Judge Clement

Why on earth is Chimpy going to announce the SCOTUS nominee on prime time television? The networks should pass.

Anyway, I'm trying to get a feel for the nominee..

Senator Kohl: All right. Judge Clement, would you describe what you think are the key elements of the Federal right to privacy, if, in fact, you believe there is such a right?

Judge Clement: Well, the Constitution guarantees the right of privacy and the due process protection must be enforced. A statute should be considered constitutional, but, of course, if it does not guarantee due process, then it should be studied very seriously."

The right to privacy is very important, so I like that answer. I also like the references to due process as well.

In fact, the concept of privacy was central to the SC decision last summer in Lawrence vs. Texas. Scalia wrote a scathing dissent because he really does believe government should be in your bedroom, regulating your behavior. Apparently Clement does not, so it's likely I could be supportive of her nomination.

Cretins like Rick Santorum don't believe in the right to privacy. Read here to see why Santorum thinks privacy is unconstitutional, and in fact would love to ban things such as contraceptives.

One good measuring stick for a SC nominee is how much the bat-shit crazy people scream. If Pat Robertson and James Dobson come unglued, we must push for confirmation.

It's also interesting that Chimpy is replacing a woman with a woman. I don't think gender has much to do with the qualifications for the job, so I wonder if he's really chosen the best candidate, or if he's chosen the best female candidate. Is he afraid of appearing sexist if we have an all-male SC again?

I don't know. Really, that's minor compared to the big picture, but just something I wondered about.