Senate hearings to vet Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, who is known to favor taxpayer-funded abortion and same-sex "marriage," are set to begin June 28, according to reports.
Meanwhile, the William J. Clinton Presidential Library, part of the National Archives, has rendered about 168,000 pages of documents left behind by Solicitor General Kagan from her service as presidential assistant in the Clinton White House.
National Archives officials were reticent to say whether archivists will finish the daunting task of reviewing the material - which they say has to be read "line by line" - before the target date for the hearings, prompting some senators to complain that the process is being needlessly rushed.
Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., the highest-ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Wednesday that the June 28 deadline was "not my choice" and that more time should be allowed to scrutinize the nominee. "Our people would have preferred to have it after the July 4 [recess] because that lets us have a better hearing," Sessions told The Hill.
"We would be better prepared to ask better questions and know more clearly where the nominee is before the hearing starts ... But I don't have any choice."
A filibuster attempt to block the nominee, which would require every GOP member to oppose Kagan, is not expected: Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe has expressed satisfaction with Kagan's qualifications for the Supreme Court, calling her "highly talented."
Aside from the former Harvard Law dean's controversial move to ban military recruiters from campus in protest of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" rule against open homosexuals in the military, Kagan is not known for her outspokenness on political issues. However, documents unearthed from her college days show her proclivities falling squarely on the "progressive" end of the political spectrum.
The Daily Princetonian earlier this month noted that Kagan's "senior thesis, the editorials published under her tenure as editorial chairman of The Daily Princetonian and her campus activities, as well as the words of those who worked closely with her at Princeton, shed light on Kagan's commitment to political activism and her liberal beliefs."
In an opinion piece written for the 'Prince' in 1980, Kagan spoke candidly of her left-leaning sensibilities. "I absorbed ... liberal principles early," she said, as quoted by the Princetonian. In addition, she complained of the success of "anonymous but Moral Majority-backed ... avengers of 'innocent life' and the B-1 Bomber," and hoped the future would "be marked by American disillusionment with conservative programs and solutions, and that a new, revitalized, perhaps more leftist left will once again come to the fore."
Some eyebrows were raised by statements in Kagan's Princeton thesis, which outlines the New York socialist movement at the beginning of the 20th century. In that document the future Supreme Court nominee wrote: "Americans are more likely to speak of a golden past than of a golden future, of capitalism's glories than of socialism's greatness. Conformity overrides dissent; the desire to conserve has overwhelmed the urge to alter. Such a state of affairs cries out for explanation. ... The story [of the downfall of the New York socialist movement] is a sad but also a chastening one for those who, more than half a century after socialism's decline, still wish to change America. In unity lies their only hope."
However, acquaintances strongly countered conclusions that Kagan harbors socialist sympathies; Sean Wilentz, the Princeton history professor who served as Kagan's thesis advisor, insisted that Kagan "is about the furthest thing from a socialist. Period."
Yet pro-life and pro-family advocates continue to express concern that Kagan is poised to introduce a solidly pro-abortion and homosexualist voice to the nation's highest court.
Tom McCluskey of the Family Research Council on Wednesday issued a letter to pro-abortion Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), who had expressed concern over Kagan's pro-abortion credentials, assuring her that "she is as pro-abortion as you and other members of your caucus." McCluskey pointed out Kagan's strong support for taxpayer-funded abortion, a position that a solid majority of Americans as well as the Supreme Court in Rust v. Sullivan oppose.
"I look forward to the confirmation proceedings and seeing your concerns regarding the abortion issue raised. Americans can then see how far out of the mainstream this nominee is on the legality of elective abortions," wrote McCluskey.
Contact: Kathleen Gilbert
Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Publish Date: May 21, 2010
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