Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa

I simply hate it when I forget my own rules.

Yesterday I accepted a quote claiming that Charles Schumer (D-NY) said the following in a speech to the American Constitution Society in 2007.

"I will recommend to my colleagues that we should not confirm any Bush nominee to the Supreme Court except in extraordinary circumstances."

Perhaps my dislike of Schumer made me willing to accept that he said this when there was a possibility the shoe might be on the other foot in nominating a Supreme Court justice.

Besides, it was a hypothetical situation that never actually came up so it didn't strike me as being terribly important.

I forgot about the old quote mine. The dishonest practice of taking a quote out of context in order to change its meaning. In context, this is what Schumer actually said.

"We cannot afford to see Justice Stevens replaced by another Roberts or Justice Ginsburg replaced by another Alito. Given the track of this President and the experience of obfuscation at hearings, with respect to the Supreme Court at least, I will recommend to my colleagues that we should not confirm any Bush nominee to the Supreme Court except in extraordinary circumstances. They must prove by actions not words that they are in the mainstream rather than we have to prove that they are not."

In other words he was talking not allowing another far right conservative on the court despite verbal assurances that they would abide by precedent and NOT about blocking any and all Bush nominees.

I wouldn't expect the Republicans to approve a far left nominee that couldn't be relied upon to respect precedent under ANY circumstances.

So Schumer was talking about something totally different than what the Republicans are talking about doing.

The rule I forgot was to always, always, ALWAYS verify quotes especially when they so conveniently support someones position.