Cause for hope

Occasionally, there's news site reader commentary that suggests people really are paying attention. Here are some comments from a CNN story about Republican saber-rattling about Obama's coming nomination to replace David Souter:

Judicial activism?

Let me see who of the 9 supreme court justices has always sided with businesses against the people? And who has actually looked at the constitution and ruled according to it?

hmmm. --Darth Vadik, CA (May 3rd, 2009 2:16 pm ET)

"judicial activist" n. - a term used by Republicans for any judge that exhibits one or more of the following:
- awareness that we're living in the 21st century, not the 18th
- actually considering the arguments of a case before making a decision rather than automatically handing down the most conservative opinion possible regardless of the facts of the case
- believing that the Founding Fathers intended for all people, even non-conservatives, to have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
- disagreeing with Rush Limbaugh on any issue

Considering that, I certainly hope that Obama chooses a "judicial activist" or the country's going to be in worse shape in the future than it is now. --An Independent (May 3rd, 2009 2:48 pm ET)

If Republicans feel "empathy and understanding" is liberal idealogy, what does that say about them? --Maggie from Virginia (May 3rd, 2009 2:48 pm ET)

…unlike Dubya's activist choices to the Scalia Court of the United States who are yanking the country back to it's antebellum period (as in pre-1860).

If Obama picks a true centrist, it will be a partisan choice as far as the far right is concerned. McConnell and Cornyn will find a friendly mic and video crew and wring their hands about the imminent death of the Republic. There will be promises of filibuster and forgotten will be Frist's chant of "up or down" sometimes spoken as "upordown"

What a bunch of hypocrites. --Tony in Maine (May 3rd, 2009 3:11 pm ET)

Of course, as always, there are a few representatives of an alternate universe in which the evidence of our senses is useless:

The Liberal members of the Supreme Court are so far left that moderate conservatives would have to be considered ultra conservative. --Mark, B'ham, AL (May 3rd, 2009 3:53 pm ET)