The Smarmy Carny

Last week, the Senate passed two largely symbolic amendments regarding the status of English as the national language:

• Inhofe Amdt. No. 4064; To amend title 4 United States Code, to declare English as the national language of the United States and to promote the patriotic integration of prospective US citizens.
• Salazar Amdt. No. 4073 As Modified; To declare that English is the common and unifying language of the United States, and to preserve and enhance the role of the English language.

You can see how each senator voted on amendments 4064 and 4073.

Tony Snow indicated that Bush was supportive of the amendment.

The president has never been supportive of English only or English as the official language, but certainly we support the fact that English is the national language of the United States of America.

The amedments are not worded to change laws, but merely solidifies English as the national language. Previously, the country had not officially declared an official language.

President Bush was literally beside himself during his speech at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, thanks to presidential impersonator Steve Bridges.

It is traditional that the president shows up and delivers a speech lampooning himself. (You might remember Laura Bush's dirty horse joke from last year's dinner.)

The highlight of the speech is a mental run-through of a phrase followed by the actual words uttered by Bush:

Internal President (Bridges): All right. Maintain. Be cool. Let’s give this a try: "We must enhance non-compliance protocols sanctioned not only at IAEA formal sessions, but through intercessional contact."

External President (Bush): “We must enhance non-compliance protocols sanctioned not only at E-I-E-I-O sessions, but through intersexual conduct.”

As is common knowledge now, Bush nominated John Roberts Jr. to fill Justice O'Connor's seat on the Supreme Court. The New York Sun referred to Roberts as a "Supreme Court nominee with conservative credentials who would inspire a minimum of fuss at a confirmation hearing." He has been described as a constitutionalist, which is encouraging.

Anti-Life groups are upset that Roberts may attempt to overturn Roe v. Wade because he tried to overturn it during his days as a lawyer, but they can't be so sure about that. At the time, Roberts was arguing on behalf of a client. Additionally, the AP Newswire has noted:

Pressed during his 2003 confirmation hearing for his own views on the matter, Roberts said: "Roe v. Wade is the settled law of the land. … There's nothing in my personal views that would prevent me from fully and faithfully applying that precedent."

Still, Roberts doesn't have a clear record on many issues, which can be disconcerting. He could possibly turn out to be another unintentionally non-conservative nomination to the Supreme Court.

Nonetheless, liberal advocacy groups like People for the American Way and the Alliance for Justice issued statements expressing dissatisfaction with Bush's recommendation, leading me to believe that this is probably an excellent choice.

Happy Birthday, W!

President George W. Bush turns 59 years old today.

Happy birthday, W!

Since GWB is a regular reader of my blog, I'd like to take this moment to thank him for his continued work on moving our country in the right direction. The alternative would have been scary, to say the least.

Regardless of the dissent shown in the mass media and from the silly vocal leftist groups out there, we appreciate what you do to keep our country safe.

Happy 59th. Sorry, but there's no Marilyn Monroe to sing to you today.

Send your own birthday greeting to the President.

As expected, Liberals are already moving to attack any of Bush's Supreme Court Nominees.

Before I had even posted about Sandra Day O'Connor's resignation, MoveOn had already sent out an e-mail promising attacks on Bush appointees. This just proves what they've been saying over at UpOrDownVote.com and it really comes as no surprise to me.

Here's the letter put out by MoveOn:

Dear MoveOn member,

Early this morning Sandra Day O'Connor stepped down from the Supreme Court, leaving the first open seat in more than 10 years. As a moderate Justice, she helped protect our rights for decades. With Bush likely to nominate a replacement in a matter of hours or days, our most basic rights and freedoms are suddenly very much up for grabs.

[blah blah blah]

[blah blah blah] In the next few days Bush, the Senate and the media will all be will be listening very carefully–gauging the public reaction to this vacancy and deciding how far they can go.

[blah blah blah]

[blah blah blah] the Republican leadership has exploited every opportunity to attack the basic American right to keep our private choices private, and to make personal decisions without government intrusion.

This vacancy could represent the biggest threat yet.

The only clear indication from Bush about who he might nominate is that he intends to follow the example of his two "model" judges–Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia. These two have weighed in from the far-right fringe for decades, and another judge in their mold could shift the balance on the Court significantly.

[blah blah blah]

On Capitol Hill, today's resignation unleashed a swarm of right-wing fringe groups and corporate lobbyists pushing for a nominee who will favor narrow prejudice and greed over the rights of the American people.

If we can deliver 250,000 signatrures and comments by Tuesday, we can make sure the voice of ordinary Americans can compete with this swarm and tell our senators to stand up for our rights.

Please sign today.

[blah blah blah]

[blah blah blah]

Ben, Joan, Justin, Eli and the MoveOn PAC Team
Friday, July 1st, 2005

P.S. As soon as we heard about the resignation, we put an ad on the air calling for Bush and the Senate to protect our rights and not nominate an extremist. [blah blah blah]

If you like it, help us keep it on the air [blah blah blah]

[blah blah blah]

PAID FOR BY MOVEON PAC
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Note that they put an ad on the air "as soon as [they] heard about the resignation."

Of course, MO has no doubt that Bush will pick someone who is too far overboard, but they believe that they and their friends have the ability to influence how far overboard. They also paint the picture of Bush as deciding to listen to public opinion only to figure out how much they can get away with. More nonsensical rhetoric from the leftists.

Don't get me wrong — I'm not worrying about MoveOn. After all, they did everything they could do, and Bush still beat out Kerry 51/48! And as far as Scalia is concerned, Bush could hope to do so well in his nomination!