Bush nominates Judge Alito for the Supre me Court2

“This explains the '2', LMAO!
Fascist Libbies! LOL
http://www.thebackpacker.com/trailtalk/thread/41050,3.php



Bush nominates Judge Alito for the Supreme Court


Bush nominates Judge Alito for the Supreme Court.


WASHINGTON — President Bush on Monday nominated Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.

While many Republicans praised the judicial nominee, Democrats wasted no time in publicly blasting him as "too radical."

"Judge Alito is one of the most accomplished and respected judges of America and his long career in public service has given him an extraordinary breadth of judicial experience," Bush said in making the announcement. "He's scholarly, fair-minded and principled and these qualities will serve him well on the highest court in the land."

The White House arranged for Alito to go to the Capitol, where Senate Majority Leader Bill First to greet him and accompany the nominee to the Capitol Rotunda to go to the coffin of the late civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks.

If approved, Alito — considered a conservative federal judge — will replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (search), a moderate who has been considered a decisive swing vote in a host of affirmative action, abortion, campaign finance, discrimination and death penalty cases.

"I am deeply honored to be nominated to serve on the Supreme Court and I am very grateful for the confidence you have shown in me," Alito said after Bush announced his pick. "The Supreme Court has been an institution that I have long held in reverence."

A senior GOP leadership aide said leading lawmakers are pushing for hearings and a final vote on the Senate floor by the Christmas holiday.

Some at the White House believe there will be 22 votes against Alito. The reason being, they said, if some lawmakers didn't like Judge John Roberts, they won't like Alito.

Roberts may be closest to Alito in that "both are conservatives but both are very careful not to give their opinion" on social issues, John Nagle, associate dean at Notre Dame Law School who knows Alito, told FOX News on Monday.

Calling Alito a "terrific nominee," Nagle said the nominee has a "distinguished record" while working on constitutional issues in the Justice Department and during the rest of his professional career.

Alito is "very gracious, easy going, personable. He's really a legal thinker but he's not a person who in his personal conversations … tries to prove how bright he is," Nagle said. "He's conservative but you don't get the sense from his opinions that he's pursuing a particular agenda ... his decisions are very measured, analytical."

Alito has been dubbed "Scalito" or "Scalia-lite" by some lawyers because his judicial philosophy invites comparisons to conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. But while Scalia is outspoken and is known to badger lawyers, Alito is polite, reserved and even-tempered. Some at the White House have taken offense to the nickname.

FOX News Supreme Court analyst Tim O'Brien said while some of Alito's ideology may be similar to that of Scalia's, he is an independent thinker and he should not be labeled as another Scalia.

But "he is a friendly, easy-going guy and that certainly will help him in this confirmation here," O'Brien said.

The White House hopes the choice mends a rift in the Republican Party caused by the failed nomination of Harriet Miers (search). Miers bowed out last Thursday after three weeks of bruising criticism from members of Bush's own party who argued that the Texas lawyer and loyal Bush confidant had thin credentials on constitutional law and no proven record as a judicial conservative.

Bush administration officials said Alito was virtually certain from the start to get the nod from the moment Miers backed out. The 55-year-old jurist was Bush's favorite choice of the judges in the last set of deliberations but he settled instead on someone outside what he calls the "judicial monastery," the officials said, which resulted in the pick of Miers.

Bush believes that Alito has not only the right experience and conservative ideology for the job, but also has a temperament suited to building consensus on the court. A former prosecutor, Alito has experience off the bench that factored into Bush's thinking, the officials said.

Political Fight Expected

While Alito is expected to win praise from Bush's allies on the right, Democrats have served notice they will fight it.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said Monday that he is "disappointed" in the pick of Alito in that he is not a "consensus nominee" and said one day earlier that that nominee would "create a lot of problems."

"The nomination of Judge Alito requires an especially long hard look by the Senate because of what happened last week to Harriet Miers," Reid said in a statement Monday. "Conservative activists forced Miers to withdraw from consideration for this same Supreme Court seat because she was not radical enough for them. Now the Senate needs to find out if the man replacing Miers is too radical for the American people."

