As reported yesterday on NPR’s All Things Considered #

Bush Names Pryor to Bench, Dodging Democrats
President Bush announces late Friday he is using his recess appointment power to name Alabama Attorney General William Pryor to a federal appeals court, circumventing the opposition to Pryor by Democrats in the U.S. Senate. #

This is the second time in five weeks that Bush has snuck one of his preferred appointees into a vacant judicial position. I guess I can’t really fault the president for using the rules to his advantage, but I object to the fact that one day he complains about activist judges and the next day he thumbs his nose at congress to install a judge who shares his ideological viewpoint. #

Moves like these point to the Bush White House’s alarming disrespect for the Constitutional process. Bush and company continue to play the heavy hand – controlling the press, strong-arming Congress, and eviscerating critics of its policies. Not that it’s the first White House to do all that, but I can’t recall another administration that acted with such impunity, with such lack of shame. Even Nixon wasn’t so baldfaced about his actions. At least he had the decency to try to hide his contempt for Congress behind closed doors. #

Is it possible that the Bush administration and the Republican party (and the Democrats and CEOs of this country, for that matter) are taking stock of the public and calling our bluff? It’s like they’re saying, “Maybe what we’re doing is bad, but you guys aren’t going to care or say anything, so we’re going to keep doing shit until we get in trouble.” #

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Saturday, February 21st, 2004 @ 2:30 pm Politics Matters
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