5th Circuit nominee Charles Pickering – a supporter of blacks?

I haven’t seen many stories like this one about Charles Pickering, an embattled nominee to the U.S. Fifth Circuit. Geez, is it really possible that politicians would demonize a respected jurist just to advance their political goals? And, if they did, is it possible that the mainstream media would simply go along with this undeserved tarnishment?

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying I automatically believe all of the nice things that some people are saying about Judge Pickering. But it’s hard to deny that many people automatically believe the bad things they hear about him just because they come from newspapers with large circulations, or from powerful political organizations that oppose his nomination.

And don’t leave me comments because you think I support Judge Pickering. I don’t support him or oppose him. I don’t know enough about his qualifications to be an appellate judge. I do, however, quite strongly oppose the judicial nomination process that we now have in this country. It’s become completely political, and anyone who says otherwise is a fool.

I find the current nomination process for federal judges to be quite embarrassing. Many of the people who engage in this insidious mud-slinging and character assassination truly believe that they are somehow helping this country, usually because they believe that only their party is the righteous one. And that I find that sort of thinking quite dangerous. Things are not always what they seem, and people who reflexively accept as truth the statements of political organizations are a weak link in the democratic scheme.

Of course, having a democracy means everyone gets to vote. Even if they are willing to have their votes, and their views, guided by large organizations with obvious political agendas. And so let’s all raise our glass and toast democracy. Yeah democracy! As long as our team wins! Go team, go team, go team….