I have a new post up at Crooks & Liars regarding the latest Pew poll on the NSA scandal.
Also, the Republicans today found a very substantive argument in favor of Alito's confirmation, which they promptly planted on Drudge: the Democrats were so mean in their attacks that they made Alito's wife cry.
The Democrats on the Judiciary Committee are trying, sort of. But it is not the most talented roster around, to put it mildly. Specter has said that he plans to hold hearings on the NSA scandal in late January or early Feburary, but the Democrats should do whatever they can do in order to get those hearings away -- far away -- from the Judiciary Committee. It is not a good line-up for the Democrats, either in absolute terms or as compared to the Republicans on that Committee, who aren't exactly a Dream Team either, but they work much more in tandem and are much more aggressive.
Isn't it possible to set up some sort of newly comprised House-Senate Joint Investigative Committee similar to what we had for Iran-Contra, and then get an Arthur Liman-like special counsel to viciously grill every witness and demonstrate to the country how clear the law-breaking here is? As diligent as I'm sure Pat Leahy and Herb Kohl will be on these issues, they are not exactly skillful cross-examiners. They are far more likely to induce sleep than damaging admissions.
The NSA issue is way too serious to leave in their well-intentioned but pedestrian hands.
Good post on NSA. And i agree, i was keyed up for these hearings but have been depressed watching them. Alito is a good witness, but he has not really been challeneged. A good cross-examiner could have provoked some real outbursts.
ReplyDeleteHe's just gotten calmer and more confident as it's gone along.
Talk of grilling and bright lights... Don't let him speak... Make everyone see that you and those like you Glenn have the true god of knowledge that everyone must be forced to acknowledge.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you want an inquisition of Alito for daring to have thoughts not on the approved left wingnut PC wikipedia.
Maybe the democraps should use hot irons on Alito? Chuckie Schumer could do the waterboarding. I'm sure you could get him to confess with some properly applied torture. If he makes and error then make him convert to atheism and perform abortions for 6 months.
I know you leftnuts don't approve of torture for those who want to melt the skin off our children's bodies, but you seem to have no problem with torture for kind, selfless, public servants who dare to believe in the law, constitution as its written, and traditional values.
Says the "Dog"
oh dear, "the dog" left a pile of shit in here. anybody got a baggie?
ReplyDeleteThe cretinous Democrats on the Judiciary Committee have made a nominee's wife cry before, as contemporaneously noted by the prominent GOP shill, Maureen Dowd:
ReplyDeleteWith a powerful invocation of racial imagery that he had not used in his public remarks before this day of testing, Clarence Thomas tried to put the Senate on trial tonight, accusing Congress of tactics that went "far beyond McCarthyism." As his wife, Virginia, sat behind him with a trembling chin, wiping away tears, Judge Thomas delivered a forceful rebuttal to Anita F. Hill's accusations of sexual harassment with a stony face and a voice bristling with anger.
(The rest is behind that stupid NYT firewall.)
These wives going weepy is not a substantive argument for a nominee; they are an indictment of a confirmation hearing process gone rabid.
These wives going weepy is not a substantive argument for a nominee; they are an indictment of a confirmation hearing process gone rabid.
ReplyDeleteWell, I hear John Rutledge's wife wept when his nomination was shot down due to vicious partisan infighting over the Jay Treaty. But as far as Thomas is concerned:
(1) Senator Biden is still slightly (in)famous for his handling of Anita Hill,
(2) the Democratic-controlled Senate proceeded to confirm him, and
(3) afterwards, the focus could be on the Anita Hill "smears" and not on Mr. Thomas' false assertions of respect for stare decisis. So perhaps he had his revenge for their pettiness. He has called for overruling or reexamining over a hundred established Court precedents, after all. Hence you have Justice Scalia invoking English common law and the Magna Carta in his Hamdi v. Rumsfeld opinion, while Thomas alone demonstrates no concern for legal precedent on a habeas matter. (Interestingly, he did invoke precedent in dissenting in Indianapolis v. Edmond, while at the same time acknowledging that the precedents probably flouted the Founders' Fourth Amendment intent. A foolish consistency...)
All that said, I agree that it can be a disgusting spectacle to see congressmen digging into and wallowing in the perceived sexual peccadillos of a public figure. But it's certainly not unknown.
