Portraying the Alito nomination as just another volley in the culture wars vastly underestimates its significance. The judge’s record strongly suggests that he is an eager lieutenant in the ranks of the conservative theorists who ignore our system of checks and balances, elevating the presidency over everything else. He has expressed little enthusiasm for restrictions on presidential power and has espoused the peculiar argument that a president’s intent in signing a bill is just as important as the intent of Congress in writing it. This would be worrisome at any time, but it takes on far more significance now, when the Bush administration seems determined to use the cover of the “war on terror” and presidential privilege to ignore every restraint, from the Constitution to Congressional demands for information.
…
A filibuster is a radical tool. It’s easy to see why Democrats are frightened of it. But from our perspective, there are some things far more frightening. One of them is Samuel Alito on the Supreme Court.
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Bravo! Write your Senators, call their offices.
I agree — filibuster. If the GOP goes nuclear, so do we — they will get their SCOTUS justice, but we will make them pay. The Republicans don’t see our differences as political competition anymore; they see it as civil war. Democrats, wake up — they intend to annihilate us.
Hey Goldy — you should out that snake Kevin Carns — he’d do it to you in a flash!!! Unless you do, from now on, I’m going to assume that EVERY trollfuck comment was posted by that little cockroach.
YES YES YES
Absolute filibuster, no question. The “it’s not going to work anyway” approach is un-American … look at the Iraq invasion.
The question isn’t if it is the right thing to do… but is it the best way to get votes? The answer is no. Expect 5-10 Democrats to vote for him.
Gerald, LiberalWashington.com
Write Maria. Patty Murray already has committed to fight ALito. If you wrote Maria Cantwell already, write her again. We can’t have a supreme court judge help a man become a dictator. We aren’t weak, we are thoughtful, and now that we have thought, its time to fight. I fight to win, what about you?
The way to change the balance of the courts is to win elections!
The Senate Democrats lost this battle in 2000, when not one of them would back the Black Caucus’ call for a challenge to the SCOTUS coup.
I’m not going to have some reporters pawing through
our papers. We are the president.”
–Hillary Clinton commenting on the release of
subpoenaed documents.
“It isn’t pollution that’s harming the environment. It’s
the impurities in our air and water that are doing it.”
–Al Gore, Vice President
“We don’t necessarily discriminate. We simply exclude
certain types of people.”
–Colonel Gerald Wellman, ROTC Instructor.
“If we don’t succeed, we run the risk of failure.”
–Bill Clinton, President
“We are ready for an unforeseen event that
may or may not occur.”
–Al Gore, VP
“Anyone with an ounce of sense would disagree with their findings.”
Rumsfeld, yesterday in response to Former Secretary of Defense William Cohen, a Republican appointee of a Democrat presidentcontentions that the U.S. army and Marines are becoming worn thin by extended deployment in Iraq.
For Roger and Gang;
The old priest lay dying in the hospital. For years he had faithfully served the people of the nation’s capital. He motioned for one of his aides to come near.”Yes father” said the aide. “I would really like to see George W. Bush
and Tom DeLay before I die” whispered the priest. “I’ll see what I can do,father” replied the aide. The aide sent the request to the White House and waited for a response.
Soon the word arrived. Bush and DeLay would be delighted to visit the priest.
As they went to the hospital, Delay commented to Bush “I don’t know why the old priest wants to see us, but it will certainly help our image after the number the Democrats have done on us.”
Bush couldn’t help but agree.
When they arrived at the priest’s room, the priest took Bush’s hand in his right hand and DeLay’s hand in his left. There was silence and a look of serenity on the old priest’s face.
Finally, Congressman DeLay spoke “Father, of all the people you could have chosen, why did you choose us to be with you as you near the end?”
The old priest slowly replied “I have always tried to pattern my life after our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
“Amen,” said Bush
“Amen,” said DeLay
The old priest continued.. “He died between two thieves. I would like to do the same.
nice one, klake – except Bush and Delay wouldn’t go – because Catholics aren’t Christians, rememebr?