He also criticized Bush for not choosing a woman or Hispanic for the court. "He has chosen yet another federal appellate judge to join a court that already has eight justices with that narrow background," Reid added. "President Bush would leave the Supreme Court looking less like America and more like an old boys club."

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also blasted Bush for not picking someone in the "mold of Sandra Day O'Connor, who would unify us."

"This controversial nominee, who would make the court less diverse and far more conservative, will get very careful scrutiny from the Senate and from the American people," Schumer said.

But Frist applauded the selection of Alito and warned lawmakers not to make the confirmation process a mud-slinging, all-out battle over the bench.

"I enthusiastically support it [the nomination] based on what I know today. He is clearaly a highly qualified nominee ... he's shown judicial restraint in the past," Frist told FOX News on Monday.

Democrats "will try to pick fights and and they will look for documents and they will use scare tactics but at the end of the day ... I think he will overwhelmingly be confirmed. If the Dems look for a fight, we will be ready to fight. This is a highly qualified nominee."

Sen. John Cornyn, the Texas Republican who served as a pointman in the Senate on behalf of Roberts during his confirmation process, agreed that a political fight over Alito is likely.

"I think it's going to be contentious but he'll [Alito] be confirmed by a bipartisan majority in the Senate," Cornyn told FOX News. "I think we're in a position to move rather quickly."

Unlike Miers, who has never been a judge, Alito, a jurist from New Jersey, has been a strong conservative voice on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals since Bush's father, former President George H.W. Bush, seated him on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia at the age of 39 in 1990. A former deputy assistant to Attorney General Ed Meese in the mid-1980s, he also worked in President Reagan's solicitor general office.

Judicial conservatives praise Alito's 15 years on the Philadelphia-based court, a tenure that gives him more appellate experience than almost any previous Supreme Court nominee. They say his record shows a commitment to a strict interpretation of the Constitution, ensuring that the separation of powers and checks and balances are respected and enforced. They also contend that Alito has been a powerful voice for the First Amendment's guarantees of free speech and the free exercise of religion.

While Alito is known for being quiet, reserved and well-versed in constitutional law, and has a record that should please many conservatives, that record could also work against him.

Newsweek columnist Eleanor Clift said Alito's role as the sole dissenter on the 3rd Circuit court in the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision (search), which struck down a Pennsylvania law that required women to inform their husbands before they got an abortion, could cause Democratic objections.

"The Pennsylvania legislature could have rationally believed that some married women are initially inclined to obtain an abortion without their husbands' knowledge because of perceived problems — such as economic constraints, future plans or the husbands' previously expressed opposition — that may be obviated by discussion prior to the abortion," Alito wrote.

The decision by the court — considered one of the most liberal circuit courts in the country — was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 6-3 vote. The late Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist cited Alito's reasoning in his own dissent.

"That (case) certainly would come up. I think we know the least about him. There is a fight no matter what. It depends on how big a fight the White House wants and how big a fight the Democrats dare weigh depending on the credentials of the nominee," Clift told FOX News.

Interest groups are already taking up positions on Alito.

"The president has made an excellent choice today which reflects his commitment to appoint judges in the mold of Scalia and [Clarence] Thomas," said Kay Daly, president of the conservative Coalition for a Fair Judiciary.

Some Democrats say the nominee is a way for Bush to assuage his conservative base and boost support amid sagging poll numbers due in part to the war in Iraq, hurricane-related political fallout and ongoing White House controversies like the CIA leak case.

"It's a pretty predictable move from a politically crippled president," said Democratic consultant Jim Jordan. "Toss out a judicial extremist to pacify his base and provoke a fight that he hopes changes the subject away from indictments and Iraq and Katrina and a soft economy."

Alito, an Italian-American who grew up in Trenton, N.J., has a resume filled with stepping stones to the high court. He was educated at Princeton University and earned a law degree from Yale University, the president's alma mater.

