# Orin Hatch--running scared of the Tea Party
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orin-hatch-running-scared-of-the-tea-party/546480
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [July 13, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orin-hatch-running-scared-of-the-tea-party/546480 "2010-07-13T01:12:35Z")
**Posts on this page:** 18
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orin-hatch-running-scared-of-the-tea-party/546480/41 "2010-07-13T03:26:43Z")
Maybe I should have said _most fit_ or _best fit_. In a joking way, I’ve often wondered why the Senate doesn’t just publish a list of candidates they would approve and have the Prez appoint one of them. Of course, all that would do is move the arguing to the Senate alone.
---
### Author:  [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2010, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orin-hatch-running-scared-of-the-tea-party/546480/42 "2010-07-13T04:04:05Z")
> [@Monty](#):
>
> Maybe I should have said _most fit_ or _best fit_.
Even that is going to be a split decision in favor of the majority party. Is Scalia-clone more fit than Kagan? Lotta righties say yes. Lotta lefties say no. Who has the God’s Eye View to resolve the issue?
---
### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2010, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orin-hatch-running-scared-of-the-tea-party/546480/43 "2010-07-13T04:07:19Z")
> [@Oakminster](#):
>
> I may be a douche, but I’m no liberal. Orin is out of bounds here. He doesn’t get to pick the candidate, or determine what judicial philosophy that candidate should follow. That’s bullshit. The scope of his inquiry should be…is she a lawyer in good standing in all jurisdictions where she’s been admitted? Yes. Does she have any pending criminal charges? No. Does she appear to be batshit insane? No. Can she obtain a security clearance, if SCOTUS appointees are required to have one (I don’t know.)? If required and she can, then she appears to be at least minimally qualified for the job. And I don’t think there is even a constitutional requirement that she be a lawyer, but I may be mistaken.
Harriet Meiers was “minimally qualified” for the job, too. Doesn’t mean I didn’t want the Democrats voting her nomination down.
Obama won the election, but Hatch won one too. I don’t really give a fuck if he says boo to this particular goose.
---
### Author:  [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2010, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orin-hatch-running-scared-of-the-tea-party/546480/44 "2010-07-13T05:24:43Z")
Anybody remember Robert Bork? Clarence Thomas?
Hatch is hardly alone in making political philosophy a cornerstone of SCOTUS congressional confirmation or rejection.
---
### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2010, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orin-hatch-running-scared-of-the-tea-party/546480/45 "2010-07-13T05:44:54Z")
Remember Bork? Hell, I read his damn book, did my heart good, listen to him piss and moan about how the hippies destroyed his world! Knowing he hates my guts with all the black fury of a constipated Calvinist makes my heart soar like an eagle.
Thanks for reminding me!
---
### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2010, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orin-hatch-running-scared-of-the-tea-party/546480/46 "2010-07-13T05:47:07Z")
Is there really such thing as a political movement in America for whom Orrin Hatch is not conservative **enough?!** :eek:
---
### Author:  [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2010, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orin-hatch-running-scared-of-the-tea-party/546480/47 "2010-07-13T06:11:16Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#):
>
> Rational minds cannot differ on whether a liberal douche judicial philosophy is a good thing or not–it’s absolute hogwash through and through. Kagan and her ilk have the most addled legal minds imaginable. It’s all result-oriented bullshit–the law be damned, they are seekers of such nebulous and bullshit concepts as “social justice” and whatnot. There’s nothing rational about that.
Ha! I’m about as rational as you are.
---
### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2010, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orin-hatch-running-scared-of-the-tea-party/546480/48 "2010-07-13T06:19:15Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#):
>
> Rational minds cannot differ on whether a liberal douche judicial philosophy is a good thing or not–it’s absolute hogwash through and through. Kagan and her ilk have the most addled legal minds imaginable. It’s all result-oriented bullshit–the law be damned, they are seekers of such nebulous and bullshit concepts as “social justice” and whatnot. There’s nothing rational about that.
:dubious: Results are what the law is all **about,** on the judicial side no less than on the political/legislative side. Every judge in America is rightly expected to give “public policy arguments” a place on the scale, and none such are based on value-formulations any less nebulous than “social justice.” Jeez, did you get your law degree from the University of Phoenix, or what?!
---
### Author:  [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2010, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orin-hatch-running-scared-of-the-tea-party/546480/49 "2010-07-13T06:24:18Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> Is there really such thing as a political movement in America for whom Orrin Hatch is not conservative **enough?!** :eek:
Well, he has consistently failed to author, sponsor, and guide to passage All Weapons of Every Type Are Now Legal For All Citizens Not Convicted of a Felony and Legalized Dueling Act, so I say he’s a candy ass liberal on guns.
---
### Author:  [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2010, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orin-hatch-running-scared-of-the-tea-party/546480/50 "2010-07-13T06:33:43Z")
> [@elucidator](#):
>
> Remember Bork? Hell, I read his damn book, did my heart good, listen to him piss and moan about how the hippies destroyed his world!
Ah, yes, a subject near and dear to my own heart.
