More Democrats Get Behind Alito Nomination (Sens. Robert Byrd)

[seriousstan]

Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, whose confirmation seems certain in the Republican-run Senate, padded his modest Democratic support Thursday with endorsements by Sens. Robert Byrd and Tim Johnson.

Alito already was assured the votes of the 55 Republicans in the 100- member chamber _ enough to be put over the top _ when West Virginia's Byrd and Johnson of South Dakota joined Nebraska's Ben Nelson in saying they'll vote yes.

Alito would become the nation's 110th justice, replacing retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Throughout her years on the high court, she often has been a key fifth vote on contentious social issues including abortion, affirmative action and the death penalty.

"I am troubled by Judge Alito's apparent views on matters such as executive power, his past opposition to the principle of one person, one vote, and his narrow interpretation of certain civil rights laws," Johnson said. "Even so, I cannot accept an argument that his views are so radical that the Senate is justified in denying his confirmation."
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/01/26/D8FCHPKO5.html

[ananda]

1. What!!??

Un fuckin believable!

Dammmm.

[barb162]

2. Byrd?! Byrd? He's the last one (beside Kennedy) I would expect

[Kikosexy2]

7. Our Byrd...

is flying the coo...and gone cuckoo! Mr. Constitution is now shredding the life of the one thing he supposedly holds dear...sounds mighty hypocritical of the Old Byrd!

[barb162]

14. I don't get it; he has talked so many times so eloquently on

the subject

[RedSock]

36. ahhhh -- the oppositon party

ahhhh -- the oppositon party!!!

[Democrats_win]

3. Time 2 listen 2 people who say there's no difference? Unitary party: DOP

Add an E to get the new of our government: DOPE.

[Lindacooks]

26. Oh come on. One vote doesn't make Dems and Repukes the same.

Neither does two or three or four. The differences are in the platforms, and the differences are in the priorities. AND in the votes. Voting for Alito doesn't make anybody a Repuke.

Just keep on fracturing the Democratic party with messages like this, and Repukes will stay in power for ever. Congratulations.

[Up2Late]

4. Nooooooooooooooooo!

But GrandPa Byrd! You can't do this to us!

Unless, they just say they are going to support him, then, when the actual vote is taken, they vote the other way.

In other words, let the ReThugs think they have enough votes, then switch and let it go down to defeat.

[yurbud]

18. that could be possible...

[blm]

5. Mr. Byrd, Who will Alito side with, Mineworkers' or Coalmine Deregulators?

.

[buff2]

10. Oh yes.....

They'll put that bastard in,then cry to us for money to help them fight the completed DICKtatorship of the idiot squatter in the WH. A GREAT BIG MIDDLE FINGER TO ALL OF THEM!!!!! They will NEVER get any money from me again and they damn sure won't get my vote.God,I am furious.

[mom cat]

6. May not be official yet. Call his office anyway...now!

[buff2]

8. Byrd can take his phucking little book of the constitution

he likes to hold up in front of the cameras and burn it.They all like to lay claims on it like it's the Bible,but they don't want to follow it. What a phucking shame we have to watch our country turn into a country that will be worse than Cuba.

They can all kiss my ass. I'll never vote for them again. In fact,I'm not voting anymore,PERIOD! It's a waste of time. We have been duped for years and finally I have seen the light. God damn bunch of pig phuckers.Good Bye America....hello DICKtator bu$h. :grr:

[oldtime dfl_er]

9. is there some kind of a deal in the works?

I just can't imagine Byrd confirming that wingnut.

http://www.cafepress.com/scarebaby/658059

[Broke In Jersey]

11. Well....he is up for reelection, so I guess thats why.

[MADem]

20. That's very likely the concern

Kerry is wanting to lead a filibuster, though-- http://www.democrats.com/node/7538 -- so perhaps they have a few quiet Republicans to replace the three Democrats who have to vote with cowardice.

[kath]

30. no way - Repugs, unlike Dems, *rarely* go against the party line.

[MADem]

33. Well, it depends on the politician. Jumpin' Jim Jeffords comes to mind

Snowe is in a position to vote her conscience. Chaffee has toyed with the idea of switching parties. If the vote can be stalled until after the SOTU, anything could happen.

Ya just don't have a way of knowing for sure what they are thinking. Bush's numbers are in the tank, he is weakened, if he can't hit a homer at the SOTU (and his performance at the presser this morning doesn't bode very well, frankly) he will be in some deeper shit than he is in now.

The sharks smell a hint of blood...

