Democrats fear gay right wing court nominee
Liberal politicians are aghast at Bush Supreme Court nominee’s support of gay marriage rights and other right-wing causes.
Democrats and left-bloggers are aghast at the latest scandalous behaviour of Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts. The Los Angeles Times has reported that Roberts has supported gay rights, specifically marriage rights, a position that some Democrats are calling “the equivalent of an American Taliban”.
He is, in the words of one reporter, “a conservative’s conservative.”
Gay rights isn’t the only right-wing cause that Roberts has supported. He was also instrumental in helping “the neediest of the needy” regain government support during the mid-nineties budget crisis in Washington, DC, though he eventually lost the case.
Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass) complained strongly about Roberts’s extreme right-wing views yesterday when he said that he feared an America in which gays can marry and the federal government would be unable to prosecute AIDS patients. “ John Roberts’s America,” said Kennedy, “is a land in which women would be forced into competing with men for the affection of future husbands, sick people would be able to use effective medicine, and welfare recipients could take citizens’ taxes in budget crises.”
Kennedy noted special concern that any Supreme Court nominee “must support the commerce clause interpretation that allows us to put AIDS and cancer patients in jail.” Kennedy was adamant that AIDS patients and gays are the greatest threat facing America today.
Bloggers on the web’s left voiced similar concerns. Commenting on the new information about Roberts’s right-wing support of gay rights, Ezra Klein of Tommorow’s Media Conspiracy Today wrote “He’s a beast,” and pointed out that, even worse, “He has also helped welfare recipients fight the government in order to get their checks.”
- Roberts Donated Help to Gay Rights Case
- “In 1996, activists won a landmark anti-bias ruling with the aid of the high court nominee”
- John Roberts Provided Critical Help To Gay Rights Activists In 1996 Landmark Supreme Court Victory
- “Republicans should be aghast that Roberts supported gay rights court cases, but liberals should not be supportive of Roberts’ position.”
- John Roberts: Gay-Rights Crusader
- “The guy's total detachment from his convictions makes him a strange beast. Beyond gay rights, he did pro-bono work for someone convicted of Medicare fraud and in favor of 1,000 former welfare recipients--whom he called "the neediest people in Washington--who lost benefits during a budget crisis.”
- Ted Kennedy’s Last Stand: He’ll Lead Senate Battle Over Court Pick
- “ People still talk about getting Borked when referring to getting a raw deal. But ‘Borked’ should be synonymous with being targeted by Ted Kennedy.”
- John G. Roberts Jr.: Opponent of civil rights
- John G. Roberts Jr. is a conservative’s conservative, urging fellow Reaganites to more faithfully pursue a conservative agenda... such as, apparently, supporting gay rights.
- Floor Statement of Senator Kennedy on Nomination of John Roberts to the Supreme Court
- The key question is whether he will uphold core Constitutional principles such as the settled interpretation of the Commerce Clause that is the foundation for not only putting sick people in jail but also jailing their caregivers and harassing their doctors.
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