WP: Senate Democrats Emphasizing Ethics, Not Alito

[Pirate Smile]

Senate Democrats Emphasizing Ethics, Not Alito
Unable to Keep Conservatives Off Court, Leaders Turn to Issues That Have More Traction With Voters

By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 16, 2006; Page A02

Just as Samuel A. Alito Jr. was wrapping up three days of testimony in his bid for a Supreme Court seat -- which core Democratic groups desperately want to prevent -- the Senate's Democratic leader sent an e-mail statement to hundreds of journalists.

In it, Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) had this to say about Alito: not one word. The Thursday news release, trumpeting a "Republican Culture of Corruption" in big red letters, dealt with Republican lawmakers' alleged ties to disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, a theme of Democratic messages these days.

-snip-
The fact that Reid paid scant attention to Alito that day, amid heavy TV coverage, is testament to the faith that Democratic leaders place in the ethics-corruption issue as a winner in November's congressional elections.

On Wednesday -- when Senate Democrats return from recess and huddle on the Alito nomination for the first time since the hearing -- congressional, national and state party leaders plan a major Washington event. It will not focus not on Alito but on a proposed "honest leadership act" that would ban gifts to lawmakers, among other things.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/15/AR2006011500704.html

[coldiggs]

1. Can we say spinless

[babylonsister]

2. Well, you can't spell it, so I hope you can say it. nt

[John Q. Citizen]

4. But I can say (and spell) "Pay no attention to the filibuster behind

the curtain."

Lead with the left and follow up with the right. And don't telegraph the punch.

[babylonsister]

5. If I'm reading you correctly, YES!

And yes, you can spell. :) I never usually get picky, but some people just trip my trigger, and this was one.

[John Q. Citizen]

12. I agree with you. Me too. I saw the same folks

going ballistic when Reid said something to the effect of, 'Ms Meir is a very nice and charming woman' and they totally missed what was really happening.

And the truth is, Ms Meirs probably really is a very nice and charming woman. So what?

If all a fighter has is a right hook, they won't get far. Especially if the opponent is bigger and heavier. A little finesse, a little rope a dope, some body blows and then the head shot. If you walk out and start swinging for the head first thing you are going to get creamed. Patience and timing is crucial.

What we have is Murtha on 60 min. tonight on the waste, folly and tragedy of Iraq, Al Gore in a major speech on the fascist national security state and loss of our civil rights tomorrow, many Dems out on Republican corruption on Weds, and then???

I think the Dems are figuring out how to tell a narrative, a story, with a beginning a middle and an end.

Think about it. If they were just going to let the Repos have Alito with no fight at all, why did they procedurally delay the inevitable by putting the vote back a week? It would just make them look bad longer not to get it over with asap.

So that's my thinking, and my guess all along was that the Dems have to filibuster. They have to force the Repos to either go for the nuclear option or to roll over. If the Repos want to change the rules of the fight in mid match, well Americans hate cheaters, crooks thieves and liars.

And that's a story the Dems would like to tell.

So call and write your Dem Senators and ask them firmly yet politely to filibuster.

Call and write your Republican Senators and ask them as rudely as you care to why they are corrupt, greedy fascist, war mongering incompetents, (please expand on one or more of these four themes)and have some pop corn on hand for next week when the debate in the Senate starts on Alito.

[VegasWolf]

20. We'll see. The story so far has been muddled and incoherent. At

this moment my concern is not about their reorganizing their story, it is about having a spine and standing up to the oil quagmire in Iraq and the deaths of innocent Americans and Iraqis, and the filibuster of Alito. I hope you are right, but my vote for a 3rd party candidate will be based on what happens.

[mzmolly]

6. Can we say not enough votes for a filibuster?

I think that might be the bottom line.

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[mom cat]

9. Welcome to DU. I cannot spell wery well either, but I do think that it

is spineless to drop the Alito challenge, if that is what they are doing. They could be using Alito as their poster boy for what is wrong with ethcs in the gove. His decision on Vanguard showed that he is unfit for the seat that he now has, much less a higher one.

[cali]

15. Vanguard

"His decision on Vanguard showed that he is unfit for the seat that he now has, much less a higher one."

Unfortunately, there was but one witness against Alito re the Vanguard/recusal business. There were many others including the ABA who said he did nothing wrong. The bottom line is that if he hadn't made the promise to recuse himself in the 1990 hearings, he would have been under no obligation to do so. Vanguard just isn't enough.

[mom cat]

18. It shows that he cannot keep a promice. It shows that he will use his

position for his own gain. Legal technicalities are not the same as ethics.

[rodeodance]

3. It is hard for Dems to get traction with SC nom. when the general

public does not seem too interested.

[gulfcoastliberal]

7. "Give em empty rhetoric Harry"

Yeah, way to LEAD. What powerful OPPOSITION from this anti-choice "leader". I'll gladly eat my words if he does filibuster. Otherwise: worse than Daschle. Much worse.

[ginnyinWI]

8. I refuse to believe propaganda

I have faith in our Dems and will wait and watch what they do, not what others say about them.

[LiberalInGeorgia2005]

13. I think you're going to be disappointed

It's not going anywhere. I wish it was, but it's not. The democrats will not filibuster, trust me. Quote me on it even.

How many times will some here BELIEVE and continue to be let down!?

[meow2u3]

10. We ought to tie Scalito with Abramoff

If the other side wants to meld bin Laden with Sadaam, why not? :evilgrin: If they want to play that game, two can play that game, too. :eyes:

[babylonsister]

11. Oooh, you

devil! :evilgrin: It honestly wouldn't surprise me!

[savemefromdumbya]

14. I suppose Democrats could all stay at home

they could all phone in sick instead of voting for Alito :shrug:

However, Harry is right about the corruption, because each week there will be more and more uncovered.

[DeepModem Mom]

16. Ethics can be fixed; our system as we know it, maybe not. I wish...

the Dems would hammer this home to the people, if they could make it through the TV media filter.

[depakid]

17. Gee, and here I thought they were one and the same...

Of couse, since the Post has ZERO ethics and ZERO integrity, their "writers" are hardly ones to talk.

or listen to.

[bemildred]

19. Exactly backwards.

It was the post-Watergate debasement of the USSC that allowed the Constitution to be ignored as it now is, and that allowed the current atmosphere of decadance and corruption to flourish.