Ted Kennedy  –  if that makes you feel any better!

     And by the way, while the media gets all excited about Enron, have you noticed any outrage about Mr Leahy and is treatment of our Judicial System??