After the U.S. Senate twice determined that Charles W. Pickering Sr. did not deserve promotion to a lifetime appointment on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit largely because of his lifelong opposition to civil rights, President Bush sidestepped the confirmation process and granted a recess appointment. Adding insult to injury, the president made his announcement hours before the… return to article
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Reader Comments (14)Page 1 of 1 pagesJust another in a long line of underhanded, morally reprehensible actions taken by the Bush Administration. How much more of this are we going to take?
Posted by Pete Anderson on Feb 13, 2004 at 11:39 PM This is no longer an election. It’s war. The possibility of having four more hears of this horror is unthinkable. Download the free “war plans” in this editorial and give them to the unclued. Don’t miss it:
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OPERATION AMERICAN FREEDOM!
A STRATEGY FOR THE 2004 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN
You can almost smell it in the air. This one is different. This is one has something very special about it. In fact, no other presidential election in our time has been quite like it. Thereís a healthy array of candidates, but weíre not really arguing about them. Thereís a wide range of issues, but weíre not really debating them. Instead, throughout the nation, for the first time ever, thereís an undercurrent of unparalleled alarm. This time itís about our future and the fate of our country. This time itís more than simply a campaign for the presidency. This time, we simply cannot lose. This time, itís war!We the people are angry, and we the people are frightened. We watched in disbelief as the nation was craftily wrested from our grip in these three short years. We watched as a small group of men lied and deceived the nation into waging a bloody and endless war. We watched as they enriched themselves and their cronies while placing the rest of us in an environmentally unsafe, economically perilous, and globally discredited position. This time, we have no choice but to unite and take back our country. This time, it has to be war.
We know for certain that the single most destructive element in our lives at the moment is the man in the White House. And we know for certain that he has to go. We cannot afford the luxury of considering the alternative as we arm ourselves for the battle ahead. This time there is no other option but to defeat the most arrogant, most secretive, most dishonest and most dishonorable incumbent president in recent history. This time, we have to liberate our own people from the yoke of neocon and extreme right wing ideology. This time, we must wage a concerted and focused war….
Welcome to OPERATION AMERICAN FREEDOM!http://www.tvnewslies.org/html/operation_american_freedom.html
Posted by Reg on Feb 14, 2004 at 5:59 AM Too bad the AG of Mississippi and other influential black lawyers didn’t agree with you.
As I recall, the AG was quite upset with white Northerners deciding whether or not Pickering was fit.
And didn’t he say something along the lines of “this will not be forgotten?”
And now there’s a republican governor.
Maybe if you had included their statements when this first started, it would have made for a more thought-provoking article.
Posted by Sandra Pedersen on Feb 15, 2004 at 3:17 AM Judge Pickering fought the Klan before it was fashionable (and at great personal risk). He has the support of all the local civil rights leaders in his state. So what makes YOU think you know better than his neighbors? That’s arrogance, and it’s typical of the media elite.
Posted by Jack Sheet on Feb 15, 2004 at 3:41 AM Umm, the Senate didn’t reject Pickering—a minority of the Senate wouldn’t allow a vote on him. Over 50 members of the Senate are on record as indicating that they would vote in favor of his nomination, if the minority wouldn’t block the vote.
Hey, sorry to have facts intrude on your little world, but thems the breaks.
Posted by Matt Thullen on Feb 15, 2004 at 7:30 AM How does bush get away with this outrage? The main stream media should be shouting about this deed. Another victory for the radical right wing christians. They mean to take over and so far they have been able to accomplish their goal.
Posted by Linda on Feb 16, 2004 at 4:17 AM Ha. Like there’s a difference between Republican or Democrat. Or rightwing-leftwing: when Hitler and Joe Stalin are at opposite ends of the political spectrum…
Posted by Owen on Feb 16, 2004 at 11:21 AM “The fair and balanced composition of the federal judiciary is a civil rights issue of profound importance”
Isn’t it fair and balanced to have conservative as well as liberal viewpoints on the bench?
If not, why not? What did you mean by “fair and balanced composition”?
