Kennedy, has an OP/ED in Saturday’s WaPo:"Alito’s Credibility Problem"

[kpete]

Ted Kennedy: Alito’s Credibility Problem
The senior Senator from MA, Ted Kennedy, has an OP/ED in Saturday’s WaPo, on Alito credibility problem. I except Kennedy to hit hard with questions for Alito when the nomination hearings start next week.

Alito’s Credibility Problem
By Edward M. Kennedy

Every Supreme Court nominee bears a heavy burden to demonstrate that he or she is committed to the constitutional principles that have been vital in advancing fairness, decency and equal opportunity in our society. As Judge Samuel Alito approaches his confirmation hearings next week, the more we learn about him, the more questions we have about the credibility of his assurances to us.

Consider these five areas:

1. 1985 job application : Alito was 35 when he applied for an important political position with Attorney General Ed Meese during the Reagan administration. Alito sought to demonstrate his “philosophical commitment” to Meese’s legal outlook. He wrote that the 1964 Goldwater presidential campaign had been his original political inspiration, even though he was only 14 at the time. His views on the law, he said, were inspired by his “deep disagreement with Warren Court decisions.” He strongly objected to “usurpation by the judiciary” of the powers of the president, and supported the “supremacy” of the elected branches over the judiciary. Not surprisingly, Alito got the job.

The views expressed there raise serious concerns about his ability to interpret the Constitution with a fair and open mind. When this embarrassing document came to light, he faced a difficult decision on whether to defend his 1985 views or walk away from them. When I and others met him a short time later, he appeared to be renouncing them — “I was just a 35-year-old seeking a job,” he told me. But now he’s seeking another, far more important job. Is he saying that he did not really mean what he said then?

read the whole thing:
http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=1574

[hang a left]

1. Were you lying then or.....

are you lying now. NO TO ALITO!

[rodeodance]

2. i think they need also to focus on Alito's siding with executive power or

his propensity to say the President can do whatever.