Alito Schmucko

marjorie says...

(hey check it out: i'm still around!)

I think Senator Leahy's comments today pretty much sum up the Alito nomination:

Last week, the president succumbed to the partisan pressure from the extreme right wing by withdrawing the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. In doing that, the President allowed his choice to be vetoed by an extreme faction within his party, before hearings or a vote,” said Leahy. “This experience exposed the right-wing litmus test that they insist be used, rather than selecting judges and justices who will be fair and impartial in applying the law. They, in fact, demand judges who will guarantee the results that they want.

With turmoil engulfing the White House, with no way out of the disastrous and deadly occupation of Iraq, with a worsening federal debt, and with obscenely high profits that continue to pile up for the administration's big oil friends, catering to an extreme wing of one political party risks removing checks and balances for the majority of Americans,” continued Leahy. “It is unfortunate that the president felt he was in such a weak position that he had to bend to a narrow but vocal faction of his political base. The Supreme Court is the ultimate check and balance in our system that protects the fundamental rights of all Americans.

It's pretty amusing in a sick way to see these rightwing zealots go on and on and on about "judicial restraint," "not legislating from the bench," "strict constitutionalism," when in fact, they are *only* satsified by someone who *will* legislate from the bench. They are complete hypocrites.

Make no mistake: all of those catch-phrases are code for an ultra-conservative who will impose a conception of the world on the rest of us that is derived from fundamentalist christianity.

Let's be clear: Rolling back Roe v Wade would be legislating from the bench...because a woman's right to privacy is overwhelmingly accepted as law in our society.

And on the point that Leahy and other Democrats confirmed Alito 15 years ago: Yeah, and its a good thing we all have the potential to learn from our mistakes. We have 15 years of legal cases that show what a rightwing zealot he is.

Any Democrat that votes to confirm Alito deserves to lose his seat, pure and simple. In the coming weeks we'll all see who is who in the Democratic Party. Let's hope it isn't a bloodbath.