Kerry, Kennedy deliver talking point on Alito - choice of a WEAKENED prez.

blm

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Mon Oct-31-05 11:14 AM
Original message

Kerry, Kennedy deliver talking point on Alito - choice of a WEAKENED prez.

Edited on Mon Oct-31-05 11:27 AM by blm

Both Kerry and Kennedy stressed the point about Alito that he is the choice of a president cowed by a RW base that has proven to show control over Bush.

Only a WEAKENED PRESIDENT would give in so easily to a RW base and its media machine. Bush is proving he NEEDS them and will follow their direction and is not willing to risk their wrath. He's chicken. The base looks like a jet landing strip to him now, and he's crapping his pants in fear, just like he did when he QUIT the TANG.

KERRY:
Every American should be deeply concerned that the far right wing which prevented Harriet Miers from even receiving a Senate hearing is celebrating Judge Alito’s nomination and urging the Senate to rubber stamp the swing vote on our rights and liberties. Has the right wing now forced a weakened President to nominate a divisive justice in the mold of Antonin Scalia? With civil rights, privacy rights, and mainstream American values hanging in the balance, the President’s sagging political position in his own party is no excuse to reopen wounds in America which a President should seek to repair.

“In nominating a successor to Justice O’Connor, President Bush had the power to unite the country by nominating a highly qualified woman or minority who would put the Constitution first and reflect the diversity of our country. Instead, the record must be studied, the documents must be made available, and the questions must be answered conclusively, to determine whether the president has chosen to divide the country with a nominee outside the ideological mainstream.”

KENNEDY:
Rather than selecting a nominee for the good of the nation and the court, President Bush has picked a nominee whom he hopes will stop the massive hemorrhaging of support on his right wing. This is a nomination based on weakness, not on strength.

After insisting that Harriet Miers shouldn't even get a hearing because she couldn't prove she was extreme enough, the far right has now forced the President to choose a nominee that they think has views as extreme as their own.

There are many serious questions about whether Judge Alito is a mainstream nominee fit to fill the seat of Justice O'Connor. She was able to unite and strengthen our country through her careful, non-ideological approach to the law.

Although he is clearly intelligent and experienced on the bench, that is only the beginning of our inquiry. If confirmed, Alito could very well fundamentally alter the balance of the court and push it dangerously to the right, placing at risk decades of American progress in safeguarding our fundamental rights and freedoms.

After stating that he believed in a diverse bench, President Bush took the nation a step backwards today. Apparently, he couldn't find a woman or minority or a mainstream nominee that meets the litmus tests of the right wing, and instead put forth a nominee with a troubling record on the rights and freedoms important to America's families.

The Senate will now fulfill its constitutional role and conduct thorough and fair hearings to determine Judge Alito's fitness to sit on the highest court in the land. There are few decisions as important as picking a Supreme Court Justice, and the Senate must not be rushed in considering this nomination.