But if Mrs. Alito cries because her husband is given a hard time over his belief in a unitary executive that can make and interpret the laws, well, too bad. Perhaps she can console herself with the thought that he will likely be able to vote in support of the President's willful disregard of FISA. Assuming any judicial review is necessary, of course. The President's signing statement (Hey! Alito again!) about the McCain Amendment indicates that the judiciary, too, must be subordinated to the executive in a time of war without end.
--mds
Well,
ReplyDeleteTo begin with, evidently Ted Kennedy is still stuck in 1968, not fully aware of just who, exactly, "Alioto" is.
These disturbing attacks are embarrassing Democrats more than they are harming Judge Alito, again, again, and again.
Ken Mehlman, RNC Chairman, says it all "This good man does not need a lecture from Ted Kennedy."
On the NSA, the Democrats should watch their brain power gauge, they might run out before their next date with destiny.
Maybe Dr. Biobrain would be kind enough to share some of his cranial girth enhancement techniques / devices / elixirs...
Very few of the Judiciary Dems seem to be able to understand a particular area of the law, ask a direct question, follow up on an answer, or even perceive that Alito has provided an opening with his answer. They just read their prepared questions, get the prepared answer, and "move on".
ReplyDeleteTheir performance will not sway public opinion or cause the public to be concerned about placing Alito on the Court. If they filibuster, it will probably be without public opinion to back them up. In short, a poor performance, and the end of our independent supreme court as a check on the executive and as protector of our individual rights.
If this is the team responsible for handling the investigation into Bush's violation of FISA, that's it for accountabilty and the rule of law. And hence the republic.
Oh well, it lasted quite a bit longer than many informed observers expected it would.
mds said:
ReplyDelete..in this war without end
mds, there is no such thing as a war without end. Congress is free to declare the war over any time they may choose. Congress can rescind or revoke the AUMF, and more importantly Congress can stop appropriating money for conducting any offensive or defensive operations in furtherance of the war they declare is over.
All you have to do is win some elections, and stop wanting unelected priests in black robes to do that which you can't accomplish at the ballot box.
Says the "Dog"
All you have to do is win some elections, and stop wanting unelected priests in black robes to do that which you can't accomplish at the ballot box.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I remember all that stuff about how terrible a strong, independent judiciary is in the Federalist Papers. And how President Jefferson, with his party's domination of Congress, successfully had Chief Justice Marshall impeached for attempting to establish judicial review. The ballot box? "An ELECTIVE DESPOTISM was not the government we fought for".
Congress is free to declare the war over any time they may choose.
Yet if the Executive decides it is necessary to protect America, it can ignore Congressional action, remember. The President is the Commander-in-chief of the United States, after all. And money explicitly earmarked by Congress for Afghanistan was diverted into a pot for Iraq by an administration that still refuses to count war costs on budget, so I'm not quite sure where the fiscal control comes in. Congress completely defunding the military?
--mds
ReplyDeleteBut if Mrs. Alito cries because her husband is given a hard time over his belief in a unitary executive that can make and interpret the laws, well, too bad.
That isn't what prompted her tears. This private woman is watching her husband being caricatured as a heinous bigot. Ever since Bork, Democrats have been turning confirmation hearings into unrestrained character assassination of various nominees.
If it is true that Sam Alito would let George Bush do anything he wants, with no check on his power, that would be a principled reason to oppose his nomination. I'm not persuaded that is true of Alito, and I will admit I also do not want to be persuaded because I ardently want his voice on the Court for Commerce Clause and other purposes.
But I am revolted at this depict-him-as-a-bigot strategy. Announce that he ought to be opposed to protect Roe and/or because he is awful on Executive power issues, and be done with it. Or, get in the mud with Ted Kennedy.
Thomas was made to defend himself against silly but grossly undignified accusations involving sex, and that happened to him because, and only because, he was perceived as a threat to Roe. There is nothing too dishonest or indecent that some of the Democrats and left-wing activists will not do when it comes to protecting Roe, and it is those dishonest and indecent things that have been making wives cry, and poisoning an important process.
Agreed on the sleeping elves.
ReplyDeleteThe answer to this is: NATIONWIDE STRIKES all across society. Every Friday, just don't do anything. Assemble peacefully in a public place and network. A National Day of Protest Every Friday.
Pass it on and make it happen, forward to all bloggers. We're running out of options.
If we are going to be treated like serfs in a banana republic, then we'll adopt banana republic methods for responding to that treatment.