Alberto Gonzales might be [more] useless if he’s appointed to the Supreme Court, according to the Washington Post.
White House officials weighing the nomination of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales to the Supreme Court are considering whether a federal ethics law would require him to sit out cases of critical importance to the Bush administration once he was on the court…[H]e would have to disqualify himself whenever issues he worked on in the Bush administration came before the court.
…Anytime a justice recuses, there is the possibility of a 4 to 4 tie, automatically affirming the lower court’s judgment.
…Much of the White House review focuses on anti-terrorism policy, of which Gonzales was an architect while serving as White House counsel. But social issues Gonzales has dealt with as attorney general, such as assisted suicide and abortion rights, are also at stake.
Hey, it’s not like he’s duck hunting with the Vice President while the veep’s case is coming before the Court or anything.
This should make Bush’s other favorite inside Latino look better. The horrifying idea that Florida Sen. Mel “Do Nothing and Blame It on Aides the Few Times You Do” Martinez be considered for the post came up shortly before O’Connor’s announcement.
June 29, 2005 St. Petersburg Times:
When leaders of the Senate began talking about nominees for a possible vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court, a familiar Florida name popped up: Mel Martinez.
The freshman senator was one of four people Democratic leader Harry Reid said he mentioned to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.
Martinez learned about Reid’s comments midafternoon when reporters began calling his staff for comment. The suggestion was laughed off…
Reid offered Frist four suggestions: Republican Sens. Mike DeWine of Ohio, Mike Crapo of Idaho and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. He called Martinez “a skilled trial lawyer.”
I’d be laughing too if it wasn’t so awful to contemplate. The only funny part is how hard Mel tries, in popular GOP fashion, to avoid that “trial lawyer” label. Aren’t they the root of all evil every time a Republican runs for office? Lord, save us from these morons.
