Wednesday, November 19, 2003
ON CAPITOL HILL
Democrats accused of racism on Bush nominees
Critics cite Kennedy 'Neanderthal' remark, memo
nixing Estrada because 'he is Latino'
Posted: November 19, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Art Moore
© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
While establishment civil-rights leaders in the U.S. have been silent
on Sen. Edward Kennedy calling President Bush's minority judicial nominees "Neanderthals," one prominent black author is portraying
the senator's comment as "racism in its highest form."
"Had a Republican made those types of remarks about a Democrat, especially a black or Hispanic, the so-called NAACP, the black
caucus, Jesse Jackson, the others, would be burning down
America," said the Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, head of Los
Angeles-based BOND, Brotherhood Organization of a New
Destiny, whose purpose is "rebuilding the family by rebuilding
the man."
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson
Kennedy's remarks came at the end of a marathon Senate session
last week engineered by Republicans to force a vote on nominees blocked by Democrats who claim Bush's selections are unfit for the federal bench.
The Massachusetts Democrat said "what has not ended is the resolution and the determination of the members of the United
States Senate to continue to resist any Neanderthal that is
nominated by this president of the United States for any federal
court in the United States."
Two of the four judges held back by Democrats are minorities, California Supreme Court Judge Janice Rogers Brown and
Miguel Estrada. Brown was nominated in July to the prestigious
U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, from which many
nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court have come. After two years
of opposition, Estrada finally gave up fighting for his nomination
to the D.C. court on Sept. 5.
"Mr. Estrada received disgraceful treatment at the hands of 45
U.S. Senators during the more than two years his nomination
was pending," President Bush said of the end of the Estrada
battle. "Despite his superb qualifications and the wide bipartisan support for his nomination, these Democrat senators repeatedly blocked an up-or-down vote that would have led to Mr. Estrada's confirmation. The treatment of this fine man is an unfortunate
chapter in the Senate's history."
Janice Rogers Brown (Photo: Law.com)
"The problem Democrats like Kennedy have with these judges is
that they are conservative," said Star Parker, president and founder
of CURE, the Coalition on Urban Renewal & Education, and author
of the WND book "Uncle Sam's Plantation."
"The lives of Janice Rogers Brown and Miguel Estrada capture everything America is about," she told WND. "From the founding
of this country, it's been about preserving and defending freedom."
The other blocked nominees are Priscilla Owen, Charles Pickering
and Carolyn Kuhl.
Peterson said Kennedy's remarks and the lack of response
"shows the race issue is not as important to these so-called
civil rights leaders as they pretend it is when Republicans or conservatives are concerned."
"They pretend that they want equality for black Americans," he
said. "They pretend that racism is holding them back, but when
blacks are moving forward, as [Brown] is doing – a qualified
woman, a good example for all people, especially black Americans – they are doing all they can to hold her back, because her views or principles don't coincide with theirs."
Peterson contends the divide is not over race but morals.
"It's a character issue," he said. "We're having a spiritual battle between good and evil, right and wrong. And Justice Brown and
these other justices are on the side of good, and the Black
Caucus, the Kennedys, the liberal Democrats, are on the side
of evil. They are going after people based on that and not color."
Peterson's new book "Scam: How the Black Leadership Exploits Black America,", published by WND Books, contends establishment black leaders such as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are con
artists, gaining money and power by promoting racial tension and
class warfare.
He thinks Brown, along with all black Americans, deserves an
apology from Kennedy.
"This is racism in its highest form," he said. "This woman has
managed to succeed in the greatest country in the world against
all opposition."
Peterson said his group contacted Kennedy's office but just "got
the run-around."
Kennedy's press secretary, Jim Manley, did not return WND's call seeking comment.
Miguel Estrada
On Friday, the Wall Street Journal published secret staff memos
to Kennedy and Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin revealing a scheme to block Bush nominations.
One memo described Miguel Estrada as "especially dangerous, because he has a minimal paper trail, he is Latino, and the White House seems to be grooming him for a Supreme Court appointment."
A Nov. 1, 2001, memo informs Sen. Durbin of meetings he will have with leaders of left-leaning interest groups who will identify "the most controversial and/or vulnerable judicial nominees."
"The groups would like to postpone action on these nominees until
next year, when (presumably) the public will be more tolerant of
partisan dissent," the memo said.
Those groups, according to the document, were likely to include
Ralph Neas of People For the American Way, Kate Michelman
of NARAL, Nan Aron of the Alliance for Justice, Wade Henderson
of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Leslie Proll of the NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund, Nancy Zirkin of the American Association of University Women, Marcia Greenberger
of the National Women's Law Center and Judy Lichtman of National Partnership.
Read Joseph Farah's column today, "Racism on Dem Plantation"