Official Alito Hearing Thread - Day 1 – Thread 3

[Viva_La_Revolution]

Thread 1
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x96458

Thread 2
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x97051







Kennedy coming up after the break - 5 minutes

[LizW]

1. Kennedy's GOT to go back to executive privilege and hammer it!

[sweetm2475]

2. K&R Thanks, Viva! n/t

[LizW]

3. They're back. n/t

[Viva_La_Revolution]

4. CSPAN caller

If all of us who do not like Alito called our Senators, they might listen

[Nimrod2005]

13. Kennedy demonstrates that Scalito LIED!!!! Right now...

Called perjury, right?

[rodeodance]

90. some reporter saying Leahy did not do good job, then :Lets see what

Kennedy does.

[mopaul]

5. kick it up a notch kennedy!

[in_cog_ni_to]

6. Kennedy...caught Scalito in a lie in his answer to Hatch about Vanguard.

Good start! Go Ted!

[deadmessengers]

7. Fasten your seatbelts...

here comes Uncle Ted! :bounce:

[Viva_La_Revolution]

8. Kennedy

Back to not recusing himself.


If I could go back I would do it differently.


Would you like to be refreshed on how many times Vanguard appears in the brief?


:SLAM!:

[Sydnie]

9. Wifeypoo is choking in the background now. n/t

[Viva_La_Revolution]

15. Wow! check out how tense her neck is!

rapid breathing

eyes darting

tight little plastered on smile.

[Sydnie]

28. She's pissed at Teddy! smirk laying on her mug now! n/t

[rodeodance]

64. but sister has the barbie doll smile on her face.

[Surya Gayatri]

80. Yeah, I hope

this wipes that vapid smile off her mug! SG

[The Witch]

10. Woo hoo, I got all my work done during Hatch's crapfest

and I get to stay for the Ted show!

[in_cog_ni_to]

11. Ted's on FIRE....he ain't takin' no crap today.

:woohoo: Scalito looks GUILTY. He lied. He knows it.

[mrcheerful]

12. Woooooooo hooooo Van gaurd was on the briefs and mentioned many times in

the documents. Yet didn't Hutch the Hatch say they were and didn't he say that Vangaurd wasn't on the briefs lol. BUSTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[in_cog_ni_to]

16. Kennedy is AWESOME! Point for Ted...Scalito has been exposed as a liar

as has Hatch. :woohoo:

[LizW]

19. He says the "light didn't go on"?

He pledged to the committee specifically that he would not decide cases regarding Vanguard, and the name Vanguard was in the brief many times, but "the light didn't go on". Uh-huh.

Ted, ask him how he ruled? (We know, but still.)

[realFedUp]

14. I'm tired of looking at the smiley wife behind him...

she has to be on happy pills.

[Lerkfish]

21. stupid question: are spouses normally behind SCOTUS applicants?

I really don't know the answer.

[LizW]

30. Yes, remember Clarence Thomas' white wife prominently displayed?

[Lerkfish]

55. I'd forgotten that, thanks! to all who answered.

[Pacifist Patriot]

32. Yes. Well...

particularly if it's good little wifey to show that this Man is a normal healthy individual who can lead the bench like he leads his household. Sorry..I'm on one of my patriarchy rants again. ;)

[realFedUp]

39. Did Sandra D's husband sit behind during her nomination hearings?

Don't know if this PR move goes both ways.

[Pacifist Patriot]

60. I don't know. I'm just being cheeky. That question did enter

my mind though. It'd be interesting to find out.

[MsKandice01]

24. I'm sick of looking at that clown suit she's wearing..

[Neil Lisst]

40. Notice Mrs. Alito's half smile as Teddy talks.

If you draw a line down the middle of the face, then compare the two sides of the face, the smile or lack thereof can be telling.

A person's left side of the face is controlled by the rightbrain, and the right side of the face by the leftbrain. One side of the brain can deceive better than the other side, which has a tougher time being less than candid. When one forces a smile, it sometimes droops on one side, because that side is operated by the side of their brain which doesn't LIE well.

That is what I see on her face when Alito has a hostile questioner. Half smile, half frown.

[ecstatic]

17. Alito painting himself as a forgetful, thoughtless airhead nt

[Viva_La_Revolution]

26. Recusing myself was something I just wasn't focusing on

I think those were the exact words.

I'm sorry, but I want someone on the court who doesn't forget little things like that.

[rodeodance]

69. the lights did not go on--Alito said. te he. teds lights are illuminating

alitos light.

[Sparkman]

106. Member of CAP retards at Princeton? Can't remember. VANGUARD?

[MsKandice01]

18. Give him hell Ted!!!!

Playtime is OVA!!

[in_cog_ni_to]

20. NSA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! here we go!

:woohoo:

[Neil Lisst]

22. IMO, the Vanguard issue is a very serious ethical breach.

That fact that "no light went off," means he is lying just as he did about CAP. He consciously chose NOT to recuse himself, and opined and participated in a decision affecting directly his stock port folio.