FOXNews' Carl Cameron, Sharon Kehnemui Liss, Liza Porteus and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,173968,00.html






The bold part concerns me, LOL.”

“bump

LMAO!”

“http://www.drudgereport.com/flash9.htm

MEDIA/DNC NICKNAME 'SCALITO' SEEN AS ETHNICALLY INSENSITIVE
Mon Oct 31 2005 08:42:57 ET

Before Judge Samuel Alito was even officially announced as President Bush’s next Supreme Court nominee, he met a wave of racial discrimination from numerous corners of the mainstream media and the Democrat Party. Because of Judge Alito’s conservative and Italian-American background he is often been compared to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, and has been nicknamed by the mainstream media “Scalito.”

This morning, on CNN’s AMERICAN MORNING host Soledad O’Brien said, “we've heard the nickname ‘Scalito’…. which is of course combining the Scalia, Justice Scalia and Alito. Let’s talk a little bit about their similarities.”

On CBS’EARLY SHOW host Harry Smith claimed: “[Our next guest] will be on to talk about Alito, who some people are calling ‘Scalito’ because of his close resemblance to Antonin Scalia at least ideologically.”

Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee sent out talking points this morning titled: “Judge ‘Scalito’ Has Long History Of States Rights, Anti-Civil Rights, And Anti-Immigrant Rulings.” More from the DNC’s anti-Italian American talkers: “Alito is often referred to as ‘Judge Scalito’ because of his adherence to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s right-wing judicial philosophy.”

One outraged Republican strategist claimed, “If Alito were a liberal there would be no way Democrats and Washington’s media elite would use such a ethnically insensitive nickname. Italian-Americans should not have to face these types of derogatory racial slurs in 21st century America.”









Quite shameless...
Our Own Little Race-Baiter violin using racist names.....

Developing...”

“Yeah, but it's not racist if the target of the comments is white/European male.”

“Your forgot the bold this time. Was the bold part a slap at Violin?

As for the nominee, I can't say I have a strong opinion. It's looks like Bush tried to return to the strategy that worked when picking Roberts: conservative, qualified, but without any particulars that would thrill the right wing of his party or agitate the moderate wing of the Democratic party (he doesn't mind if the left wing of the Dems are unhappy - in fact it might cost if they weren't. What would his base think if Ted Kennedy was praising the nomination?)”

“Now - I got the history. I don't think it's fair to pin racism on Violin for this.

The media or Public officials need to be sensitive to "even the appearance" of bigotry, but it's unfair to bash Violin on that.”

“Here Stovie. You learned something today:

http://spanish.about.com/od/nouns/a/diminutives.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_nouns#Diminutives.2C_Augmentatives_and_suffixes


When can I expect an apology?”

“COAT HANGER”

“LMAO!”

“Violin - that's only part of the pun. I do think it is a legitimate complaint that tying him that closely to Scalia allows, at least, the appearance of an ethnically based critique. Something professional media should be more aware of. Within the context of what happens in the wild fray at TT, I think it silly to criticize you for repeating that appellation.”

“I guess that as a result of living here in the ethnic stew called "New Jersey' I completely don't see any ethnic element to the nickname.

I’m still waiting for an apology Stove.”

“That's an ethnic slur?
Umm, no, not buying it.”

“Even one of your fellow right-wing zealots recognizes that this is just a whiny bit of false indignation.

http://www.townhall.com/blogs/c-log/DerekHunter/story/2005/10/31/173642.html


I’m still waiting.”

“Why do you feel you need an apology V? Are you of Mexican/Spanish decent?”

“Violin - What are you? Are you black or mexican or a regular American or what?”

“Wait Away, killer of threads you don't like!
LMAO!”

“So who is this Samuel Alito, other than he's from NJ?”

“Please explain what a regular american is. Are you a regular american or a Sears american?”

“Love the Zappa reference, Uncliff.”

