Political Quotes

“in this wonderfully written piece, Rudy Giuliani talks about the astonishing record of this immigrant from Honduras, speaking only a few words of English, who attended Columbia, made Phi Beta Kappa, graduated magna cum laude, then went to Harvard Law School, and became editor of the Law Review. He clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals and then for Justice Kennedy on the U.S. Supreme Court. He joined the Solicitor General's Office, serving as an assistant under two Presidents, a Republican and a Democrat, and he was a partner in a prestigious law firm. He has argued 15 cases before the Supreme Court. And he has 'little relevant experience'? The courts are full of judges who were not judges before they were appointed to the court. At some point, a person has to go from being a lawyer to a judge before he can be a judge. Certainly, there are a lot of non-lower-court judges, district court judges, who have been appointed not only to the circuit court of appeals to which this nominee is nominated, but also even to the U.S. Supreme Court. In fact, I believe that in this piece Giuliani points out that on this very circuit, Chief Judge Harry Edwards who, when President Carter appointed him--and he was even younger than Miguel Estrada--did not have previous judicial experience, nor did five of the eight justices now on the court. So that is not a predicate for serving on this court. This is hardly a rookie candidate. I think you carry this argument too far.…”