Speaking of Extremism, Little Evidence Of Any In Bush Nominations

Here is a link to Brit Hume's interview with law professor Jonathon Turley on Wednesday. It was a very good interview with a "middle of the road" legal mind on the subject of Bush's "extreme" judicial nominees.

In regards to Janice Brown Turley said: She actually stands out on this list as one of two nominees that has actually thought very, very deeply about the philosophical basis of law. She incorporates it into her decisions.

In regards to William Pryor, who believes the Ten Commandments can be displayed in monuments: He prosecuted Moore, even though he agreed with Moore. And so with Pryor, I think that he's gotten a uniquely raw deal, because he's proven that even against his own views, he will carry out the law.

In regards to Priscilla Owen: My view is that she was interpreting things like the parental notification law in a way that was plausible. I don't agree with it. But she's not some wild-eyed extremist.

In regards to Terrance Boyle: Some people have accused him of being an ultra-conservative, but his main problem is that he's been reversed a number of times on what's called plain error. That's a very low standard for a judge to make. So when you're reversed on plain error, it tends to mark up your record.

According to Powerline, Turley was back on to discuss more nominations last night. Here is one interesting thing noted by Turley and summarized by the famous Minnesota bloggers.

As to the other four (Neilson, Saad, McKeague, and Griffin), Turley could not even get Democratic staffers to give him a basis for finding them to be extremists, and Turley knew of none. His view was that the Dems have no substantive arguments against these four, and that they are being blocked by the two Democratic Senators from Michigan as some form of retribution.

Now, let's be clear. All of Bush's nominations are conservative judges. But to call them "extreme" is to call the politics of the majority party in America extreme. It simply doesn't wash.

Grow a set Mr. Frist, and exercise our right to force and up or down vote in the senate.