Bush Nominates Roberts to Replace Chief Justice Rehnquist

This is from the New York Times:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 5 - President Bush nominated Judge John G. Roberts Jr. today to replace Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, whose death late Saturday opened a second vacancy on the Supreme Court and a new front in the ideological battle over the judiciary.

It was not clear how the announcement would affect the proceedings. But the Republican leadership in the Senate had already signaled that it would almost certainly alter its schedule for the confirmation hearings for the seat being vacated by Justice O'Connor, providing time to honor Chief Justice Rehnquist and acknowledging the extraordinary political climate in Washington after Hurricane Katrina.

Talk about a political spin here. We were expecting a confirmation battle on Roberts as an associate justice. Now the stakes have gotten even higher. The White House has been battling Senate Democrats on judicial papers that Roberts worked on while he was in the solicitor general's office under the first Bush presidency. Now that Roberts has been elevated to Chief Justice--the Democrats should demand access to those papers, or they should filibuster Roberts confirmation.

There are two more interesting aspects about this story. The first is that the Supreme Court will convene on the first Monday of October--less than a month away. Rehnquist's death means that it would have no sitting chief justice on the court. And with no chief justice on the bench, the powers that the chief justice would have in opening and closing the court sessions would go to the most senior associate justice member--justice John Paul Stevens, who is also the most liberal member on the court. I would say that the Religious Right would not want Stevens to have that kind of power on the Court as the confirmation processes for the new justices would take about six months or longer, if the Senate Democrats put up a fight. And since the Republicans were confident that Roberts would be slated for confirmation before the Court convenes, it was a political calculation to elevate Roberts to the chief justice chair. Sandra Day O'Conner would continue sitting on the court until Bush finds a replacement for her and to bring the court up to its nine members.

The second aspect is how quickly this decision was made. Less than 48 hours after Rehnquist's death, and already the Bush political strategists have filled the Chief Justice's chair. This decision shifts the corporate media, and the American public's attention away from Katrina's destruction to this new, "big news story." Of course, there will be a major Republican public relations campaign--similar to the one Bush used to introduce John Roberts as O'Conner's replacement. This is another example of the manufactured spin that this administration is known for.

So now what? The Democrats need to generate a backbone. They need to demand that the White House release all papers that Roberts worked on in the solicitor general's office. They need to start asking very tough questions on Roberts, and demanding answers to Roberts views on the issues. And if the Republicans start stalling, then the Democrats need to filibuster Roberts.

The question is, do the Democrats have a backbone?