Oops - I bet sadly nothing comes of this.
On another note, the rest fo this article is just the type of just untrue tripe I hate. The article states:
You have already heard how President Bush bypassed the Senate confirmation process and appointed Charles Pickering -- who authored the GOP anti-abortion plank and argued for lenience for a convicted cross-burner -- to a lifetime seat on the federal bench just hours after laying a wreath at the grave of Martin Luther King, Jr.
This is just not true. The article makes it sound like W suddenly invented the recess appointment power for his own use. He did not. In fact, other Presidents have used it in this exact same type of situation. President Clinton also used his executive power for recess appointments to give Roger Gregory a seat on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in December 2000 and to give Hormel an Ambassadorship to Luxemborg when essentially Senators Ashcroft and Lott refused to let Hormel be approved because Hormel was gay. Why was it okay then but not now?
Moreover, as of 1990, Pickering is already a federal judge (99-0 approval) so he already is a judge for life. The recess appointment to the Fifth Circuit is only until next year (
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,108685,00.html ). Yet, did anyone get that fact from this article's statement "to a lifetime seat on the federal bench just hours after laying a wreath at the grave of Martin Luther King, Jr.?" I certainly did not.
Moreover, yes Pickering argued for a reduced sentence for a cross burner, but that implies he was wrong for doing so and gives no other facts. This is rank spin IMO. Here are some sites (not exactly neutral, but facts are facts) regarding the facts of the cross burning issue.
http://www.chronwatch.com/content/co...291&catcode=10
http://www.nationalreview.com/york/york010903b.asp
http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/819644/posts
I mean why is it okay for the Clinton Dept. of Justice - Civil Rights Division to give two of three cross burners a plea bargain that included no jail time, but when Pickering decides to do the same thing, he is crucified. One person of three should do jail time? All three were guilty. So, I say that although I think they all should have done jail time, Pickering was just following the lead of the Clinton Dept. of Justice - Civil Rights Division. Yet, do we hear them being slammed in the same article - No.
This kind of stuff drives me crazy because many people will read it and think "Hmmm W is creating new powers and Pickerin is the devil."