No holds barred for Roberts'
scrutiny
The Oh Really Factor
By Maurice O. Ndole
The Collegian
By elevating John Roberts’ nomination from associate justice to chief justice, President Bush has proven he knows drama.
While media pundits were busy wondering who the president would pick to replace former Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who died Sept. 3, Bush was re-tapping Roberts, his ace in the Supreme Court nominations for the prize job.
Bush must have known the appointment would have a shocking affect on the nation in a melodramatic way, but that’s the idea—make the occassion memorable for everybody.
One question arose from the new nomination.
How could he do that? The man has not even served a single day as an associate justice, how can he be the Chief Justice? It turns out the Supreme Court doesn’t require a justice to work his or her way to the top.
In fact if the president was in a comical mood, he could have nominated some dude without a legal background for the job.
The stakes are now higher for Roberts. If the scrutiny he was facing before seemed bad, worse is yet to come. I’m not a fortuneteller, palm reader or a magician. I can’t even read a crystal ball but I don’t need any of these skills to predict that Roberts’ road to the Supreme Court will be a nasty one.
And it should be.
The nation needs to know Roberts’ views before entrusting him with applying the laws that govern our lives. We need to know, for sure, if he’s a man of integrity, by looking at his records as a lawyer. It would be nice to know if he is coming to the Supreme Court as a conservative crusader or to make honest as-a-matter-of-fact rulings.
The senators should also get Roberts to explain his views on contentious issues such as abortion, same sex marriage and affirmative action.
Roberts also needs to assure the country he will be an independent-minded justice and not a pawn for Republicans.
The scrutiny Roberts is facing may not be fair but it is the method our nation has turned to in confirming people to public offices. The scrutiny of Roberts reminds me of a remark Helen Thomas, a former White House correspondent, once made last year in a journalism conference at Fresno State . Thomas said if it were possible, a person should know he is destined for public office when he is five years old so he could live his life accordingly.
Because if you don’t live your life accordingly, stuff can come back to haunt you.
If there is stuff waiting to haunt Roberts, the time for the haunting is now and it is the duty of democratic congressional members in the confirmation hearing committee to administer the haunting.
Well, I don’t approve of dirty politics or unscrupulous tactics but when it comes to contests between Democrats and Republicans, the line between right and wrong is seriously distorted. Besides, conservatives are anticipating a nasty campaign against Roberts and they won’t hesitate to unleash a counter-attack if need be.
I say go for it.
Take your best shot at the good judge because you only have one chance to do it.
Judging from his opening statement in the confirmation hearings Monday, where he calmly described himself as an umpire and not a pitcher, there is no reason to think Roberts will not be confirmed.
Democrats will have a hard time putting devil horns on his forehead.
Maurice O. Ndole is a senior majoring in Mass Communication and Journalism and Africana Studies. E-mail this columnist at [email protected].
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