Word: dirksenism
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Accusations of cronyism in the appointments were pooh-poohed by everyone from the Times to Senator Everett Dirksen ("The President surely wouldn't go out looking for enemies to put on the court, now would he?"). But, the Times itself reported, after the junior justice had already been on the bench for more than a year, "Fortas's involvement in the President's life seems total," and he appears "the most intimate and omnipresent of the President's friends and advisors...
...there had been any doubt about Fortas' fate, none remained after Minority Leader Everett Dirksen pulled a 180° switch and announced that he now felt "duty bound" to vote against cloture. Last summer Dirksen gave the President his approval of the appointment. But as opposition to Fortas swelled-22 of the Senate's 37 Republicans are now against him-Dirksen's leadership has grown shaky, and he is not unmindful that as a rambunctious Congressman in 1965, Griffin helped turn aging Charles Halleck out of the House minority leadership...
...Judiciary Committee hearings were aired anew. No one questioned his legal brilliance. Fortas' opponents complained instead about his status as the appointee of a lame-duck President, and his role in enhancing the Warren Court's supposed softness on pornography and criminals. A typical objection came from Dirksen's son-in-law, Tennessee Senator Howard Baker: "In continuing to counsel the President on such matters as the Viet Nam war, the riots, legislative proposals and the 1966 State of the Union address, Justice Fortas not only has committed a judicial impropriety but also has flagrantly violated...
...suburban liberals (like North Shore party leader Williams), and down-state forces (like Richard Mudge of Edwardsville) is a serious possibility. A liberal coalition of such size could force major concessions from what is left of the machine. This fall McCarthy forces are fighting a hopeless battle against Sen. Dirksen for liberal William Clark, a Daley choice who turned dove against his master's will an dlost the Mayor's financial support. The race gives the liberals a chance to tool-up for the liberation struggle...
Minority Leader Everett Dirksen, who favors Fortas and opposes the filibuster, despairs of the outcome. He estimates that 50 Senators will vote against shutting off debate, leaving far fewer than the two-thirds needed for cloture. After two failures on a cloture vote, Majority Leader Mike Mansfield is likely to withdraw the nomination, and the court will open its new session next month with Warren back on the bench...