[PAdem2]

29. yes he is. And as politicians do,

he is playing the political game. His vote will not make a difference one way or the other to the confirmation, and if there is a last minute filibuster it is a moot point. Maybe it will help at re-election, maybe it's in return for a deal that has been/will be made. But with Democrats in the minority his vote does not matter one way or the other.

[Judi Lynn]

12. Maybe he's had a stroke. This brings right-wing, "covert" DU posters

no end of predictable, unimportant glee, I am completely certain.

[stepnw1f]

17. Trolls Out and About Today

Wierd backward invalids I would love to meet in an alley.

[Judi Lynn]

19. Yep. You can smell them before you can actually identify them.

[Occulus]

24. And some of them have a "respected reputation" here, a donor star,

and more than 1000 posts.

I truly, truly haven't ever seen anything like it. These posters- conspicuously ABSENT on this thread- leave one with a sense of hidden support for Alito; I myself have seen two posters with the above described traits calling it a "done deal" or some such. "It's too late to filibuster," according to them; they apparently have no notion of what the appropriate time is for doing so.

Or they're covert lying freeper SOBs who have simply managed to remain past the time they should have been exposed.

[seriousstan]

25. It's not too late to call and write Byrd.

[MADem]

35. There is another real possibility

They could be politically retarded. Some people simply do not understand how the game of politics is played. They don't understand vote swapping, the horse trading, or any of that stuff that goes on routinely on the Hill. When you try to explain it, they get all pissed off and demand lockstep ideology, which is not how the deals get done. Lockstep ideologues are one-termers.

I am not ready to give up on the defeat of this nomination. I think if we can stall it past the SOTU (and sufficient votes for a filibuster would HAVE to delay the process, else Monkey will be speaking to a half empty room--picture the SPLIT SCREEN coverage; all the networks would cover it, and you could be damn sure that the words from the Senate floor would not be MY PET GOAT--unless they were going for irony--or the DC phone book) AND the Monkey falls on his ass in his performance, there is a huge chance that it could work--a weak SOTU = a weak Pretzeldunce.

There are a lot of 'ifs' in that scenario, but I sense some gamesmanship going on behind the scenes....the timing of this vote is very curious indeed. He wanted it NOW, before his SOTU, and if he doesn't get it, they'll probably have to rewrite four or five paragraphs of his piddling little speech. He'd better hope the teleprompter doesn't go south on him, like it did for Clinton (who was so damn smart, he didn't lose his cool or miss a trick--but then, he was PREPARED).

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[BootinUp]

15. The surprise in this thread

is surprising.

[deutsey]

21. My thought too, unfortunately

:evilfrown:

[VegasWolf]

23. Why? I must admit that I am surprised that Byrd doesn't care about Roe.

[MADem]

37. I think Byrd IS concerned about expanding Presidential powers

He clearly knows, better than anyone, the interplay and healthy tension between the branches of federal government, and the responsibility of the legislative branch. It's why his decision makes no damn sense...unless he has done a vote swap with a GOP member...

[VegasWolf]

16. Hey DINOs. The voters WILL remember! nt

[katty]

22. Byrd??!! who threatened him?!

[shanti]

28. unca dick

most likely paid him and a few others a lil "visit". the big dick has been conspicuously absent lately...

[EndElectoral]

27. It's not about quafiicationa, it's about bias!!! Don't they get it!!!!!

[savemefromdumbya]

31. Where is the Whip of this party - if you vote yes you are out

[Voltaire99]

38. Sadly, the only whipping that takes place in this party...

...is that of progressives who would rather stand on principle than triangulate into whorish victory.

[VegasWolf]

42. Well said, sadly I believe you are right. nt

[madmark]

32. i don't get it; what could be worse than

supporting the extra-constitutional theory of the "unitary executive"; its death penalty stuff for an SC candidate; its worse in my mind than finding that the 4th amendment does not include a right to an abortion.

[Double T]

34. Traitor and Sellout To the Democrats.............

Byrd must be replaced in the next elections

[americanstranger]

40. Please. Not so fast.

There's a reason he did this - the first well-funded challenger to his seat he's had since 1982. Kos has the story.

A multimillionaire businessman entered the GOP race to challenge Sen. Robert C. Byrd on Wednesday, hoping to deny the 88-year-old incumbent Democrat a record ninth term.

John Raese, 55, said he would campaign on a platform touting free enterprise and reduced regulation, among other issues. "What I'm going to run on is a rebirth of capitalism," he said.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee heralded the filing by Raese, a former state GOP chairman who has sought office before.

Though four other Republicans are running in the party primary, the GOP committee called Raese "the first financially credible opponent Byrd has faced since 1982."