“Judge Alito must be pretty good.
The WingNut Left is screaming like a girl over it, so he must be pretty center of the road.

Still, he's from NJ. ;-)

I'll reserve my support till I learn a few more facts about him.”

“Update: National Italian American Foundation Demands "Scalito" Apology
Mon Oct 31 2005 15:56:42 ET

National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) Statement:

The NIAF is distressed by the attempts of some senators and the media (CNN, CBS) to marginalize Judge Samuel Alito's outstanding record, by frequent reference to his Italian heritage and by the use of the nickname, "Scalito."

Appropriately, no one mentioned that Justice Breyer was Jewish or suggested that he was lock-step ideologically with the other Jewish Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, it would have been outrageous to do so. We still do not know Justice Robert's ethnicity.

We are justly proud of Justice Alito's Italian heritage and his sterling academic and judicial records as well as his impeccable integrity. However, he should be considered as an individual. In honor of the memory of the just departed Rosa Parks the Senate champions of civil rights should insist that Judge Alito be considered only on his extraordinary merits.

Sincerely,

A. Kenneth Ciongoli
Chairman of the National Italian American Foundation

http://www.drudgereport.com/flash9ia.htm



Uh Oh!!!! You nasty libbies pissed off Tony Soprano and the Boys! Shivo will be by to break your legs!
LOL”

“Hey SS - I'm glad to see you have emerged as the arch enemy of all those who would stereotype Italians.”

“StoveStomperito”

“

Clinton can't keep his hands off Alito's child in the White House. Damn pervert is still at it!
LOL”

“The Gang of 14 will meet Thursday to discuss Alito. It will all be over except for the shouting after Thurs.
The Dims Hissy Fit today did their cause no good.”

“Oppps....I was incorrect, they are meeting tomorrow!


.... the Bush team won important support from key senators yesterday. Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio), a member of the bipartisan "Gang of 14" that agreed earlier this year to oppose judicial filibusters except in "extraordinary circumstances," made clear yesterday he sees no such circumstances with Alito's nomination.

"It's hard for me to envision that anyone would think about filibustering this nominee," DeWine said after meeting with Alito. He called Alito "clearly within the mainstream of conservative thought" and said he did not understand how "anyone would think that this would constitute what our group of 14 termed 'extraordinary circumstances' that would justify a filibuster."

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), another member of the Gang of 14, declared that "it's way too early to talk about extraordinary circumstances." The group, including seven Republicans and seven Democrats, plans to meet tomorrow in the office of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to talk through its approach to the nomination......

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/01/AR2005110101479.html”

“Why do they have to talk as a committee about how they're going to "approach" the nomination?

Aren't they there individually to represent their constituents wishes?

Are they going to be like "my state wants this ..." and "well, my voters told me this ...".

Yeah, right!

It's going to be about the Democratic party.

And yes, McCain is a Democrat. Just not a card-carrying member.

They just don't get it.
last edited: 11/01/05 8:51:27 PM”

“Here's a good one from StoveStomperito's article:

Former senator John Edwards (D-N.C.), who is positioning himself for a presidential run in 2008 ...

LMAO!”

“Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson Praises Alito By JESSE J. HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer
Wed Nov 2, 2:22 PM ET



WASHINGTON - A centrist Democratic senator complimented Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito Wednesday as a jurist who won't "hammer away and chisel away" existing law.

While Sen. Ben Nelson did not endorse President Bush's latest nominee for the high court, he did say he was impressed by what he heard from Alito during his introductory visit.

The Nebraska Democrat, who was Alito's first senatorial host Wednesday, told reporters that he got assurances that Alito would not be "judicial activist" or "take an agenda to the bench" if confirmed to succeed Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who is retiring.

"He assured me that he wants to go to the bench without a political agenda," said Nelson, one of the founding members of the centrist "Gang of 14" senators who earlier this year worked out a compact aimed at avoiding judicial filibusters except in the direst of circumstances.

