Another disappointment

With so much else going on (health care, Afghanistan, Wall St. hackery, 20 inches of snow), I'll admit I don't think much about judicial appointments made by the president. Just not my thing. But I do understand the gravity behind these lifetime appointees that are trusted to uphold the law, of course.

So it's further disheartening -- after all the other shortcomings -- that the Obama administration is woefully behind, or just slow, in filling so many important vacancies. On top of that, Obama has shown a nasty moderate streak. Firedoglake's bmaz has an excellent take on the state of judicial nominees. In Obama's world, he's A) afraid of looking to liberal, B) STILL taking the GOP in somewhat good faith and C) well, he's not a liberal.

bmaz:

Obama’s Infirm Lump Of Coal Judicial Policy

At what point do progressives quit perpetuating the unsupportable dream fixation of a living, breathing principled progressive lurking beneath the slick dick political marketing gloss that is Barack Obama? Obama is not a patsy and he is most certainly no “Constitutional scholar”; if he were, he would not be letting the health and future of American Article III courts wither while he dithers. Instead, Mr. Obama is a common retail politician that is willing to say what it takes to get and stay elected; principles are seemingly merely the vehicle for attracting the support he needs at any one time.

He wants "empathetic moderates" bmaz writes. Good luck.

Justice John Paul Stevens is done after this term, that is a given; but also Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s chair may come open as well. The problem here is that Mr. Obama, even when replacing sitting liberal justices, seems hell bent to move the overall composition of the court markedly to the right with his stated desire to appoint “empathetic moderates” whatever in the world that is in practice. If Stevens and Bader Ginsburg are replaced by a couple of mealy mouthed David Hamiltons, not only will we regret it, but so will our children; that is the gravitas of lifetime appointments. Barack Obama must not be allowed to further shift the Supreme Court to the right.

This business of restricting abortions in health-care reform has been startling enough, now what may happen if one of Obama's moderates is appointed to the SC and flips Roe v. Wade? Any that case is only the tip of the iceberg. Progressives, liberals, all have to step up, because with no pressure, it's too easy for him.