Democrats Urge Strategic 'No' Votes on Alito

[Algorem]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/19/politics/politicsspecial1/19alito.html


By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: January 19, 2006

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 - With little chance of stopping Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr.'s confirmation to the Supreme Court, Senate Democratic leaders urged their members Tuesday to vote against him in an effort to lay the groundwork for making a campaign issue of his decisions on the court.

The vote count "matters a lot, and I think the debate leading up to it matters," said Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, a member of the Judiciary Committee and the Democratic whip.

"If a nominee disappoints the country with their service on their court and their decisions, I think some people may ask the important question, Did the Senate really take a close look at this nominee?" Mr. Durbin said. "Did they tell us this was coming?"

At a closed meeting of the Democratic caucus, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, and Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, made the case against Judge Alito, focusing on what he said was the judge's deference to the authority of the executive branch, people present said...

[bettyellen]

1. K+R

[AlGore-08.com]

2. We know he's coming - - try filibustering his *ss!

Sheesh!

To quote Al Gore's MLK speech:

"I call upon Democratic and Republican members of Congress today to uphold your oath of office and defend the Constitution. Stop going along to get along. Start acting like the independent and co-equal branch of government you're supposed to be."

[wordpix]

9. thanks for the Gore quote. My president, that is

[DanCa]

3. Well Senator Durbin's been readding his emails.

And it sounds like the Dems know that there will be hell to pay if nothing is done.

[WatchWhatISay]

4. Their second most important vote after IWR

and they are going to concede in favor of sending a message?

Like MSM won't say, well this # of Democrats voted for him?

When will they ever learn?

[Moosepoop]

5. So the NYT has proclaimed that Alito will be confirmed.

They all but announce this as fact in the article's opening sentence.
"With little chance of stopping Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr.'s confirmation to the Supreme Court..." blah blah. And of course, they have an impeccable record for accuracy too -- check out the "correction" buried at the end of the article:

Correction: Jan. 19, 2006

An article on Jan. 8 about Democratic opposition to Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr.'s nomination to the Supreme Court referred incorrectly to the results of several national polls on Americans' attitudes toward his confirmation. Only one major poll - not all - showed a majority supporting his confirmation.

Oops... we bad. But believe everything we throw at you anyway. :eyes:

Perhaps there is little chance that the Dems will show enough spine to filibuster. Still, I object to the slanting of the article.

[robbedvoter]

16. You bet they had plenty of letters on that "mistake". Good find!

Ain't it funny how all their 'mistakes' seem to go in one direction? Kinda like the voting results "glitches".
Man, is the GOP lucky or what? :shrug:

[DeepModem Mom]

6. People understand a filibuster; will they understand this nuance?

And, per the article, in a correction at the end, only one poll shows a majority of people supporting this nominee. Please Dems, think about the people, not the pundits.

And, on edit: This focus on corruption taking precedence is risky. I'm afraid most people think most politicians are corrupt. I worry that they will find a way to make the corruption scandals bi-partisan in the public eye.

[bemildred]

7. Stop Bush's court packing now! Filibuster Alito! nt

[Rainscents]

8. My understanding is, GOP don't have 60 votes!

GOP is behind the curtain trying to wheel and deal as we speak and that is why, MSM is spinning this issues making look like vote is sealed. Vote is NOT there and GOP is working overtime! We must continue putting pressure on dems and moderate republican senators to stop Alito!!!

[wordpix]

11. even Congressional repukes are getting it that * wants to be absolute

ruler by divine right

[wordpix]

10. Just say NO and FILIBUSTER, you coward Senate Dems

[msongs]

12. how many jews voted for hitler in 1932? nt

[wordpix]

13. probably none did and what's your point?

[garthranzz]

14. "FILIBUSTER" is NOT a four letter word!

Every Democratic Senator should watch "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington."

[bear425]

15. Durbin, we don't need schadenfreude - we need a filibuster!

Stop the destruction of our country before it's too late!

[robbedvoter]

17. My translation of NYT BFFE-ese: they are working on fillibuster

They of course can't announce it ahead of time - not of courswe before having the relevant number of votes secured.
The press is trying hard to help BFEE by making noises that "Resistance is Futile".
The only course of action for us from reding this is: call them. Be ferm and passionate, but not hostile - at least not to the dems.

[DoYouEverWonder]

24. Any chance of turning a few REPS?

That would take a lot of work too.

[knight_of_the_star]

18. Oh Gods

They have to stand their ground and face this guy down if they want to keep any credibility with the voters, words aren't enough they need to back it up with action.

That and if all else fails they could always impeach Scalito if we retake both houses of Congress.

[gratuitous]

19. You wanna send a message? Call Western Union

You don't want another right-wing extremist on the Supreme Court for life? Filibuster Alito. This isn't rocket science, it's politics folks. And people aren't going to care one little bit about who's sitting on the Supreme Court -- by and large, nobody gives a shit about Fat Tony Scalia or Slappy Thomas taking away their rights. And they don't care that Robert Bork isn't sitting there beside those two thugs. Filibuster Alito and let the consequences take care of themselves.

When the whining starts from the GOP -- and you know it will -- the general public is going to be far more impressed that the Democrats actually reared up on their hind legs and fought.

So fight, goddammit! You're supposed to be representing me and standing for something. Just do it!

[bettyellen]

20. Kick

[Zorra]

21. Alito is a fascist that favors a RW dictatorship.

The Constitution will rapidly become an obsolete historical document if that little nazi POS gets confirmed.

[pat_k]

22. Moronic "strategic" move invoked as excuse for DERELICTION OF DUTY!

Reid, Leahy, and Dubin NEED to HEAR FROM YOU!!!

Set them straight. Now!!

They think a phony, useless resistance will satisfy all those people demanding that they fight; that the pretense of resistance is as good as ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING.

This is their rationalization for inaction. They need to believe it so they can sleep at night.

Read them the riot act.

If they don't stand up, they will face one "issue" -- the perception of Democrats as weak, complicit, and cowardly.

The Republicans are laughing their heads off at their so-called strategy, "Gee, hehe, for a minute there I though they would actually DO SOMETHING.

Tell them that we SHALL NOT tolerate their continued destruction of the party. To save them from themselves, we have no choice. We must recruit RICH or WELL KNOWN primary challengers who WILL stand up for us, and who have the means to crush the wimps.

We expect the men and women of our armed services to risk life and limb to fulfill their oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Every member of Congress takes the same oath. We will not tolerate dereliction of duty.

[AzDar]

23. If they DO NOT filibuster, they should all be sent packing.They will

have rendered themselves completely useless.