NYT: Glum Democrats Can't See Halting Bush on Courts

[kskiska]

This article was reported by Adam Nagourney, Richard W. Stevenson and Neil A. Lewis and written by Mr. Nagourney.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 - Disheartened by the administration's success with the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr., Democratic leaders say that President Bush is putting an enduring conservative ideological imprint on the nation's judiciary, and that they see little hope of holding off the tide without winning back control of the Senate or the White House.

In interviews, Democrats said the lesson of the Alito hearings was that this White House could put on the bench almost any qualified candidate, even one whom Democrats consider to be ideologically out of step with the country.

That conclusion amounts to a repudiation of a central part of a strategy Senate Democrats settled on years ago in a private retreat where they discussed how to fight a Bush White House effort to recast the judiciary: to argue against otherwise qualified candidates by saying they would take the courts too far to the right.

Even though Democrats thought from the beginning that they had little hope of defeating the nomination, they were dismayed that a nominee with such clear conservative views - in particular a written record of opposition to abortion rights - appeared to be stirring little opposition.

more…
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/15/politics/politicsspecial1/15alito.html

[LiberalPartisan]

1. Well....

Even though Democrats thought from the beginning that they had little hope of defeating the nomination, they were dismayed that a nominee with such clear conservative views - in particular a written record of opposition to abortion rights - appeared to be stirring little opposition.

So little opposition because we're planning to exit the country before Crystalnacht

[CoffeeCat]

4. Wow, your use of the word "Crystalnacht" is chilling...

...because that is how I feel too.

I feel as if we are headed in that direction.

I hope we CAN exit the country, when we want to.

[Edgewater_Joe]

2. The DLVichy At Work

If there's no filibuster, we MUST get these bastards OUT OF OUR PARTY.

It's THAT simple.

[unblock]

3. perhaps we mistake the targets of the propaganda

we've all thought that the target of the banana republican propaganda was the america people, or at least the "sheeple" among us.

i think that's a happy (from the rw point of view) byproduct, but the REAL target is the democratic politicians.

they made gore THINK that clinton would be a campaigning liability, when nothing could have been further from the truth.
and now, they are making the democratic senators THINK that a filibuster wouldn't have popular support, when, again, nothing could be further from the truth.

[countmyvote4real]

9. You're right. Let's keep those cards, letters & email flowing.

This is a potential sea change that will wreck our lives beyond my life span.

[Wilber_Stool]

5. I guess the gopers are right

There's not a Democrat fit to hold office.

[bluestateguy]

6. Democrats just weren't up for the fight

They chickened out of fighting a president with a 40% approval rating because they were afraid he would whine like the little spoiled brat that he is. They were also afraid of the corporate media types saying mean things about them.

[wellst0nev0ter]

7. Um, Why Is This Not In Late-Breaking News?

wrong date or something?

[cantstandbush]

8. Of course, if they just give in, Bush wins again. No guts, no glory. n/t

[radio4progressives]

10. Hellloooo People... What are you doing? This is the ReichBot

catapulting their Propaganda/Meme ...

DON'T BUY INTO THIS CRAP! I wrote a post on this very obvious effort a couple of days ago talking about how the Corporate Media is the ENEMY of the Democratic Party and that this was their plan.

Keep on the fight until the last breath, and work to break through the Corporate Media including C-Span.

Don't give up the fight, we have a chance - but you gotta let the Dems know and you gotta let the Media know they're full of shit.

[Gloria]

11. Gee, maybe oppositon would have been stirred if Dems had

actually waged a real "war room" campaign..

Screw em....and us, I guess.

[Placebo]

12. What a depressing article.

Basically: Bush is getting everything he wants (even though he's less popular than ever) and...we're all fucked for decades to come.

[farmboxer]

14. Democrats appear to be very afraid of Bush

they do almost anything he wants, yet it is never enough. Why can't they learn from experience? Has Bush already become a dictator? Alito is a disgrace.

[Placebo]

15. Maybe if the democrats would fillibuster...

the country might actually take notice and wonder what about Alito could be bad enough to warrant such action. If the Democrats just let him sail through it's like slapping a giant stamp on Alito that says "Democrat Approved." The public at large will never hear about his controversial past otherwise, especially with a media that focuses almost all of its prime time attention on the Brangelina baby or the missing cruise ship couple.

Don't the democrats understand yet that this President is weak and they would pay NO political price in opposing him? The American people aren't going be storming DNC HQ if we don't find a suitable replacement for Justice O'Connor immediately.

[shance]

13. Boy, they are really pushing the propaganda.

Looks like they are worried Alito is not going to be approved after all.

[Neil Lisst]

16. We have too many Senators guided by fear or ambition.

Anyone who votes for Alito and has a "D" by their name gets and "F" from me, and I don't grade on a curve.

[jillan]

17. Wait - I view this differently.

This is the NYT, not the Weekly Standard...

Maybe they are playing a psych game with the dems. Keep calling them chickens, insult them for not standing up to this right-wing wacko, insult them enough and maybe they'll do something.

We'll have to wait and see.