Mainstream judge speaks out

November 15, 2005 10:13 PM

Mainstream former federal judge speaks out
Former CNN talking head and Texas federal judge Catherin Crier speaks out in defense of the courts, and mainstream america... if Ms. Crier is now the left - how far to the right have we drifted?
posted by specialk420 (17 comments total)

Crier was not a federal judge.
posted by kickingtheground at 10:16 PM on November 15, 2005

damn. former state judge - Texas.
posted by specialk420 at 10:18 PM on November 15, 2005

Crier is speaking out in favor of judges. Only liberals still want judges. Only progressives want something as crazy as jury trials.
posted by dhartung at 10:26 PM on November 15, 2005

Only liberals still want judges.

what do the nutcases on the right want? other than absolute power?
posted by specialk420 at 10:32 PM on November 15, 2005

Well, you've got your ordinary redneck Bush voter who wants to roll back the New Deal and take us back to 1920 or so. Then you've got the nitwit religious right, they'd like to undo the Enlightment which gets us back to the 17th century. And then there's the intellectual elite of the Republican Party who want to return to the executive the power that has been "usurped" by the courts; they'd basically like to revoke the Magna Carta, so now we're talking about people who think the 1200s were the good old days.
posted by nicwolff at 10:50 PM on November 15, 2005

what do the nutcases on the right want? other than absolute power?

They want a warm bed, regular meals, a happy family life, a fulfilling job, and some entertainment. Also, they want anyone who isn't just like them to be made to suffer as much as is humanly possible.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 12:53 AM on November 16, 2005

You guys are a bunch of liberal tools. Grow up.




:-)
posted by null terminated at 1:28 AM on November 16, 2005

I heard Crier on Robert Kennedy Jr's show on Air America over the weekend and she made up some great points. Kennedy asked her how she went from republican judge and then to Fox News and to her position now. She said her positions hadn't changed, but that the center has move to the right. Like she might have said there or on the Daily Show or someone said recently, that Nixon looked like a damn hippy liberal compared to the agenda now.


And the "activist judges" only seem to be a problem to the critics when they rule against the agenda of the right. When a judge does "rule from the bench" supporting the agenda, it isn't a problem.

I want to pick this book up after I finish reading What's The Matter With Kansas? That book is very interesting on how it describes the how the republican party has been co-opted by the religious right merely by showing up at the polls. Now the republicans are stuck with the most anti-fiscally conservative president ever. But they're getting lower taxes.
posted by birdherder at 2:34 AM on November 16, 2005

I recently saw an analysis that showed the "activist judges" on the SCOTUS, defined as those reversing legislation, were actually the justices appointed by the right, with Thomas being the most glaring example.

But then, remember, "You're either with us, or you're against us."
posted by Enron Hubbard at 4:03 AM on November 16, 2005

if Ms. Crier is now the left - how far to the right have we drifted?

We haven't drifted at all I would say.

The perception that we (collectively as US citizens) have drifted has been successfully created.

Personally I know at one time I would have been considered slightly to the right but now would most probably be characterized as very leftist by our current media machine.

Why? Probably because I detest Bush and his cronies.
Go figure.

I believe in balanced budgets. Is that leftist?
I believe in vigorous enforcement of laws against acts of violence. Is that leftist?
I support gun ownership. Is that leftist?

The nut cases have taken over the right.

Their labeling themselves "conservative" demeans all true conservatives.
posted by nofundy at 6:14 AM on November 16, 2005

The nut cases have taken over the right.

wow. from the horses mouth. i saw a link somewhere yesterday where Dennis Hastert was bemoaning the religious right coup de tat of the republican part. must find link.
posted by specialk420 at 6:23 AM on November 16, 2005

Case in point of the perceived movement of left-right:

The Wal-Mart problem was best defined by ultra-liberal Robert Reich: we make choices as consumers that don't represent our values as workers or citizens.
posted by cribcage at 5:49 PM EST on November 15

Robert Reich an ultra-liberal? Huh? When did this happen?
posted by nofundy at 6:40 AM on November 16, 2005

"what do the nutcases on the right want? other than absolute power?"

- Well, in 1980 Newsweek called the Chalcedon Foundation the most important driving ideological force behind the new GOP.

Besides the seizure of absolute power - by a minority led by a self-appointed theocratic elite - and the subsequent dismantlng of Democracy , Chalcedon advocates.......

Ah, never mind. Look it up yourself.
posted by troutfishing at 7:51 AM on November 16, 2005

Also, nicwolff put it brilliantly.
posted by troutfishing at 7:53 AM on November 16, 2005

What makes her a so-called "mainstream" judge?
posted by gyc at 9:26 AM on November 16, 2005

I believe in balanced budgets. Is that leftist?

Yup. Now it is.
posted by xammerboy at 10:37 AM on November 16, 2005

Look, if we're going to break our dependence on foreign oil, we've got to get back to using child labor in the coal mines. And if loving America enough to sacrifice the environment and other people's kids makes me some kind of rightwing nutjob, then guilty as charged!
posted by George_Spiggott at 10:55 AM on November 16, 2005