By Scott Tibbs, August 10, 2012
When President Obama nominated Elena Kagan to serve on the Supreme Court, I called Senator Richard Lugar's office and said that I would support a primary challenge in 2012 if Lugar voted for Kagan. Lugar did vote for Kagan, and as I said on Twitter I will vote against Lugar in 2012. I wrote Lugar after his vote to confirm Kagan expressing my opposition to his vote. Lugar's office responded via e-mail. His response, in part, reads:
| The Founders were at pains to emphasize the difference between the "political branches" - the Executive and the Legislature - and the Judiciary. Their concern about the potential dangers of passionate, interest-driven political divisions, which Madison famously called the "mischiefs of faction," influenced their design of our entire governmental structure. |
Here's the problem with Lugar's argument: Elena Kagan was not chosen for her qualifications as a judge. Kagan was chosen for two political reasons. First, she was chosen for her genitalia. Obama wanted to be politically correct and choose another woman for the court. Second, she was chosen for her far-Left political ideology that will lead her to place her political preferences above the literal, word-for-word text of whatever law she is interpreting.
Kagan is also so incredibly dishonest that she ducked and dodged a question about a memo she wrote, demonstrating so little integrity that she refused to admit to writing a memo that even she admitted was clearly in her handwriting. It was only after she was cornered and had nowhere else to go that she finally admitted to writing the memo.
Another "Republican" turncoat, Lindsey Graham, argued that he voted for Kagan because elections have consequences. Yes, Mr. Graham, elections do have consequences. One of the consequences of electing Republicans to the U.S. Senate is that they should oppose politically-motivated nominations that will move the Supreme Court to the Left for another generation. This is exactly why the Constitution gives the Senate the authority to approve or reject the President's nominees. If the Founders intended for the President to be able to appoint whoever he pleased by fiat, they would not have given the Senate the authority to approve the nominees.
I voted against Lugar in 2006 and I will do so again in 2012. The race immediately before Hoosier conservatives is Brad Ellsworth vs. Dan Coats. In addition to his inexcusable votes for the assault weapons ban and the Brady Law, Coats also voted to confirm Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the Supreme Court. If Coats is to convince Hoosier conservatives that he will actually be a vote to stop Barack Obama's agenda, then he should openly oppose Elena Kagan.
