Friday, July 09, 2004

Joe Hoeffel Day

By all rights it should have been yesterday, but give the new guy a break.

Regular Eschaton readers know that Joe Hoeffel is competing with Arlen Spector for one of Pennsylvania's senate seats. A Hoeffel victory is important for many reasons, today I'm interested in the composition of our judicial branch.

On Tuesday Arlen Spector voted to confirm Judge Leon Holmes' nomination to the federal bench in Arkansas, after lobbying against Holmes confirmation on Monday.

And just who is Leon Holmes? He's the former president of the Arkansas Right to Life Committee whose greatest hits include these memorable ditties:

On legal abortions for rape victims:

“[C]oncern for rape victims is a red herring because conceptions from rape occur with approximately the same frequency as snowfall in Miami.”

And the always popular:

“[T]he wife is to subordinate herself to her husband and the woman is to place herself under the authority of the man."


Holmes also once wrote a letter to the Arkansas Gazette entitled, “The Scary New Argument for Abortion,” comparing pro-choice arguments to Nazi propaganda.

Yet Arlen Spector thought this man should be a federal judge (or at least he did on Tuesday).


Slip Joe some turkee!