Democrats have a case, probably won't make it

[norml]

Democrats have a case, probably won't make it
Palm Beach Post Editorial

Friday, January 27, 2006

Before discussing whether the Senate should put Judge Samuel Alito on the Supreme Court, let's get past the bipartisan posturing.

Republicans on the Judiciary Committee supported Judge Alito because, they said, he will strictly interpret the Constitution and not be an "activist." But to claim that the slickest constitutional scholar can apply the thinking of 1787 to a time when we have mapped the human genome is laughable. What Republicans mean is that Judge Alito will rule the way they want.

As for Democrats, they stressed the need to follow "precedent." Of course, they pick their precedent. They don't want the court to overturn the "precedent" of Roe vs. Wade, but Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954 also overturned precedent. So did the 2003 ruling, which most Democrats supported, that struck down a Texas law barring homosexual sex.

Supreme Court choices aren't about law. The choices are about politics. President Bush wants to make the court much more conservative, and he clearly has a nominee who would do so. The question is whether the president has earned the political backing to do so, and based on the 2004 election and his poll numbers, he clearly hasn't.

Take the issue of presidential power. Judge Alito's record, as a jurist and an overweening applicant for a job in the Reagan administration, shows that he supports Mr. Bush's view of broad presidential authority. Polls, however, show that Americans are divided on whether President Bush had the authority to wiretap Americans without a warrant. Then consider abortion. Judge Alito's record shows that he wants Roe vs. Wade overturned and, at least, would see any restriction as less than an "undue burden." But a CNN/Gallup poll this month showed that a majority of Americans would oppose Judge Alito if he voted to overturn Roe.


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http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2006/01/27/a20a_alito_edit_0127.html

[Armstead]

1. Exactly -- Bush did not get a mandate for this

[sasha031]

2. I am so sick of hearing these guys called conservative

" President Bush wants to make the court much more conservative, and he clearly has a nominee who would do so."

is trying to force their idea of the second coming :nuke: conservative?