The Sunday Wrap-up

Arianna Huffington just killed the possibility that my nominee Elizabeth Warren would be chosen for the Supreme Court. Newt's old friend endorsed. Sorry, Elizabeth.

For the progressives who are pouting, there are two more possible names to consider. Our non-Catholic lesbian Pamela Karlan, who heads the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic at Stanford University and also serves as attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense fund. Before she taught at Stanford Law, she served as a clerk to Judge Harry Blackmun and before to Judge Abraham Sofaer of the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York. She has written three casebooks on constitutional law. You can imagine how defense Clarence and the boys will be. She is far beyond qualified and was vetted during the last go-around. Gays should actually back off Obama on some issues--he vetted two extraordinarily talented abnd qualified lesbians for Supreme Court nominations. This would never happen under Clinton and never, ever, under McCain.

The other progressive choice and I like alot for his commitment to democracy and human rights is Harold Koh, currently Counselor to the State Department and former head of the Yale Law School. Harold has served under both Republican and Democratic Presidents and was supported strongly for his current post by Ted Olson, who reamed conservatives out who said Koh supported Sharia law. Conservatives will go crazy if Koh is nominated. He's against Torture.

Senator Leahy said the President will announce his choice soon and that he will have the person nominated by the Fall because that's what the country deserves and requires.

We brings me to some unfinished business. Liberals and progressives are wusses. For some reason, they are allowing the Right to rear its ugly head and accuse Democrats of being "anti-American", as Michael Steele said this morning. You either stand up to bullies or at least treat them as spoiled children and ignore their temper tantrums. President Obama can not slap them down with the force they crave and desire because then he will appear to be the angry black man they depict him as. But that shouldn't stop liberals and progressives from finding people who will fight back against the slurs.

Liberals hate McCarthyism and his tactics,, but sometimes in politics some similar tactics must be used. Democrats should make no distinctions between the Republican Party and the teabaggers--none. The teabagger surveys show that 93% are either conservatives or Republicans. The Democrats should not let the Virginia Governor or his apologists gets off the hook on the Confederacy. Let Republicans keep explaining how slavery was good for blacks. Make them keep doing it. Make Republicans try and waltz around and try to defend the teabaggers and the current political violence in the country. They are using them to their advantage . Make it uncomfortable for them. Liz Cheney and conservatives love Hamid Karzai so much put the unpatriotic label on them. God knows, they have wrapped themselves in the flag long enough. In the documentary Boogie Man about Lee Atwater, he explains the cynical way he used to use the flag at rallies and get everyone to do the Pledge of Allegiance. Take the flag away from these people!

On the Open Carry rallies that are scheduled here to celebrate Waco and the Oklahoma Bombing, the Left should produce op-eds calling for constitutional originalism applied to the Second Amendment. If the right can push the envelope for their craziest schemes, the left certainly can use history to argue that the Second Amendment was aimed at creating militias to suppress uprisings against the governmment. That all the gun laws are based on a misundertstanding of the original intent of the Second Amendment. Then Democrats can dismiss these arguments--look centrist--but the idea will be out there and people will start to argue about it. Then the NRA can mount a campaign that will eat millions of their dollars just to refute it. These clowns want to wear weaponry to intimidate people and they should be slapped down.

By now it should be obvious that the conservative's constitutional originalism is all a cover to advanced their very specific conservatives agenda. The constitution meant what ever Tony Scalia says it does. The last case Citizens United exposed this school of thought as a bunch of imposters. You just make up the law. While the court fight goes on, this is what liberals and the left should be emphasing that the conservative Republicans who lament "activist judges" in fact embrace a certain kind of activist judge that does have a very defined ideology. This is an excellent time to lance the wound. Finally puncture this myth that has been repeated so many times that people really have begun to believe it. That a member of Opus Dei can correctly intuit the original intent of the founders of the country. Fantastic! Judge Stevens called them out in the Citizens United dissent, saying they just ignore all precedents and even the documents by the founders' themselves.

All I'm saying is that conservatives and Republicans are now exposed but their bully tactics make Democrats and the media not attack them. They will run if attacked on their own positions. There are cowards. Obama has stripped them of all their useful concepts and now they're empty husks.

We'll see any nominee by Obama attacked as a leftist--not matter who they are. The Democrats shouldn't defend but go on the offense. All you need is one Republican to vote the nominee to the floor and it will be clear that person is too qualified to ignore. Then let the vote go on a straight party line. There is no chance of a filibuster. That happened only once and it had to do with Abe Fortas' business dealings.

President Obama is already meeting with the heads of state coming in town for the no nuke summit. He will be picking up significant unilateral agreements, which the geeks will understand. The first will be Russia's commitment to dispose of uranium and other materials based on a 1980 Treaty. There will be others to secure nuke materials. Over all the end result of the summit will be downplayed by the press and ridiculed by the Republicans and conservatives, even though it will greatly assist the prevention of nuclear materials getting into the hands of terrorists.