Raese's last major foray into election politics came nearly 18 years ago. With narrow losses each time, he ran against Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., in 1984 and challenged then Gov.-Arch Moore in the 1988 GOP primary.

http://tinyurl.com/bmyh8

This is about Byrd hanging on to his seat, and if this is what it takes, so be it.

I don't think Kerry would have called for a filibuster had he not known that they could run cover for Byrd.

Careful with wishing for him to be 'replaced in the next elections' - that seems to be what the GOP has in mind.

-as

[VegasWolf]

41. Voting to overturn Roe and allow the expansion of gov powers so that

he can hang on to his comfortable lifestyle. My microscope can't tell the difference between DINOs and RINOs,. I hope there is a decent 3rd party candidate for that race.

[MisterP]

44. that assumes two things:

a) that letting Alito in for life is "worth it," and
b) that letting Alito in "guarantees" that seat
These two rationales were given for IraqNam, and we lost in 2002--and 2004 was worse, with many war seats going to the GOP.

[americanstranger]

46. That assumes two things...

1. That we could have stopped Alito in the first place (Byrd's 'no' vote would still have resulted in a minority), and

2. that we can afford to lose another Senate seat. Of course, there are no guarantees - but if this improves the odds that we hold on to Byrd's seat (given that Alito will assume the SC bench whether or not Byrd voted against him), it's a calculated gamble that must be taken, IMO.

For the record - I think the fault with Alito's presumed assumption of the bench lies not with Byrd, but with the jackasses on the Judiciary Committee. If people like Joe Biden would have given up the prospect of TV face time and let the Dem counsel question Alito, we would have fared better in the hearings, and may have even gotten a few Repubs to jump the fence when confronted with the reality of Alito's record.

And we probably would have been spared the whole specatacle of Alito's wife bawling like a baby on TV, since Goober Graham would not have been able to blame the mean Democrats for bullying poor, poor Sam.

-as

Here's hoping for a successful filibuster.

[MisterP]

50. how do you figure it improves his odds?

Alito's "inevitability" has little bearing on real leadership and perceptions thereof

[belle]

47. Not forgiving him for that. Byrd is old, the SCOTUS appt is for life.

If he doesn't get replaced now, he'll have to retire soon anyway. And even if the seat is taken by an R, that can change again a lot faster than the SCOUTUS. Sorry, Byrd, I appreciate your efforts in the past, but this is not for the greater good, I don't think.

[Voltaire99]

39. Byrd makes pretty speeches...

Easy for him to wax eloquent with his pocket constitution waving in the air.

Thanks for the nice speeches, Senator. They were inspiring--to those who think speech is enough.

[EndElectoral]

43. My email to Byrd

I have always been impressed with Senator Byrd therefore it is with great lamentation that I am writing to express my heartfelt disapointment at his voting for the Alito confirmation.

The issue has become about whether Mr. Alito is qualfied rather than whether he is partisan and biased. He is. This particular nomination will result in three very dangerous precedents for my lifetime.

1. Privacy issues - most notable Roe v. Wade

2. The strengthening of executive power (and with the abuse of executive orders I did not think it could get much worse - it can).

3. Decisions favoring corproations to the detriment of the individual's rights.

This will be Mr. Alito's legacy, and for the life of me I cannot understand why Senator Byrd could vote for a man of bias.

There are men and women of "qualifications" that run for office every year, but we attempt to select open minded men and women. Mr. Alito is not one. He is extremely partisan.

I beleive the Supreme Court is best served by people of neutrality like Judge Souter. This Alito confirmation creates a very right wing court, a place where biased politics have no business. Scalia, Thomas, Roberts, and now Alito. With this group one does not even need to have attornies argue thier case, because this group has already made up their mind before any argument is made.

A sad day for America, and even sadder that Senator Byrd has decided to be a party to it.

[old blue]

45. This may have everything to do with fillibuster

An editorial in my college rag (The Michigan Daily) predicted yesterday that Byrd would be among a handful of Dem senators to confirm. Why? Because if the Democrats don't think they can win a fillibuster fight, they don't want to have the vote be something like 52-48, where they would then have to explain to their base why they didn't fillibuster. They might be asking certain dem senators (retiring, those with secure seats, ...) to take a dive on Alito, to make it look like they didn't have the basic votes for a fillibuster to begin with.

It seemed farfetched, but now this....

[BootinUp]

48. Its not that complex.

[ColonelTom]

49. Landrieau gets Katrina funding; what does Byrd get?

Stay tuned over the next couple of months to find out what these Senators sold out their country for. A shiny new building? A monument? Front-row seats for Washington Nationals games?

No matter how high the stakes, it's business as usual in Washington.

[nodehopper]

51. Byrd? WTF?