Klake, please stop cluttering the thread with quotes that have nothing to do with the topic. If you feel like you have so much to share with us, why don’t you start your own blog?
Write Maria. Patty Murray already has committed to fight ALito. If you wrote Maria Cantwell already, write her again. We can’t have a supreme court judge help a man become a dictator. We aren’t weak, we are thoughtful, and now that we have thought, its time to fight. I fight to win, what about you?
Comment by basrailian— 1/26/06 @ 6:38 am
Lost cause basrailian I hear the Fat Lady SINGING1
Roger you can hear the song even in your old rat hole.
Klake, please stop cluttering the thread with quotes that have nothing to do with the topic. If you feel like you have so much to share with us, why don’t you start your own blog?
Comment by Jerry Springer Jr.— 1/26/06 @ 7:43 am
Jerry Springer Jr. the crap that is posted on this site it needs some good humor. Most of the folks don’t even keep on the topic because it is boring. You know like your strange name.
I say make the Hitler-loving asshole republicans use the Nuke option to stop us from blocking that rightwing thug Monkey Face has nominated to the US Supreme Court. Then, when we take back the Senate, we’ll get the advantage of the rule change. (What’s that sound? It’s 1000 inbred republicans saying “Uh oh! We didn’t think about that now did we?”
All people like Bush are after is to maintain the unwaranted priviliges of their class. I’m not jealous of them and I don’t want to exchange places with them.
I just want to tax them and spend the money on social programs.
Why not? They spend our tax money on themselves!
Comment by LeftTurn— 1/26/06 @ 8:04 am
“I say make the Hitler-loving asshole republicans use the Nuke option to stop us from blocking that rightwing thug Monkey Face has nominated to the US Supreme Court.”
This type of talk will sway those moderate voters to vote Democrat.
“Then, when we take back the Senate, we’ll get the advantage of the rule change.”
Yep, that’s why it’s a bad idea, but I doubt Alito’s nomination will come to a filibuster. I think all this talk is just bluster to get left wing idealouges engergized. If the Democrats actually follow through with these threats they will create the unintended consequence of engergizing the right wing idealouges.
The left is doing the bidding of their masters, moveon# and PFAW. They dance for the campaign contributions. If a substantive argument was to be made, it would have been made by now.
Alito is accused of wanting the president to be in charge of the bureaucracy. News flash – he is in charge, it is part of the executive branch. So, Alito must be stopped because he is in favor of upholding the constitution. Okay, if you say so.
Go ahead and call Patty and Maria. They always do the bidding of leadership, so the exercise will keep you all busy, but useless.
“Alito is accused of wanting the president to be in charge of the bureaucracy. News flash – he is in charge, it is part of the executive branch. So, Alito must be stopped because he is in favor of upholding the constitution. Okay, if you say so.”
No, Janet, that’s not the issue at all. Or at least if you think it is, then you’re misunderstanding this so-called “theory” of the “unitary executive”.
2
I couldn’t agree more. There’s a line in the sand thrown down by Bushco: on the one side is a totalitarian, fascist state, and on the other is the preservation of a tenuous experiment in democracy. Only a filibuster will keep things from crossing the line into fascism.
The problem with Alito is not just that he supports a strong executive – the problem is that, by every indication, he will only support a strong executive if that executive shares his conservative world view. The democrats will be in office – someday. If I had any confidence that Alito would be as deferential to a democractic administration as he appears to be to republican administrations, then I would feel comfortable supporting him. But, everything I’ve seen suggests that’s not the case.
There’s nothing conservative about the wingnuts who comment here and on the wingnut bozosphere (thx Ivan). They are instead fascists who yearn for the “stability” of a ruling class who controls both commerce and government backed by a police and national security state. They dream of joining that class and if they can’t, they worship it to curry favor.
