By Dave Lindorff

A federal district judge appointed by President George W. Bush to
the bench has done the right thing, ruling definitively this morning
that the President’s claim of absolute immunity for his advisors from
Congressional oversight and subpoena is “entirely unsupported by
existing case law.”

The ruling, by Judge John Bates, is as important as much because of
who issued it as it is for its impact upon Congressional investigations
into presidential wrongdoing.

Certainly the ruling will open the way for Democrats in Congress to
move harder to investigate the abuses of the current administration,
which have been stymied by administration refusal to provide witnesses,
even to come in and plead the Fifth Amendment protection against
self-incrimination.

NOW's outstanding President Kim Gandy speaks for me:

Today the Supreme Court upheld this nation's first abortion procedure ban—a ban enacted by George W. Bush and conservatives in Congress. Five justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito—both installed by Bush and a Republican-majority Senate—ruled that the law does not violate a woman's constitutional right to abortion.

Not since Bush v. Gore has the Supreme Court made such a political decision, or one that so completely distorts the law and disregards the U.S. Constitution.

From Sam Husseini:

Roberts in his speach just after being sworn in: "The process we have just completed epitomizes the separation of powers that is enshrined in our Constitution. My nomination was announced some 10 weeks ago here in the White House, the home of the executive branch. This morning, further up Pennsylvania Avenue, it was approved in the Capitol, the home of the executive [sic] branch. And tomorrow, I will go into the Supreme Court building to join my colleagues, the home of the judicial branch, to undertake my duties."

I was kind of surprised the WH didn't cover it up -- http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/09/20050929-3.html

New York Times: "The Senate confirmed Judge Roberts by a vote of 78 to 22, with unanimous support from Republicans and with many Democrats voting for him as well."

Let's get a list of the Democrats, add it to those who supported CAFTA, the energy bill, the bankruptcy bill, the war, and "tort reform," and deny any of them any money or support, and promote serious challengers in primaries.

Check out these images of a guy who looks just like John Roberts helping to obstruct the recount in Florida in 2000. Think the media will look into this one?

Democrats who have announced their support for Roberts (16):
Max Baucus of Montana, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, Tim Johnson of South Dakota, Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Carl Levin of Michigan, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Bill Nelson of Florida, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Ken Salazar of Colorado.

Democrats who have announced their opposition (18):
Evan Bayh of Indiana, Joseph Biden of Delaware, Barbara Boxer of California, Maria Cantwell of Washington, Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Jon Corzine of New Jersey, Mark Dayton of Minnesota, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Dianne Feinstein of California, Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, John Kerry of Massachusetts, Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, Barack Obama of Illinois, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Harry Reid of Nevada, Charles Schumer of New York and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan.

Take Action Now to Stop the confirmation of John Roberts as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court! Remember, this is the body that may "elect" the next president. Go here and act now:
http://www.millionphonemarch.com

Senator Russ Feingold made headlines in August when he became the first 2008 hopeful to call for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of 2006. This won raves from progressive pundits like my friend John Nichols and even a highly-coveted appearance on Meet the Press. And it generated enough buzz in the progressive blogosphere to move Feingold into 2nd place in the dKos Straw Poll (behind Wes Clark and ahead of John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, and No Freakin' Clue).

The progressive blogosphere is on fire over The Baucus Betrayal, led by Armando at DailyKos:

A Baucus Betrayal
by Armando
Tue Sep 20th, 2005 at 18:29:09 PDT

On a day that Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) showed great leadership by announcing his opposition to John Roberts' confirmation to the SCOTUS, Max Baucus, Senator from Montana, demonstrated his wonderful backstabbing skills, undercutting his Leader by supporting Roberts:

The Doctor has diagnosed John Roberts in a national Op-Ed. It's not looking so good...

Dean: The Verdict on John Roberts John Roberts is a decent family man and a bright, articulate, thoughtful judge. He has a quality absent in previous right wing candidates like Antonin Scalia and Robert Bork, namely a judicial temperament that makes litigants feel that they have been respectfully heard whether they are on the winning or losing side of a verdict. But John Roberts is the wrong man for the job. Despite the fact that the White House has withheld key documents either out of incompetence or a fear that those documents might prove embarrassing, we have learned enough from the files on Roberts at the Reagan Library to make it clear that he should be rejected. This conclusion has only been solidified by Roberts' testimony during this week's hearings. He has been a polished performer, but in failing to present clear answers to straightforward questions, Roberts missed a crucial opportunity to answer legitimate concerns about his record and show compassion for those who have been excluded from the American Dream. The consistent mark of Roberts' career is a lack of commitment to making the Constitution's promise of equal protection a reality for all Americans, particularly the most vulnerable in our society.