Pat Fitzgerald: next Supreme Court nominee? (credit: Jim Bourg/Reuters)I just had a brilliant idea! Well, at least I think so. If George Bush takes my advice he’ll solve two vexing problems that are about the biggest thorns in his side right now. Nominate Pat Fitzgerald to the Supreme Court.
You heard me. It’s simple. With one fell swoop, he’ll rid himself of one of the most dangerous prosecutors who ever stalked a sitting vice president and he’ll fill a Supreme Court seat that seems too hot for any other nominee to handle. Democrats AND Republicans will fall over themselves to vote for him. After all, Pat’s essentially a blank slate politically. No one knows if he’s a Democrat of Republican. Unlike Miss Harriet, he does have a paper trail of countless indictments and prosections with the federal prosecutors offices in New York and Chicago. Additionally, not even Republicans have been willing to go after him personally because of his impeccable reputation. Pat would be a home run in the same way John Roberts was one.
Well, maybe not quite the same way since Pat’s never been a judge and his legal expertise is mainly in criminal law. Roberts certainly had a broader legal background. But hell, Pat’s smart enough that he could master that stuff in a few weeks tops!
In case you guessed, I’m being facetious, but only half-facetious. Besides, I don’t want to see Bush, Cheney and the boys let off the hook so easily.
As for Fitzgerald, some smart senator or president should nominate him as a federal judge right away and then after a few years I think he’d make a great SCOTUS nominee. But why not speed up the process a bit and do an end-around a few of those onerous legal experience ‘requirements’ that seem to have mucked up the chances of the previous failed nominee??
I like your thinking on this. I had a similar thought the other day, but had a different thorn in the Republican’s side in mind — Hillary Clinton. While this would surely piss of the right-wing of his party, it would take her out of the running in 2008. The moderates in his party would get down and kiss his feet for helping them.