Jac VerSteeg Column at the Palm Beach Post

I've said before that I find most of the Palm Beach Post columnists unreadable. Here's a perfect example from today's Palm Beach Post. It's title- Hurl brick, snatch high court? I've highlighted some of Mr. VerSteeg's diatribe below.

Will the Bush administration ever give up smash-and-grab politics? It's doubtful, since that's the way President Bush came to power. His election machine threw a rock through the window of states' rights and pulled out a one-time-only U.S. Supreme Court decision. Now the Supreme Court could be the focus of another smash-and-grab case.

and

Ask former Sen. Max Cleland, D-Ga., who lost three limbs during the Vietnam War. In the 2002 midterm election, the Bush team smashed his reputation to grab control of the Senate. In 2004, President Bush hid behind the Swift Boat Gang while it smashed John Kerry's medals to grab headlines.

and

Imagine a court that hates all environmental rules, never saw a police power it didn't like, takes the barefoot-and-pregnant view of women and the first-kill-all-the-lawyers view of torts. Campaign-finance reform means establishing the one-dollar, one-vote model.

and

Now, President Bush says he wants the process to replace Justice O'Connor to be "dignified." If that's really his goal, he could, as President Clinton did with Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, nominate respected jurists. President Clinton's were moderate liberals.

Let's be gentle in tearing down Mr. VerSteeg's ill informed column.

1- He can't get over the 2000 election result. How many vote counts took place? Three or four I recall, each with Bush the winner. What Mr. VerSteeg really means is keep counting till Gore had the lead in some way and then declare a winner. Like they did in Washington with the 2004 Governor's race.

The Florida Supreme Court didn't obey the election law. It took the USSC to put them in their place.

2- The Max Cleland myth. What defeated him in 2002? If you read or listen to former Democratic Governor of Georgia and one term US Senator Zell Miller or non-partisan The National journal(Read the 2004 Almanac of American Politics Mr. VerSteeg. I have a copy on my book shelf) it was Senator Cleland's vote on Homeland Security legislation that did him in.

The national Democratic party wanted to appease one of their biggest campaign contributors by putting off a vote. Cleland caved in to pressure from his own party when his constituents wanted otherwise. So he paid the price at election day and it was his fault.

3- More vitriol and hate from Mr. VerSteeg. The court can't take away a woman's right to abortion if it overthrew Roe. It would be up to t he state legislators. Well meaning campaign finance law was worked around in the 2004 election, and instead is now being proposed to be used against bloggers instead. Democrats scream diversity but don't want anyone's opinions heard but their own.

4- Breyer and Bader-Ginsburg moderate liberals? Just look what they did in Kelo overruling the US constitution.

Mr. VerSteeg's column is the usual hate, vitriol, and distortions that pass for liberal or Democratic views today. You ever wonder why the party is out of power? Just look in the mirror Mr. VerSteeg.

I'm going to email Mr. VerSteeg my blog post and see if he wants to comment. At least I didn't give him my knucklehead award, though I am sorely tempted.