Federal Judiciary

Powell Wants Obama Appointing Judges (As Does Gaddafi)

By AndrewHyman

General Colin Powell is a former Secretary of State for whom I have great respect. But today he erred by endorsing Senator Obama for President. One of General Powell's stated reasons is that he "would have difficulty with two more conservative appointments to the Supreme Court." I would too. But the written opinions of Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito have not been politically "conservative" at all. Rather they have been honest applications of the law as written, without adopting any political ideology, including their own. That is in stark contrast to the kinds of judges who would be appointed by Obama.

I came across another Obama endorsement today, from the leader of Libya:

"There are elections in America now. Along came a black citizen of Kenyan African origins, a Muslim, who had studied in an Islamic school in Indonesia. His name is Obama. All the people in the Arab and Islamic world and in Africa applauded this man. They welcomed him and prayed for him and for his success, and they may have even been involved in legitimate contribution campaigns to enable him to win the American presidency."

I don't know or care if Obama was ever a Muslim. What worries me much more is Gaddafi's discussion of foreign "contribution campaigns" from the Middle East and Africa. Those "contribution campaigns" that Gaddafi spoke of would have been averted if Obama had not become the first major-party presidential nominee since Watergate to turn down public financing. John McCain spoke about this today, saying that the gigantic amounts of money raised by the Obama campaign jeopardize post-Watergate reforms. Last month alone, Obama raised $150 million. So far, the identities of donors who gave more than $200 million to Obama haven't been divulged because they're below $200 apiece.

Today, McCain said on "Fox News Sunday" that this breaking of the dam may be very dangerous, and he's right. Obama declined public financing, whereas McCain accepted it, and that's one of many solid reasons to vote for McCain, notwithstanding what General Powell recommends.

It seems that for Senator Obama, the ends justify the means. And the same would be true of his judicial nominees.

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Full post as published by ConfirmThem on October 19, 2008 (boomark / email).