Posted by Nus on Feb 17, 2004 at 10:48 PM Mr. Henderson,
You didn’t say whether the incoming Democratic president—I am quite sure that that’s what we’ll have, and this isn’t just wishfull thinking—will have any revocation power over this appointment, or whether any other branch has any recourse to this appointment. Has any of them? Is there any nonradical, legitimate way to remove him (other than challenging his appointment or fitness in court)?Raymond
Posted by Raymond Hubbard on Feb 18, 2004 at 12:58 AM I think everyone can agree that civil rights is a good idea. Those of you who think its code for affirmative action or minority betterment, I am sorry for your ignorance.
That being said, to have an individual like Pickering at the judicial level he is at, where he can affect thousands of lives with every decision he makes, when he obviously calls into question the most basic human equality issues, shows not only an unbalanced court but also an unbalanced mind.
I am sorry that Pickering feels intimidated by minorities and equally sorry that he feels he must unfairly punish them from atop his ivory perch.
Posted by Jay on Feb 18, 2004 at 2:33 AM I take strong exception with the implication of the article and the picture, that Republicans and those they appoint are somehow racist cross-burners. The only problem with this theory is that the opposite is true. The KKK was a terrorist arm of the Democratic Party. Almost every meaningful piece of civil rights legislation in the last 150 years was passed by Republicans over the objections of Democrats.
Mr. Henderson leaves out the fact that three of the four great judges he mentioned were Republicans and were appointed by a Republican president. They presided over the desegregation of the south along with many other heroic Republican Judges. Judge Pickering appears to be of the same vein. Again, the opposite of what youíve been told here. Whatís going on?
In hopes that nobody here is closed to hearing the other side of this issue, I offer it here, in part.
Excerpts are followed by links to the full articles:
Democrats have tried to portray the Mississippian as a modern Lester Maddox. But the African-Americans back in the judge’s hometown of Laurel have responded that nothing could be further from the truth.http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=105001694
“Why anyone would go the whole nine yards and then some to get a lighter sentence for a convicted cross burner is beyond me,” New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer said Wednesday. “Why anyone would do that ó in 1994 and in a state with Mississippi’s history ó is simply mind-boggling.”But a close look at the facts of the case suggests that Pickering’s actions were not only not mind-boggling but were in fact a reasonable way of handling a difficult case. Here is what happened:
http://www.nationalreview.com/script/printpage.asp?ref=/york/york010903b.asp
The Fifth Circuit played a crucial role in the peaceful desegregation of the South. Judges Tuttle and Rives and Brown and Wisdom were real heroes during that time. Crosses were burned in front of their homesóI’ll have more to say about thisóbut Judge Pickering is a worthy successor to the court of Judge Wisdom, Judge Tuttle, Judge Rives and Judge Brown.http://alexander.senate.gov/news/205623.html
The President of the United States “has a duty to fill judicial vacancies and appoint jurists who share his views.”Who said this?
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=8093
Posted by Natalie Oberman on Feb 18, 2004 at 9:39 AM This article is a flat out lie.
The myths that the author perpetuates have long been thoroughly discredited by a series of articles of Nat Hentoff, who writes for, of all things, the Village
Voice. Mr. Hentoff is the greatest writer on First Amendment issues living.This article is written in bad faith. It is an outright lie, a fabrication by a mendacious and unscrupulous writer. The writer should never be published in any responsible journal. No responsible journal should broadcast such bald lies.
The practice of screaming “racist” at those who disagree with you is contemptible. This is a contemptible, disgusting site. I suspect that you fools are the real racists.
Folks, you’ve disgraced yourselves. You’ve shit your pants. Why don’t you go away and stop embarassing yourselves?
Posted by Stephen on Feb 18, 2004 at 6:45 PM The recent 60 minutes segment on Pickering I think put a final nail in the coffin of this warped smear campaign. I think everyone should be suspicious the next time Democrats acuse Republicans of being “insensitive to racial issues” because from the historical record going back to the formation of the GOP, the shoe belongs squarely on the other foot.
What about it Wade? I noticed your article was pulled from the In These Times rotation rather abruptly.
Two articles by Nat Hentoff, an honest liberal, discussing the 60 min. piece:
Posted by Natalie Oberman on May 2, 2004 at 8:39 PM Page 1 of 1 pages -
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Posted by G Soler on Feb 17, 2004 at 2:55 AM 
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