Armaggedon or a bore? >link<
Newsweek's Howard Fineman is predicting that the Dems in the Senate will pull out all the stops to stop the confirmation of Sam Alito. Why? Because of the pro-life content of Alito’s 20-year-old application for a position with the Justice Department during the Reagan administration.
Admittedly, Alito was in major suck-up mode in 1985 when he applied to Reagan’s attorney general, Ed Meese, for a job. But the lengths to which Alito went to express the purity of his New Right views is impressive—and explosive—in 2005, as Alito and his White House backers try to sell him as a blandly cautious incrementalist.
The key line in the application, of course (and it’s already graven on the minds of activists): “the Constitution does not protect a right to abortion.” Alito was 35 when he wrote that; Roe v. Wade was 12.
Alito also boldly denounced other lines of cases crafted by the Warren Court, including landmark decisions on criminal procedure and voting rules.
Of course, Alito could sidestep most questions on this topic by stating that he made those statements prior to the most recent line of abortion cases.
So, is it going to be armaggedon? Will Bruce Willis have to take off in a space shuttle to save the US government from disaster again? Probably not.
Judge Alito does not strike people as a wild eyed right-wing fanatic. Dem attempts to paint him that way will only work to their detriment. The Dems may try to start this game, but they will quickly see that their attacks are not gaining ground with the American people and they will be forced to withdraw.
This will be painful for the Dems, make no mistake about it. Their fundraising base is hyper-partisan on the abortion issue. The major Dem fundraising organs are going to be frothing at the mouth over the Alito confirmation vote...and they are going to be FURIOUS when the Dems back away from the battle (as they did with attacks against Chief Justice Roberts). Alito will be confirmed and the angry left will be angrier.
If they get angry enough, they will turn off the majority of American voters...and lead them to the Republican tent.
Admittedly, Alito was in major suck-up mode in 1985 when he applied to Reagan’s attorney general, Ed Meese, for a job. But the lengths to which Alito went to express the purity of his New Right views is impressive—and explosive—in 2005, as Alito and his White House backers try to sell him as a blandly cautious incrementalist.
The key line in the application, of course (and it’s already graven on the minds of activists): “the Constitution does not protect a right to abortion.” Alito was 35 when he wrote that; Roe v. Wade was 12.
Alito also boldly denounced other lines of cases crafted by the Warren Court, including landmark decisions on criminal procedure and voting rules.
Of course, Alito could sidestep most questions on this topic by stating that he made those statements prior to the most recent line of abortion cases.
So, is it going to be armaggedon? Will Bruce Willis have to take off in a space shuttle to save the US government from disaster again? Probably not.
Judge Alito does not strike people as a wild eyed right-wing fanatic. Dem attempts to paint him that way will only work to their detriment. The Dems may try to start this game, but they will quickly see that their attacks are not gaining ground with the American people and they will be forced to withdraw.
This will be painful for the Dems, make no mistake about it. Their fundraising base is hyper-partisan on the abortion issue. The major Dem fundraising organs are going to be frothing at the mouth over the Alito confirmation vote...and they are going to be FURIOUS when the Dems back away from the battle (as they did with attacks against Chief Justice Roberts). Alito will be confirmed and the angry left will be angrier.
If they get angry enough, they will turn off the majority of American voters...and lead them to the Republican tent.
posted by Lucius Cornelius at 7:26 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home