Day 1: What has happened to the process?

 

 

One need only go back to the nominations of US Supreme Court Justices Breyer and Ginsberg to see the vast difference in how the Republican senate acted regarding judicial nominations and how the Liberals in the democratic party approach the same.  Justices Breyer and Ginsberg were voted out of committee and out of the Senate with a vast overwhelming majority of senators voting for them.  But one need only look to the Reagan era nominations of Bork and Thomas and contrast it with those of Bork and Ginsberg. The Thomas/Bork nominations were nothing short of all out character assassination.  One successful and one not. 

 

Now, we have decidedly politicized a non political appointment.  Both sides bear some responsibility for this.  Republicans, being the majority party, should have stepped on this a long time ago.  And the opening statements from the Judiciary Committee today should have left no doubt on which side of the liberty spectrum our current legislative leaders fall.  Both parties, although for vastly different reasons, are arguing for greater government control of our every day lives.

 

The left side of the aisle believes that government should be able to dole out what liberties we as Americans share.  To them, the idea of private anything and/or  personal liberty are concepts that should be banned for the greater good.  The right, in it's effort to promote it's agenda would like it if all judges used a completely literal translation of the constitution.  This week it apparently comes to a head in the form of abortion and executive power.

 

How does all this apply to Judge Alito?  He is in the crossfire between the two competing groups. for instance:

 

• Senator Diane Feinstein, D :  She was quite adamant that in order for her to be able to vote for him he would need to explain why he dissented with a majority opinion establishing congresses right to thwart a states right in Intrastate commerce.  Additionally, she claimed to be extremely worried by a 1984 document in which Judge Alito stated his belief that Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided.  For obvious reasons that bothers her.
• Senator Chuck Schumer, D :  Chuck was UPSET that the President had the temerity to nominate an individual that might be more conservative then the decidedly centrist Justice O'Connor.  Senator Schumer also claims that he needs to know if the judge will uphold the presidents executive authority to act to protect the public during a time of war.
• Richard Durbin, D :  The most accusatory of Judge Alito and his record.  At one point all but calling the judge a racist based on a stance taken by the Judge at Princeton University against the school administrations decision to grant preferential treatment to those with gender and minority status.

This is but a small sample of some of the more vocal members that I heard.  But I never cease to be amazed at their abilities to contradict themselves.  In short, the two underlying things that reared their ugly heads were Abortion and Executive Power.  It is obvious that the democrats can't stand being beat by President Bush at every turn so they are using this opportunity in an attempt to get back at the executive.

Tomorrow, the real circus begins.  Some of the panel will actually have substantive and probative questions.  But those aligned with the Kennedy/Schumer side of the aisle are likely to begin their pompous grand standing yet again and I will be there to watch it all.  Till then...

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