German Papers The Supreme Court in Bush's Image
There are not many judiciary appointments that would get this much global political coverage. But the United States Supreme Court has a lot more clout than most legal bodies. Its judges are not only appointed for life, meaning that they are still helping to run the country when presidents are off writing their memoirs, but also hold the final say on many of those totemic ideological and social issues, such as abortion rights and gay marriage, which split the country and get Americans more riled up than they do over most political or economic questions.
According to the financial daily Financial Times Deutschland the selection of justices for the Supreme Court is one of the most polarizing issues in the US. "Now George W. Bush has named a candidate -- and made clear that he will continue the conservative revolution." Although the paper believes that the nomination will not make Democrats hit the roof in anger, it notes to readers that "Roberts is clearly and without doubt conservative. This means that Bush has swung the majority round in the highest court in the land. While Robert's predecessor Sandra Day O'Connor could not be clearly assigned to any particular camp, now there are five conservatives against four liberals." Because the Supreme Court shapes policy much more than other courts, for example in the case of abortion law, the commentator sees this as a missed opportunity to bring together America's polarized society. "Many hoped that Bush would finally give in and nominate a woman, a moderate candidate or even someone from an ethnic minority," the paper concludes, ignoring the fact that the president has never in the past shied away from appointing women or ethnic minorities to high-ranking positions. "For Bush the only criterion that is important is being conservative. That was the case for foreign policy, social policy and it now is also the case for legal policy."
For the conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on the other hand, the nomination of a Caucasian male candidate is a sign that Bush is not bowing down to the pressure of political correctness. "Instead the president has relied on his intuition that Judge Roberts can be relied on to swing the scales in favor of the other conservative judges Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Chief Justice William Rehnquist." The paper also contradicts the Financial Times Deutschland by saying that the nomination was greeted with a strong reaction. "It was not surprising that within minutes (of the announcement) there were loud cries from both sides -- both anger and agreement. Those on the left see the 50-year-old judge as ... a right-wing conservative wolf in the sheep's clothing of neutrally colored judicial robes. Those on the right complain of the hasty character assassination of an extraordinary judge and brilliant lawyer."
The right-leaning Die Welt believes that "Bush has found a candidate who seems acceptable to Republicans as well as moderate Democrats." Rather unsurprisingly, the paper welcomes the nomination, saying that by choosing Roberts the president has managed to avoid a war of beliefs, created by the post's first vacancy in 11 years, which could have paralyzed Washington. "The cool power broker," says the commentator, in a rare example of a German paper calling Bush "cool," "is forcing his party to the center without annoying the party's extreme conservative wing." According to the paper, the argument as to who will take the position is more than just a discussion about a job. "The USA is a country which has formed its identity mainly out of legal principles, rather than historical or ethnic traditions... In the end the argument is not about law. It is about the America's soul."
Although the left-leaning Sueddeutsche Zeitung agrees that the nomination is crucial, the paper is not quite as euphoric about the candidate himself. Roberts is conservative, but not fanatical, he is principled but not completely inflexible. "In other words, the American president has chosen his own mirror image ... and anyone believing that this is purely an American domestic matter of medium importance is mistaken." According to the commentator, the Supreme Court will help determine on the direction of George Bush's second term by dictating the president's "room for maneuver, as well as how ideological America's political scene will be. The judiciary's political leanings are a side issue." The paper also notes that the judiciary holds a stabilizing role in the US because unlike the political system, which goes through major idealogical ruptures every eight years, Supreme Court justices stay on for the duration of their careers. "The judges, who are appointed for life, play a part in influencing the basic direction of political life for decades." The commentator also writes that the nomination of a conservative candidate, who is not overtly ideological, was a clever move on behalf of the president. An extremist "would have sparked off a major domestic political crisis. (Bush's) presidency would have been paralyzed and would have effectively come to an end. ... This choice gives Bush more space to breathe, makes him less vulnerable and allows him to possibly enjoy a phase of support."
