Senate Dems have delayed ALITO VOTE one week - more time to fight

[Nothing Without Hope]

This gives us more time for our campaign to work on senators of both parties to vote against Alito. The Dems alone can't do it.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usalit174590869jan17,0,722184.story?coll=ny-uspolitics-headlines

Dems delay Alito vote one week

COMBINED NEWS SERVICES
January 17, 2006

Democrats exercised their right to force a week's delay in the confirmation of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, the Senate Judiciary Committee's top Democrat said yesterday.

The committee will now meet Jan. 24 instead of today, Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy said in an e-mail statement. The new date allows members to conclude events related to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, he said.

(snip)

Democrats said they wanted to give senators time to observe a three-day holiday weekend without coming back to face an immediate vote. At the same time, they came under pressure from outside interest groups that want as much time as possible to try to rally public opposition to the nomination.

(snip)

So far, none of the Senate's 55 Republicans has announced opposition to Alito's nomination, meaning he can be confirmed with GOP votes alone, barring an increasingly unlikely Democratic filibuster.

[Nothing Without Hope]

1. Petition to save the courts from Alito - People for the American Way:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x161109

We have a bit more time to fight, thanks to the 1-week delay. We have to reach some Repubs too.

[nicknameless]

2. Good. Another week to raise hell about that fascist.

The question on many minds right now: "DiFi, you were in the audience listening to Al Gore. Were you paying attention?!"

[Nothing Without Hope]

3. True. And how about Bob Barr and other Repubs who are alarmed at

the imperial pretensions of this president? Clearly, Alito will promote that agenda and make it "legal" if given a chance.

[nicknameless]

5. This is absolutely a bi-partisan concern.

I really wonder about those who remain silent/complicitous. Are they doing so because they don't care if American democracy dies, or is there some other reason? Are they being threatened/blackmailed in some way? I just have a difficult time believing there are that many traitors.

Thank god some are standing up for what's right. I only wish more would.

[Free the Press]

4. um, if filibustering Alito is a losing strategy, why delay the vote?

As I posted in another thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2371675&mesg_id=2373330

[Nothing Without Hope]

6. According to the WaPo, it has to do with the State of the Union speech

I don't really understand this - see what you think:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/16/AR2006011601035.html?nav=hcmodule

Senate Panel's Vote on Alito Delayed Until Next Week

Democrats Aim To Shorten GOP Victory
By Amy Goldstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 17, 2006; Page A03

Democrats, anticipating that Alito ultimately will be confirmed, are trying to deny the White House that victory as long as possible, particularly in the days before the State of the Union address President Bush is to deliver Jan. 31. Although Senate rules do not enable them to defer the confirmation vote until after the speech, Democratic senators would like to reduce the victory period immediately before the speech, one of the broadest public stages the president commands each year.

The State of the Union "is the 800-pound gorilla lurking over the debate," said Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.). "That's part of the strategic calculation." Manley also said, "This is an important vote, and we are not going to be rushed into anything."

I believe that we should be pressuring the GOP senators - some of them are wary of Bush's imperial pretensions, and they could be worked on with the evidence that Alito will help Bush evade Constitutional checks.

[Nothing Without Hope]

7. kick n/t