For the record, Ayn Rand was scornful of them too. [Link](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VzdkXm5Ies&feature=related) (approx. 0:40)
It’s flattering to find oneself in such illustrious company. 😉
---
### Author:  [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2010, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orin-hatch-running-scared-of-the-tea-party/546480/51 "2010-07-13T10:55:49Z")
Quick question - when he was a senator Barack Obama voted against the confirmations of Justices Alito and Roberts.
Was that an abuse of his office or an appropriate vote?
---
### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2010, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orin-hatch-running-scared-of-the-tea-party/546480/52 "2010-07-13T11:09:49Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#):
>
> And more irony meters explode.
>
> As if Orrin Hatch has never pushed legislation based on his personal views, not to mention personal advantage.
I join the opinion of my colleague **Oakminster** , but write separately to address this comment. The roles of judge and legislator are quite different.
The legislator is subject to votes of approval every two or six years. The judge is getting a lifetime appontment.The legislator is supposed to create new law. The judge is supposed to interpret the law legislators have made.
Finally, the legislator is supposed to be guided by political goals. The judge is supposed to be guided by the law, period.
---
### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2010, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orin-hatch-running-scared-of-the-tea-party/546480/53 "2010-07-13T11:40:49Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#):
>
> Quick question - when he was a senator Barack Obama voted against the confirmations of Justices Alito and Roberts.
So you are saying Republicans are no better than Democrats?
---
### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2010, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orin-hatch-running-scared-of-the-tea-party/546480/54 "2010-07-13T13:25:10Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#):
>
> Quick question - when he was a senator Barack Obama voted against the confirmations of Justices Alito and Roberts.
>
> Was that an abuse of his office or an appropriate vote?
The ACLU also declined to support Alito’s nomination; it was the second time _ever_ that they refused to do so.
---
### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [July 13, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orin-hatch-running-scared-of-the-tea-party/546480/55 "2010-07-13T22:52:19Z")
> [@Oakminster](#):
>
> I may be a douche, but I’m no liberal. Orin is out of bounds here. He doesn’t get to pick the candidate, or determine what judicial philosophy that candidate should follow. That’s bullshit. The scope of his inquiry should be…is she a lawyer in good standing in all jurisdictions where she’s been admitted? Yes. Does she have any pending criminal charges? No. Does she appear to be batshit insane? No. Can she obtain a security clearance, if SCOTUS appointees are required to have one (I don’t know.)? If required and she can, then she appears to be at least minimally qualified for the job. And I don’t think there is even a constitutional requirement that she be a lawyer, but I may be mistaken.
>
> She is not the person I’d pick for the job. I will likely strongly disagree with many of her rulings. But Obama won the election, and holds the right to chose the candidate he thinks suitable for the job.
No, there is no constitutional requirement that she be a lawyer.
Nor does the Constitution set the boundaries of the Senate’s “advise and consent” role in confirmations. The Senate may confirm or reject a nominee for whatever reasons seem good to it. Just like an impeachable offense is whatever the House decides it is – that is **intended** to be a political decision, not a judicial one.
And a case could be made that a certain check-and-balance role here is both legitimate and desirable. I’m sure Robert Bork was a lawyer in good standing, etc., but thank Og **he** wasn’t confirmed! :eek:
---
### Author:  [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)
#### Post date: [July 15, 2010, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orin-hatch-running-scared-of-the-tea-party/546480/56 "2010-07-15T01:26:31Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#):
>
> :dubious: Results are what the law is all **about,** on the judicial side no less than on the political/legislative side. Every judge in America is rightly expected to give “public policy arguments” a place on the scale, and none such are based on value-formulations any less nebulous than “social justice.”
Wrong. Take the Santa Fe case for example. Is it a good thing for people not to take guns around schools? Sure, that’s a good thing. Is that something that the federal government can pass a law to forbid? That is a question that should be decided solely on the basis of what the Constitution says, not on whether or not it is a good thing for such a law to exist.
> [@](#):
>
> Jeez, did you get your law degree from the University of Phoenix, or what?!
Where did you get yours?
---
### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [July 15, 2010, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orin-hatch-running-scared-of-the-tea-party/546480/57 "2010-07-15T03:21:14Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#):
>
> Wrong. Take the Santa Fe case for example. Is it a good thing for people not to take guns around schools? Sure, that’s a good thing. Is that something that the federal government can pass a law to forbid? That is a question that should be decided solely on the basis of what the Constitution says, not on whether or not it is a good thing for such a law to exist.
You will not see such a case come before an appellate court without plenty of values-based public-policy arguments in the briefs, and probably in **both** sides’ briefs.
> [@Rand\_Rover](#):
>
> Where did you get yours?
University of Maryland at Baltimore.
---
### Author:  [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2010, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orin-hatch-running-scared-of-the-tea-party/546480/58 "2010-07-17T00:09:46Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#):
>
> Quick question - when he was a senator Barack Obama voted against the confirmations of Justices Alito and Roberts.
>
> Was that an abuse of his office or an appropriate vote?
That was different!
That time, it was to save the Republic/Constitution/Freedom of Life/The Children!
Now, it’s the teabaggers terrorizing…everybody!!!😃
Best wishes,
hh
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orin-hatch-running-scared-of-the-tea-party/546480.md?page=2)