Eyes Left

KEEP SAMUEL ALITO OFF THE SUPREME COURT!

As expected, President Bush changed tactics in his crusade to create an ideologically conservative United States Supreme Court.  After selecting a "stealth nominee" (Harriet Miers) with a record of absolute devotion to George W Bush and the Bush Administration who was inexplicably denounced by purist rightwing radicals in the Republican Party, the President has chosen a jurist with the ideological temperament of Antonin Scalia.  President Bush has nominated Samuel Alito, a distinguished conservative appeals court justice with seven years of service in the Reagan Justice Department.  Alito was placed on the federal bench by the first President Bush in 1990. 

Alito symbolizes Bush's rejection of accommodation and compromise with Democrats and the great mass of moderate American opinion.  Despite plummeting poll numbers (we can only hope that the American electorate is finally getting wise - but the only poll that counts is Election Day 2006 and Election Day 2008), the President is standing with rightwing extremists who seek to diminish liberty and embrace economic royalism. 

Bush has a special affinity for rightwing Catholics - Alito is Catholic and Alito's supporteres will undoubtedly claim that opposition to Alito is related to anti-Catholic bias.  However, the President rejected the counsel of his own spouse, Laura Bush by not selecting a woman.  Several ultraconservative women federal judges with long paper trails were available.  If Alito is confirmed, there will be only one woman on the Supreme Court - Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  Alito is 55 years old-- Bush could have found a "forty something" ultraconservative jurist who could stay on the court for 40+ years. 

Alito will provide the fifth vote to destroy Roe vs Wade.  Alito believes that husbands should have a veto power over their wife's desire to have an abortion.  Alito's presence on the Supreme Court would have devastating consequences.  His nickname is "Scalito", which refers to his ideological kinship with the brilliant rightwing purist, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. 

Senate Democrats need to find some courage and unity.  The following strategies should be pursued by Democratic Senators.  NO Democratic Senator should endorse Alito.  If some Democratic Senator decides to betray justice and the national Democratic constituency, the lawmakere should wait until after the Judiciary Committee Alito confirmation hearings are concluded and all Democratic Judiciary Committee membes have expressed their position.  The seven Democratic members of the "centrist" Gang of 14 should be encouraged not to surrender to the Bush Administration.  We need a united Senate Democratic Caucus.  Because Alito is an ideological candidate, he may not secure the support of all Republican Senators.  The decisions of Judiciary Committee Chair Arlen Specter (R-Penn) and abortion rights supporters Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe are key.  Absent extraordinary circumstances, Alito cannot be defeated by majority vote - this Senate of 55 Republicans and 45 Republicans is completely under the thumb of right wing economic royalist and "social control" ideologues.  But Alito could be stopped by a unified Democratic filibuster - surely the Democrats can find at least 40 Senators to vote "NO" on Alito.  The Democrats should stiffen their spines and develop their filibuster plans. 

|  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this