Some liberals, pointing to Alito's rulings as a federal appellate court judge on abortion, gun control, the death penalty and other issues have already raised the threat of a filibuster — an attempt to deny the 55-year-old lawyer a yes-or-no vote by the full Senate. Republicans hold 55 seats in the Senate, and while confirmation requires a simple majority, it takes 60 votes to break a filibuster.

Nelson, one of the 14 centrist senators that Democrats would need to sustain a filibuster, said that Alito "wants to decide each case as it comes before him."

Without the group's seven Republicans, Democrats would not be able to prevent Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., from abolishing judicial filibusters and confirming judges with a simple majority vote.

The Group of 14 is to meet Thursday to talk about Alito, who picked up an endorsement Wednesday from Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.

"I look forward to enthusiastically supporting his nomination," said Hagel, one of several senators that Alito was scheduled to meet with during the day.

Democrats have been worried about how Alito would rule as the replacement for O'Connor, who has been a swing vote on such issues as abortion and affirmative action. He was nominated to replace White House counsel Harriet Miers, who withdrew last week after conservatives and anti-abortion groups refused to support her nomination and questioned whether she was qualified.

Republicans have said that Alito is more than qualified, pointing to his 15 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit and his work as a government lawyer and prosecutor.

The Senate's No. 2 Republican, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called Alito a "very, very impressive intellect and a very well-qualified nominee."


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051102/ap_on_go_su_co/alito_3







Just goes to show you, I was incorrect. There is at least one reasonable Dem.
LOL”

“'Gang of 14' to Meet Thursday on Alito
Thursday, November 03, 2005

WASHINGTON — The so-called "Gang of 14" centrist senators who halted a filibuster fight a few months ago will meet Thursday to discuss Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, but at least two of the group's Republicans already say there's no chance of a filibuster.

"I don't believe that, with all sincerity, I could let that happen," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said after meeting with the federal appeals court judge whom President Bush nominated to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Graham and Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, were taking their anti-filibuster message to the other Senate centrists at a meeting in Sen John McCain's office Thursday.

"People like Lindsey Graham and I, who were part of that group, I think you can bet we'll be willing to vote to change the rules of the Senate so that we do not have a filibuster," DeWine said hours after Alito's nomination was announced.

But the group's Democrats were urging them to withhold judgment, saying a thorough investigation of Alito's writings and decisions needs to be completed.

"There will be a conversation about whether or not we have problems with Judge Alito and how we will proceed" during Thursday's meeting, Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., told FOX News on Thursday.

Asked about DeWine and Graham's comments on how Alito should not be filibustered, Salazar responded: "There are a lot of good people who are in that group of 14 … what we need is more time to get to a decision … I think it's too early to be prejudging anything on this nomination."

"The truth of the matter is that it's way too early to talk about extraordinary circumstances," added Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., a member of the gang. "I'm not hearing any of my colleagues talk about it, and I'd rather not hear any of my colleagues on the other side talk about it as well."

Nelson added that he is reserving judgment on Alito, but seemed pleased with the nominee's promises of impartiality.

"He assured me that he wants to go to the bench without a political agenda, that he is not bringing a hammer and chisel to hammer away and chisel away on existing law, that he wants to decide each case as it comes before him," Nelson said.

The gang's current structure is important because without seven members from each side willing to split from their party's positions, either side could achieve its objectives.

The defection of even two members of the group — which decided earlier in the year to support filibusters only in "extraordinary circumstances" and defused talk of the so-called "nuclear option" that would prevent Democrats from using a filibuster to stall the nomination — would virtually ensure that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., would win a filibuster showdown if Democrats tried to prevent an up-or-down vote on Alito.

Republicans hold 55 seats in the Senate, and while confirmation requires a simple majority, it takes 60 votes to break a filibuster. Democrats, with 45 votes counting Independent Sen. Jim Jeffords, need 40 votes in order to hold up a filibuster.

