This week, the House is in recess for the Memorial Day District Work Week and will reconvene on Tuesday, June 7th.

Law and Disorder

Hollywood can’t help itself when it comes to taking a swipe at conservatives. The big shots who dictate America’s entertainment have long held the tradition of portraying Christians, Republicans, conservatives, stay-at-home-moms, homeschoolers, Middle America, and the middle class as crazy lunatics, white supremacists, anti-social fanatics, stupid hicks, and heartless money-hoarders. In Tinsel town, only the liberals emerge as smart, witty, hip, accepting, and mainstream. Last week, fans of NBC’s hit show Law and Order were treated to another blaring inaccurate stereotype. On Wednesday’s installment of Law and Order, police detectives searched for a killer who murdered a judge and his family. Detectives on the show suspected white supremacists and one of the cops said, “Maybe we should put out an APB for somebody in a Tom DeLay T-shirt.”

We can only assume the brass at NBC thought that this line was a clever play on Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s outspoken view on runaway judicial activism. It’s no secret, however, that the majority of Americans agree with Mr. DeLay’s exasperation that judicial activists are using the bench to re-write America’s constitution. Already, free-wheeling judges have tried (and in some cases succeeded) to force gay marriage on unwilling voters, remove the phrase “under God” from the pledge, and use European laws to eradicate the death penalty. Rather than recognize that most Americans are frustrated with judges, NBC portrayed Mr. DeLay as an obscure hero to white supremacist gun nuts suspected of murdering two judges. It’s not surprising that NBC took an over-the-top, cheap shot at a conservative leader, but it is frustrating that they did so in a public forum where the Majority Leader had no means to respond. NBC didn’t just exploit the reputation of a respected leader but, once again, it reduced mainstream conservatives to gun-wielding racists in an effort to up its ratings during Sweeps Week.

Thanks but No Thanks

The day after Senate moderates struck a last minute deal on judicial filibusters, an interesting Gallup survey was released. You’ll remember that seven Republican Senators dropped their support for the Constitutional Option (which would have forced an up or down vote on the president’s judges) in exchange for seven Democrats abandoning filibusters against three of President Bush’s judicial nominees. The Gallup survey released found that 35 percent of adults thought the filibuster rules should be changed so that nominees could get an up or down vote. Thirty-four percent of adults said they wanted to preserve the filibuster but still wanted an up or down vote on nominees. And only 19 percent wanted to keep the filibuster because they didn’t want the nominees confirmed.

In other words, an overwhelming majority of the public, or 69 percent to be exact, is in favor of giving all of President Bush’s judicial nominees a fair up or down vote. There’s no doubt that the Senate’s “compromise” is a desperate ploy by the Left to maintain its stranglehold on the federal judiciary. The majority of Republican Senators should have said, “Thanks, but no thanks.” We need to hold firm to voting on all the president’s nominees and not let a minority of liberal Senators dictate the wishes of the majority of Americans.

Mr. Congeniality

“We are not electing Mr. Congeniality. We do not need Mr. Milquetoast in the United Nations. We’re not electing Mr. Peepers to go there and just be really happy, and drinking tea with their pinkies up and just saying all these meaningless things when we do need a straight talker, and someone who’s going to go there and shake it up.” – Sen. George Allen (R.-Va.) during a hearing on the nomination of John Bolton to be U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, 5/12/05.