Tim Wildmon

AFA president

January 2003 – I am so glad they lost. Liberals lost control of the United States Senate. What a delight. In the words of Jackie Gleason, "How sweeeet it is." These people, particularly Sen. Tom Daschle of South Dakota, had become insufferable let's see insufferable. What can I call them without calling them names? Someone help me here. Insufferable sticks in the mud.

These liberals have acted unfairly and irresponsibly in the U.S. Senate for too long. Sens. Daschle, Ted Kennedy, Patrick Leahy, Diane Feinstein and the rest of that bunch on the Senate Judiciary Committee are a disgrace. When it comes to defeating Republican judicial nominees ­ they have no shame. If it means calling you an Uncle Tom, as in the case of Clarence Thomas, that's what they will do. If it means falsely making one out to be a southern white racist, as in the case of Charles Pickering, that's what they will do. If it means making you out to be a racist neo-Nazi, as in the case of Attorney General John Ashcroft when he appeared before the committee, that is what they will do. As I said, these senators and the liberal special interest groups like the NAACP, ACLU and especially the pro-abortion and homosexual rights groups that back them, don't care about the truth or a person's good name or reputation ­ they just care about beating back individuals they consider to be "too conservative" by whatever means necessary. Truly, they believe the end justifies the means. That's why I say these people deserved what happened on November 5. It could not have happened to a nicer bunch of senators. And I hope the Republicans take full advantage of being in the majority. According to what I'm reading and hearing from Trent Lott, they will.

Let me give you some hard data to back up what I am writing here. Quoting from columnist Thomas Jipping of World Net Daily: "While Republicans never defeated a Clinton nominee in the Judiciary Committee, Democrats did it twice this year alone. In fact, five of the six times that has happened in the last 60 years have been in a Democrat Senate."

What it means is this: Daschle and company thought that Charles Pickering and Pricilla Owen (highest rating by the American Bar Association) of Texas are such a threat to America they did not even allow them out of committee so that they could be voted on by the full Senate ­ even though Democrats had a majority in the Senate! Daschle and company knew these two would be approved by the full Senate because there were at least a few fair-minded Democratic senators who would have voted for them.

Again, from Jipping: "The Senate has confirmed 80 judges in President Bush's first two years, compared to 129 for President Clinton. The confirmation rate for President Bush's appeals court nominees is 55 percent lower than that of his three predecessors. Those presidents saw their first batch of appeals court nominees confirmed in an average of 81 days. After 538 days, two-thirds of President Bush's first nominees are still stuck in the Judiciary Committee."

What this means is that Daschle and company have been stiffing President Bush on judicial appointments. These nominees could die on the vine as far as the Democrats were concerned. In other words, they changed the rules and decided to play cold, mean-spirited, down-and-dirty political hardball. So much so that when Pickering was not even allowed out of the committee for a full Senate vote, Senator Lott said that he took what the Democrats did to this good man "personal." Said he wouldn't forget it. And now, he is back in a position as majority leader to see to it that Pickering and Owen and the like have the opportunity to be voted on by the full Senate. And he will; and they will be confirmed.

Let me also say this about politics. The Republicans are not always right. AFA has been very critical of Republicans when times called for it. Just last month, the AFA Journal cover story was about our frustration with Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft's lack of vigor in prosecuting mainstream companies like Yahoo! for their involvement in child pornography.

But the biggest problem I have with a lot of Democrats, who claim to champion the rights of the weakest Americans, is their unrelenting support for abortion on demand. That's why Daschle and company have blocked Bush nominees. It's all about abortion. Priscilla Owen was not allowed out of committee because she once upheld a Texas law requiring parental consent for minors. That's it. What a radical. These liberal senators know these people aren't racists, but they have to make them out to be so the black groups will join them in opposition.

As I said, I'm so glad they lost.