Democrats can't get to 40 votes if seven Democrats remain in the Gang of 14. For Republicans to eliminate the filibuster, they too would need two Republicans to split from the gang. That would bring the Republican vote back to 50, and with the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Dick Cheney, Alito would be confirmed with majority support.

Privacy, Abortion Are Key Issues

Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, one of the senators who might be expected to be aligned against Alito, said Wednesday he's still undecided about the candidate, and he seemed satisfied with Alito's take on whether the U.S. Constitution contains an implied right to privacy.

"Although he didn't go quite as far as (Chief Justice) John Roberts (search) did in his hearing, he satisfied me that he recognized this to be one of the unenumerated rights in the Constitution, this basic right of privacy. And he led me to believe that he felt that it was an established right," Durbin said Wednesday after Alito visited with him during the nominee's third day of meetings and photo-ops with lawmakers.

The issue is key for many senators who support abortion rights since the high court's right to privacy decision in Griswold v. Connecticut is the underpinning for Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 abortion rights law.

Some Democratic supporters have suggested that by filling the swing vote of O'Connor, Alito, 55, would turn his back on abortion rights and undermine the court's prior decisions. The conclusion comes in part from Alito's sole dissent in 1991's Planned Parenthood v. Casey, in which the 3rd Circuit Court struck down a Pennsylvania law that required women seeking abortions to notify their spouses. That court is considered one of the more liberal circuit courts in the country.

"He has an excellent academic background and he's a good writer," Salazar told FOX News. "What troubles me about him is he's a judge on the third circuit who's dissented the most ... I don't know if Judge Alito's in the mainstream of American legal thought."

To the surprise of some, Durbin, who said the 15-year circuit court judge was more forthcoming during their meeting than either Roberts or withdrawn nominee Harriet Miers, seemed to come to his defense.

Alito "spent more time worrying over it and working on that dissent than any he had written as a judge," Durbin said.

As it turns out, a majority of Americans agreed with Alito's dissent. According to a 2003 Gallup poll, 72 percent of Americans supported the law requiring the husband of a married woman to be notified if she decides to have an abortion while 26 percent opposed it. Nearly identical polls were conducted in 1996 and 1992, in which Democrats surveyed supported the provision by a two to one margin.
Republicans also seem to admire Alito's jurisprudence. While visiting Republican senators on Capitol Hill Wednesday, the nominee met with Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, who both expressed their satisfaction with the candidate.

Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas said she too was pre-disposed to vote for him.

"Barring something that is not apparent, I certainly am favorable," Hutchison said.

The ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, was absolutely unwilling to characterize in any way his meeting with Alito, though he continued to criticize the president for bowing to pressure from the right when he accepted Miers' withdrawal.

Leahy is currently engaged in negotiations over when the hearing might begins, and by his comments suggested that he is interested in trying to slow down the process.

"It's far more important to do it right that to do it fast," Leahy said.

But Frist, still licking his wounds over a "slap in the face" on Tuesday when Democrats unexpectedly forced the Senate to go into closed session to debate pre-Iraq war intelligence, said he wants everything wrapped up by Christmas.

"If they use procedural tactics there as well like this little stunt they did yesterday, they're going to pay a price before the American people," Frist said Wednesday. "To take a man of such quality who has demonstrated that over a long period of time is absolutely wrong. He deserves a fair up or down vote."

Some Democrats have suggested privately that the nomination should be dragged out until February. That probably won't happen. The best guidance from legislative aides is that the confirmation hearing will be held in the first week of January and a vote on the Senate floor will come sometime near the president's State of the Union address near the end of the month.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.



http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,174415,00.html”

“I don’t know enough about the guy to decide how I feel yet.

I’m surprised that Frist isn’t completely embarrased to trot out the “deserves an up or down vote” after what his party did to Miers.”

“What!!!
Vile wants an honest discussion?
Knock me over with a feather!

I don't think this guy is gonna overturn Roe Vs Wade. Based upon my readings, he's not a fire breather. He considers precedents very strongly.