A true conservative would resist a theory of a “unitary executive” and would hold checks and balances sacred. A true conservative would filibuster Sam Alito.
Kevin Carns @19
“this site … needs some good humor”
That’s true, and I’m still waiting for it.
27
You’ve stated it exactly right.
Roger,
Since you like guns…..
Top 10 Reasons why some Men rate Guns over Women…
#10. You can trade an old 44 for a new 22.
#9. You can keep one gun at home and have another for when you’re on the road.
#8. If you admire a friend’s gun and tell him so, he will probably let you try it out a few times.
#7. Your primary gun doesn’t mind if you keep another gun for a backup.
#6. Your gun will stay with you even if you run out of ammo.
#5. A gun doesn’t take up a lot of closet space.
#4. Guns function normally every day of the month.
#3. A gun doesn’t ask, “Do these new grips make me look fat?”
#2. A gun doesn’t mind if you go to sleep after you use it.
And the #1 reason a gun is favored over a woman: YOU CAN BUY A SILENCER FOR A GUN.
Kevin Carns @30
Please spare us our rightwing internet canards, Kevin. Life is too short to read them all, and they’re bullshit anyway.
erratum
should read “your” not “our”
The reason Alito won’t be good for America ( from a Democratic perspective ) is that he is a lying sack of doo-doo, a racist, and a sexist, and he wants to make the president dictator for life.
For these very same reasons, Republicans think he will make a fine justice. Personally, I think that Scalia and Alito are over-compensating for the fact that they are of Italian lineage by adopting the values of the super-rich blue bloods in America.
This will never happen…. Not really. Look at what happened to Truman Capote and, The Great Gatsby.
Roger,
My name is Dana, not Kevin. Who is Kevin?
Is the big beef with this guy the abortion thing? I thought that one was decided decades ago.
I must admit I am disheartened just now to learn that Sen. Byrd will vote to confirm. Apparently he just got a moneybags opponent and feels he must do this for tactical purposes. I’ve respected Byrd a great deal in recent years and it hurts to see him trade on his principles. Live to fight another day, I guess.
Janet S. @ 24
Your comment is, as usual, uninformed. Are you REALLY as stupid as you come off as?
“The left is doing the bidding of their masters, moveon# and PFAW.”
Yeah…sure, Janet. Much of the left liked their “Bush in 30 seconds” contest, but I don’t really know anyone who even visits their web site now. If you really believe your statement, you’ve been brainwashed.
“Alito is accused of wanting the president to be in charge of the bureaucracy.”
Nope…that is not what people are concerned about.
“So, Alito must be stopped because he is in favor of upholding the constitution.”
Nope…not that, either.
“Go ahead and call Patty and Maria. They always do the bidding of leadership, so the exercise will keep you all busy, but useless.”
Nope…they don’t. In fact, they don’t even always vote the same way among themselves. E.g the authorization to go to war in Iraq.
Come-on, Janet…learn stuff for yourself rather than spitting out bullshit wingnut talking points.
My name is Dana
There is no Dana; only Zuul.
As I sit here typing this, Frist has just scheduled the cloture vote for 4:30 Monday afternoon. Kerry’s supposed to spearhead the filibuster, and he’s presently out of the country. I wonder if he’s going to find himself on the “no-fly” list all of a sudden.
Now seems the time to do this. It’s the only bullet the Democrats have left, and it’s only going to work once. Frist & Co will change the Senate rules before the smoke has cleared.
Nonetheless, there’s a lot at stake here, and it isn’t about Roe v Wade or any of the usual talking points about SCOTUS nominees. In this case, we have someone who’s been appointed by a president (if I must use the once-distinguished title to refer to that creep) who has all but publicly announced his intention to seize absolute power. Either Alito has had some significant change of heart in the recent past, or he spent his time in front of the Judiciary Committee lying like hell. Even without absolute proof, the mere prospect that he’s Bush’s lap dog makes for dire implications in the constitutional crisis that’s about to unfold.
