Document text
Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Local Issues Obituaries Weather Archive Revels Etcetera Backpage Hot Topics Most Viewed Forum Photo Galleries Video Readers Polls O-Zone Online Games Movie Preview Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad July 29, 2005 A factless confirmation is a disservice to all Out there in the night air a great battle lurks, waiting for dawn. Troops on both sides are amassing, though now all is quiet as they keep their collective powder dry. But the shots over the nomination of John G. Roberts Jr. for the Supreme Court will come, and once released, the full force of division will unveil itself. The biggest problem with the upcoming battle is not that it’s not worth fighting. It’s the way it will be fought that’s the problem. On some levels, the choice is a disappointing one. Roberts is relatively unknown, which is likely intentional, so as to better mask his true conservatism. His tenure will almost certainly not be one of moderation and independence as was the woman’s whose seat he wishes to fill. More disappointing is that the Bush administration could not find an acceptable woman or minority to serve. With Hispanics making up the largest minority group in America, shouldn’t they be represented on the court? Concern over the nominee pales, however, when compared to the process of confirmation, where increasingly shrill and biased voices will spin a tornado of propaganda in the hope of shaping public opinion. The talking heads will incinerate the facts, use misleading snippets to appeal to the extreme faithful in a quest for uncompromising victory. Such tactics are proven effective. When a silver-spooned draft dodger is deemed a more qualified commander-in-chief than a decorated combat veteran, anything is possible. The truth about Mr. Roberts will not matter. His confirmation won’t be a vetting, but a political grandstand. With people on both sides are completely intractable, what’s the point of the debate? Somehow, America has to move beyond the current politics of Republican vs. Democrat, right vs. left, red states vs. blue and everything else that wrongly assumes our entire country believes in only two points of view. We are a vast, diverse collective, with as many different theologies and political ideologies as there as people themselves. A significant part of our Collective Unconscious, as Jung called it, is that we are a free-thinking people who have built a nation among compromise built from disparate views. Our Supreme Court nomination is one of those institutional foundations that require reasonable independence. The nomination is likely a lost cause. But perhaps the debacle that precedes it will help amass an army of deserters among moderate Democrats, Republicans and independents who will stand for a more intelligent and common-sense approach to leadership in a complex and divided world. --> Copyright © 2006 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved.