On Alito, Democrats Must Remember The Lion In Winter
I said in an earlier post that I thought that the hearings were boring and pointless. They are.
But that doesn't change what I also believe: that the Democrats must fight his confirmation with whatever weapons they have. Sadly, this would seem to be limited to voting NO in a block and then losing 55-45. But at least they would have made a point: that Alito is outside the mainstream and that his ascension to the SCOTUS is against all the things that Democrats stand for.
From the Lion in Winter:
Geoffrey: 'You fool! As if it matters how a man falls down.'
Richard: 'When the fall's all that's left, it matters a great deal.'
UPDATE: Before you go all "yes-he-is-in-the maintstream" on me, I'll quote Michael O'Hare:
He's on record in a memo as believing that to shoot an eighth grader, known not to be armed, who was trying to climb over a fence in escape, is a proper use of deadly force by a policeman.The Democrats must take a strong stand now. Because some day, the country will wake up, have a Bloody Mary, and say, "What the hell were we thinking?"In a discussion of immigration cases that have been regularly occasioning inexcusable, vile, un-American heartbreak on people who missed obscure deadlines or violated arcane requirements, all he could say was that the courts get bad transcripts and it was hard to find translators for some of the plaintiffs, but that was a problem for Congress.
It wasn't exactly Pilate washing his hands, but the man appears to be completely comfortable dealing with frightful social wrongs by moving the issue down the hall to another office. Sometimes the Court has to do this, but to Alito it's an especially good day's work, not a disappointment.
A smart, decent, small man.
At least the Democrats can feel proud, knowing that they did the right thing during these dark, winter days.
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Categories: Democrats
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