Or is the Constitution really just a “God-damned piece of paper”?
THROW IN THE TOWEL ASSHOLES ALITOS IN LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSERS.GET OVER IT YOU LOST
I need Teddy “Oldsmobile” Kennedy to deside who is “moral” and who is not!!!
Too damn bad the terrorists didn’t hit the NY Times Building inside of the Pentagon. 3000 died liberals. Then we should have sent a mean letter to the UN! Maybe France should write a mean letter as well!
I must admit I am disheartened just now to learn that Sen. Byrd will vote to confirm. Apparently he just got a moneybags opponent and feels he must do this for tactical purposes. I’ve respected Byrd a great deal in recent years and it hurts to see him trade on his principles. Live to fight another day, I guess.
Comment by Felix Fermin — 1/26/06 @ 1:03 pm [Er, Felix, Did you “serve” will Senator Byrd in the KKK? Did you “respect” him then? [classic…..what a dumb ass Democrat!]
Good to see Carns has come back posting under one of his psuedonyms (JCH).
“Young Dems convention in San Fran”…….Don, Are you one of these “Future Hillarys Of America”??
Kevin @ 40,
Did your caps get stuck? Or do the ReThugs pay you more for using them?
Hey JCH, babelfish’s gibberish to english translator doesnt work, do you think you can post in English?
47
No.
I just heard that John Kerry wants to lead a filibuster against Alito.
“Good to see Carns has come back posting under one of his psuedonyms (JCH).”
Yeah, and apparently in response to verbage posted by none other than MOI!
My head is so swelled, I may have to buy a new hat.
50…You are so clueless. JCH, Big Island, Hawaii
I just heard that John Kerry wants to lead a filibuster against Alito.
Comment by Voter Advocate— 1/26/06 @ 5:17 pm
I heard he voted for Alito before he filibustered him. Hehehehe
Tijuana, Mexico – Mexico’s leftist presidential front-runner on Thursday attacked Washington’s plans to build a high-security border fence that aims to crack down on illegal immigration. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told a crowd of about 7,000 in the gritty border city of Tijuana that fences and additional border police would only create more conflict. /break/ ”It must be made clear to our neighbors that nothing will be resolved by building fences, nor with more border patrol agents, nor with more severe laws or with firm hand threats” [OK, How about land mines?? I bet they will work!!]
WASHINGTON — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton wants Wal-Mart to contribute to health insurance for its employees – but can’t recall if she pushed for worker benefits during six years as a paid board member for the nation’s largest retailer.
…..
Asked if she had advocated better benefits while serving as a board member with Arkansas-based Wal-Mart from 1986 to 1991, Clinton replied, “Well, you know, I, that was a long time ago … have to remember,” adding that “obviously I believe every company should” contribute to benefit plans. [Now THIS is funny!!!!]
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
WHY EVEN SENATOR BYRD CHEWED YOUR DEMOCRATIC PARTIES ASS WHAT HE SAID WAS YOUR LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSERS.YOUR GOING TO GET YOUR ASS KICKED IN 2006.HEY AND MAYBE BUSH WILL GET A CHANCE TO PICK ONE MORE BEFORE HE IS DONE THAT SHOULD MAKE ALL YOU ASSHOLES REALLY HAPPY.
YOUR = “you’re”, above
YO = “fascist enabler”, above
YO. HONEY, KEEP ‘EM COMING WITH THE PREDICTIONS. WE LOVE ‘EM JUST LIKE THE ONE ABOUT THE ELECTION CONTEST AND THE ONE ABOUT IRONS AND ESPECIALLY THE ONE ABOUT I-912. ARE YOU RELATED TO GS?
TOO BAD ABOUT YOUR NEW KEYBOARD. IT LOOKS LIKE IT GOT “GOOPED” AGAIN.
Let’s give our Senators the backbone to stare down the GOP and send Alito back to New Jersey.