The Dems vs. Alito: Let's Hold Hands and Jump
Along with thousands of other Americans, I received an e-mail this week from Senator John Kerry urging me to stand with him and block Judge Alito's confirmation. Hey John! I can think of one thing you could have done that would have kept Judge Alito off the Court for sure. Do you know what I mean? I bet you do. Anyway, Sen. Kerry has a link for me so I can sign an open letter to my senators, urging them to stop Alito. My senators are Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer, so clicking that link is certain to turn the tide.
Kerry and Ted Kennedy are now calling for a filibuster -- an option that has gathered exactly zero momentum duing the hearings and after. Kerry's running the effort from Davos, natch.
The dumb Democrats have forgotten how to Bork. To Bork, you have to demonize. Remember, Ted? "Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens' doors..." The conservatives who sank Miers are now on record as agreeing that a nominee's views are relevant.
Maybe the Democratic leadership should spend more time reading the gossip pages and less time reading Roll Call. Last November, New York Magazine's Intelligencer section ran a wry summary by Dahlia Lithwick of the consequences of some Alito opinions . For example, Congress has no right to control machine guns. Making sex discrimination suits nearly impossible. Did people ever hear about this stuff? Even the red states might be bothered: "Sam Alito's America is a land in which executives would grope assistants in closets, pedestrians would be mowed down at random...." If they'd done that, a filibuster might be more viable, or at least less embarrassing.
One other thing the Dems could have done earlier that would have kept Alito off the court, if they were in any way strategically minded: signed on with Miers en masse at just the right moment to rescue her nomination. -- AMBITIOUS HECKLER
An Open Letter To Congress [Friends of John Kerry]
The New Yorker's Guide to Surviving Supreme Court Nominee Samuel Alito [New York]