Rove Featured Speaker At Federalist Society Convention (Or Not?)

Today, Advance Indiana editor Gary R. Welsh received a flyer advertising the Federalist Society's 2005 National Lawyers Convention. The Federalist Society, an association of conservative attorneys who promote a strict interpretation of the Constitution, features Karl Rove as its keynote speaker at its national convention to be held at D.C's Mayflower Hotel, November 10-12, 2005 in the mailing flyer. Rove, who is a college drop-out, non-attorney, gay-basher and Deputy White House Chief of Staff, is currently in the midst of a bit of controversy surrounding SCOTUS nominee Harriet Miers and conversations Rove supposedly had with Dr. James Dobson about her views to secure the Focus On The Family leader's support.

Something curious has happened since the flyer got mailed by the organization. The Federalist Society web site noticeably omits Karl Rove as its keynote speaker. Instead, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Ray Randolph is the highligted speaker. Rove is at the center of the ongoing Valerie Plame-CIA leak investigation. There has been much speculation in recent days that Rove will be indicted by the grand jury for his alleged role in leaking Plame's identity to the press before the grand jury's term expires at the end of this month. Could it be that the event's organizers know something about Rove that has not yet been announced publicly? Just asking.

If you are interested in learning more about the event, you can click here. Some of the topics to be covered at this year's convention include: "Originalism and Unenumerated Constitutional Rights," "Originalism and Pragmatism," "Originalism and Precedent" and last but not least "The Original Meaning of the Commerce, Spending and Necessary and Proper Clauses."

To give you more of the flavor for the planned meeting, under the topic "Originalism and Unenumerated Rights", the group will review Supreme Court decisions not looked upon favorably by fellow Federalist Society members, including: Dred[ed] Scott where "the Court discovered that the right to bring slaves into a territory was protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment"; and Roe v. Wade where "the Court has found the right to abortion in the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment; and "the Ninth Amendment of the Bill of Rights as a source of unenumerated rights." The group asks, "Does the Constitution provide any legitimate foundation for the enforcement of unenumerated rights?"

The good old time revival of conservative attorneys will feature such conservative legal stalwarts as Robert Bork, U.S. Court of Appeals Judges Edith Brown Clement, Edith Jones and Priscilla Owen (three women judges conservatives had okayed as SCOTUS nominees), former boss of Chief Justice Roberts and former Bush II Solicitor General, Theodore Olson and former Clinton prosecutor Ken Starr. And that popular gay marriage fighting and unlikely Republican Mormon Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, will make a special appearance.

You may recall that Chief Justice John Roberts went to great lengths to deny his membership in the organization during his confirmation hearing, although several of the group's leaders said otherwise. Now you know why.