Democrats invoke Katrina in Roberts confirmation hearings.

The U.S. Senate opened confirmation hearings today on John Roberts, president Bush's nominee to be the next chief justice of the Supreme Court. We never know how a Supreme Court justice will rule on issues until he is on the Court. But Roberts' statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee makes him sound like a promising choice for the position. He had this to say:

"A certain humility should characterize the judicial role. Judges and justices are servants of the law, not the other way around."

That statement alone is enough to ruffle the feathers of liberals who support activist judges. Predictably, two leading Democrats have evoked hurricane Katrina in statements on the floor today. Sen. Patrick Leahy from Vermont said this:

"Today, the devastation, despair facing millions of our fellow Americans in the Gulf region is a tragic reminder of why we have a federal government, why it's critical that our government be responsive. We need the federal government for our protection and security, to cast a lifeline to those in distress, to mobilize better resources beyond the ability of any state and local government -- all of this for the common good."

Uh, Senator? Our federal government was responsive (see previous post), and the federal government cannot micromanage everything that goes on in the country. That is why we have state and local governments. Here is what Ted Kennedy from Massachusetts had to say:

"The powerful winds and flood waters of Katrina tore away the mask that has hidden from public view the many Americans who are left out and left behind. As one nation under God, we cannot continue to ignore the injustice, the inequality and the gross disparities that exist in our society."

Senator? Your party's policies have deepened the disparities and inequalities that exist in our society. Liberalism has created an entire class of Americans who have become dependent on the government. Your party's constant exploitation of class envy and racial differences has fostered the sense of entitlement that keeps so many people living in poverty. New Orleans is an example of what conditions result from liberal policies. If liberal social programs really resulted in less poverty, then there should not have been much poverty left in New Orleans. Democrats have run that city for more than three decades. Where are the results?

Besides, what do these two Senators' statements have to do with a Supreme Court nominee? Playing politics with this tragedy is going to backfire on Democrats, just like all of their other lowbrow tactics have in recent years. Don't they ever learn?