Elephant In Exile

D'uh! Looks like others are talking about this too..and much more eloquently I might add....

Don't Do It...

I'm no fan of SCOTUS nominee Alito, but at the same time I don't think he rises to the level of a Bork or even his supposed Italian brother Scalia. Oh, he's conservative alright and may vote to approve restrictions on abortion (which are allowed under Roe), but the more troubling issue with Alito, one that could lead to a successful filibuster, is his support of the concept of the so-called Unitary Executive. You know, that President Bush has significant lee-way - constitution be damned - to do things like spy on us without warrants and to hold American citizens in jail, without charges or access to a lawyer...yadda, yadda, yadda. The anti-alito forces could win on this issue, but from the left side of the aisle we've heard very little on this matter...and its too bad.

For the last four years, I keep waiting for the left to get organized. What I keep seeing is a lazy retreat to the tired rhetoric of the past and almost a reflexive retreat to crystallize a singular litmus test for the court...that being unconditional support for Roe. For those of us who cherish individual liberty and autonomy, Roe is an important case and it should be part of the vetting of any court nominee. But from what I have seen, the focus on Alito's confirmation has been disproportionately on Roe, and is ignoring other factors - like the Unitary Executive" theories that could expand the doubts from a fifty-fifty split, to one that could pull in some moderates.

My hope that the Democratic Party would get its act together and provide a clear vision to the current (and might I add - worst in my lifetime) track this Administration is on are being dashed with the ham-handedness of how the Dem Senators are handling this Alito thing. For my friends on the left, it has to be frustrating...more so because I really think that Alito is defeatable. But perhaps, if folks like Senator Kerry, weren't off in Davos attending a blab fest on future utopias (NOTE: Davos meetings are sad if you ask me, a bunch of folks jetting off to Switzerland to stay at $500 a night lodges, nosh on caviar and discuss the plight of the poor...Someone I know over at the World Bank went this year...his airline ticket as $10,000!) Anyway, Kerry is jetting back from Davos to try to organize a last minute Filibuster on Alito...

Had Kerry been in DC, working with the promising leadership of Harry Reid, perhaps the Dems would have had developed a plan..but no...

So, my advice to Ted, John, and Chuck...if you weren't willing to do your homework on Alito and make a comprehensive case beyond Roe and the Concerned Alumni crap...a case that could have outlined some very troubling views and would have garnered support to stop his nomination...don't bother jetting back from your vacation/summit in Davos...You've already lost the fight