Janice Rogers Brown on the right of privacy vs. the “right to keep and bear arms”

Curiously, in the current dialectic, the right to keep and bear arms – a right expressly guaranteed by the Bill of Rights – is deemed less fundamental than implicit protections the court purports to find in the penumbras of other express provisions. (citations omitted) But surely, the right to preserve one’s life is at least as fundamental as the right to preserve one’s privacy. [Concurring opinion in Kasler, 2 P.3d at 602]

That quote is from a collection of JRB's decisions (Hat tip to Alchemy for Dummies ) posted by Pat Leahy's puppeteers, and meant to be prima facie evidence of her outrageous, out of the mainstream opinions.  Looking up that puppateer citation to PFAW also yields today's "Blast From the Past, which prominently features Democrat mainstreamer, Senator Richard Durbin. 

November 18, 2003

REALLY Filthy Democrats

REVIEW & OUTLOOK

Sheriff Durbin Our scoop last Friday revealing Senate Democratic strategy memos on how to defeat President Bush's judicial nominees has created quite a stir. Two of the memos came from the office of Senator Dick Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, who was not amused that we gave our readers a taste of the political cynicism behind his opposition. Yesterday he got the Capitol Hill police to raid the Judiciary Committee in search of evidence of who leaked the documents. Sheriff Durbin's office told us late yesterday afternoon that the posse had entered the Committee's computer room and "removed backup tapes from the server." We admit it. We have sources who provided those documents to us, a practice not unknown even, dare we guess, to Mr. Durbin. His outrage at this disclosure contrasts with the notable lack of concern that his fellow Democrats showed some years back over the leak of the Anita Hill charges against then Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. But since the subject's come up, let us take the opportunity to mention one more document we didn't have time to quote from in Friday's editorial. This comes from staff talking points written for Senator Ted Kennedy to deliver to his fellow Senate Democrats urging them to oppose Miguel Estrada, the highly qualified former nominee for the D.C. Circuit who happens to be Hispanic. "We can't repeat the mistake we made with Clarence Thomas," it said. In other words: Please don't let a "Latino" nominee (as a Durbin memo put it) who happens to be conservative get on an appellate court. His next step might be the Supreme Court. Liberal Democrats have been hiding their filibuster motives beyond high-sounding principle. What really has Mr. Durbin upset is that the public finally got a glimpse of how he really thinks.   So, do you still think "filthy Democrats" is unfairly perjorative? - See Friday's WSJ  editorial below