He very well might impose some restrictions on the so called late term abortions.
last edited: 11/03/05 9:33:15 AM”

“Anyone seen any of the hearings? Alito owns these chumps. They are pulling their hair out with this guy.”

“The Dems knew the battle was over before it even began, so they're just fighting for show.”

“Mostly showing what a$$es they are.
LOL”

“i've been listening to some of it on NPR and catching highlights on cable news...this is exactly why i hate party politics...the way the system is supposed to work is that this group of senators is supposed to certify that he's qualified for the job but due to party politics you've got one side trying to make him larger than life and the other trying to tear him down...it's an us versus them mentality instead of working together”

“...What passed for on-camera drama Wednesday came during a prickly yes-no exchange over whether Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., had received a letter from Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., asking that the committee seek certain papers related to Concerned Alumni of Princeton.

Kennedy said he sent it.

Specter said he didn't receive it.

Kennedy said he must have received it.

"I take umbrage at your telling me what I received," Specter said. "I don't mind your telling me what you mailed. But there's a big difference between what's mailed and what's received. And you know that."

Kennedy demanded the committee go into closed session to vote on subpoenaing the documents from the Library of Congress.

"And if I'm going to be denied that," Kennedy thundered, "I'd want to give notice to the chair that you're going to hear it again and again and again and we're going to have votes of this committee again and again and again until we have a resolution."

"Well, Senator Kennedy, I'm not concerned about your threats," interrupted Specter. "I'm not going to have you run this committee and decide when we're going to go into executive session."

With that, he turned his head away, banged the gavel and opened another round of questions.....”

“why didn't the Republicans want Harriet, if she had made it to the hearings the Reps would have been grilling her just like the Democrats have been Alito. Same old, same old no matter what party you are in.”

“It's interesting how republicans like Alito and Reagan suddenly can't remember their own past when it's something bad. Very convenient.”

“Senator Kennedy questioning someone's ethics is so ironic it is not even funny. The Democrats are showing their true colors once again.”

“the kennedy specter thing was pretty funny.

one of those cases that show you can be right, but still be an ass.

after the terse exchange (SS posted) kennedy gave specter a copy of a letter addressed to kennedy, from specter saying they did recieve his request!
so it was specter who was wrong all along.

so while kennedy was right, it's all moot b/c he handled himself like such an ass.”

“ewker is right about same ol' same ol, regardless of party.

instead of asking questions, repubs are busy defending the guy like he's jesus christ himself on trial. they're suppose to be interviewing him too and they already have their mind made up to approve him.

and the demos, well they're obviously just grilling and digging, looking for some reason to say no way jose”

“That was hilarious how Ted “Hic” Kennedy was railing on him about the Princeton group. It was like blaming him of being a Nazi because he holds a library card to a library that has Hitler’s Min Kumph on their shelves.

It was even funnier when Teddy forgot his lines and Palose could be heard saying, “Finish the sentence. Finish the sentence.”. Ha! What a bunch of lock step posers.”

“"...we made a mistake" - Hitler
From the cover of Mein Kampf
last edited: 1/12/06 7:49:29 AM”

“If you are so inclined, sign the petition urging a filibuster of Alito: http://www.johnkerry.com/action/filibuster/
last edited: 1/27/06 9:31:52 AM”

“LMAO!!!!!

Thanks Violin! That was awesome!”

“LMAO!”

“BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!”

“I agree with a lot of it, but think its a reason to vote against Alito - not to filibuster.

Bush made a choice to increase power and chose a divisive candidate over a uniting one and that's sad. Trying a filibuster would do more harm than good.”

“I don't see how. A no vote is a chicken#&%!$ move that allows them to go back to their home states and say "see, I opposed this extremist. Vote for me". Their job is to try to stop him.

Alito can be counted on to elevate the Executive far above what was envisioned by the framers and what I believe is good for the country. I don't want to live under a defacto monarchy. It's probably a losing battle, but Democrats have to burn their pink tutus and fight for principle, not base every move on political calculation.”