This is reason enough to filibuster him, and Kennedy is doing an adequate job so far.

[Sydnie]

23. 12 years had past and it had never come up before so

I wasn't thinking about it.

But, the fund was worth more and he made money from it.

[Sparkman]

116. And he knew he would benefit financially in the case outcome.

[hang a left]

25. Check out Mrs. Alito's breathing patterns.

She is hyperventilating almost.

[in_cog_ni_to]

27. G-d...she is just so pathetic. KKKRove must have sent out

the "Be sure to smile today" memo. <sigh> I wish they'd move her out of the camera's view.

[Sydnie]

31. Oh I don't! Wifey's can off show what they "man" can't

Remember Martha Mitchell! :rofl:

[in_cog_ni_to]

36. OMG!!!! I LOVED Martha Mitchell!!! She made the repuke's lives

MISERABLE for years. They could never shut her up! :rofl: Yeah, I remember Martha. :loveya:

[Surya Gayatri]

117. So do I, Incognito

She was a force of nature. If only one of these modern repuke wives would turn out to have some of the same chutzpah that she did! SG

[C_U_L8R]

Her expressions are priceless...

she must be an awful poker player...
but I bet she rocks at charades

I'm home with a nasty cold & appreciate the entertainment.
Maybe I'm just feverish... hahaha

[Pacifist Patriot]

29. God(dess) and the Universe Bless Ted Kennedy!

Beautiful. Just Beautiful!

[Nimrod2005]

34. Scalito is fucked, he keeps falling on his face!!!

He is really giving bad answers all the time...

[Pacifist Patriot]

59. Bad answers and non-answers.

I noticed he answered the jury question by not answering it.

[mrcheerful]

33. So you changed your mind>

No the phrasing was wrong roflmao.

[Sydnie]

"don't misunderstand me, I mispoke"

but I meant what I said, I just would say it differently now.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

35. I have to take a break and run errands... can someone start new threads

at about 100 posts?


After Kennedy of course, I'm not going to leave in the middle of this!

[Sydnie]

43. I got your back Viva! n/t

[Viva_La_Revolution]

47. Thanks Syd!

[LizW]

37. LOL! "Be quiet over there, scurrilous dogs!"

That was funny!

[Patsy Stone]

62. Best moment so far!

That was really good. :rofl:

[gkhouston]

85. self-delete

question answered down-thread.

[soothsayer]

38. An "inapt" phrase. Clumsy, awkward, inappropriate, inept, not

graceful.

[realFedUp]

46. this guy will say anything now to get this lifetime position. nt

[Mist]

41. After Kennedy hammered Alito on his expansive view of presidential

power, Alito says his phrasing "was incorrect and inaccurate." But aren't lawyers and judges
known for their careful phrasing? Alito said he would "reword it differently today." Yes, especially
today, in the hearings!

[doublethink]

42. I feel a Twilight Zone answer .......

from Alito coming up ......

:popcorn: Get him Ted.

[in_cog_ni_to]

44. Ted just called his Dems..."You scurrilous dogs"

:rofl::rofl: He seems to have a WONDERFUL sense of humor...UNLIKE ANY repuke up there.:)

[Edgewater_Joe]

That's What REAL Laughter Sounds Like!

Not like that canned forced stuff Owl Hatch gave to Apparatchik Sammy.

[Skidmore]

45. Next break expect a fresh rash of CSPAN callers, like earlier,

suggesting that Kennedy should be worthy to sit in judgment on this man.

[Nimrod2005]

49. Here is that word again TERRORIZED!!! unarmed people

on their farms...

[Edgewater_Joe]

57. Which Is Why The Repunks Might Pull Chappaquiddick Out

This is not a hearing for them -- it's a Rovian campaign. Democrats better realize that and be ready for it.

[Pacifist Patriot]

72. Might? It's a given.

[WinkyDink]

48. This guy looks small and timid in front of Ted!

Alito is SWEATING this, IMO!

[Nimrod2005]

50. This guy is lying...The more lies the smaller he will look and ACT!

[Sydnie]

51. Wifey not smiling anymore now

sending death rays to Ted!

[Pacifist Patriot]

71. She's got a weird vacuous smile on her face now.

Maybe she's listening to music on a hidden iPod and doesn't really know what is going on.

[librechik]

78. xanax wearing off

my guess from earlier observation

[in_cog_ni_to]

52. The 10 year old girl case!

Go Ted!

[Skidmore]

53. Keeps trottingg out that "reasonable people" crap that has

been trotted out on the teevee a lot lately by Rs trying to explain outrageous behavior. Right up there in the book with that "premise" saw they trot out for similar situations.

[Greeby]

54. Reminding us that even Chertoff thought it was going too far

:bounce:

[Sydnie]

56. If the grim reaper can't get behind it .....

:rofl:

[DemonFighterLives]

58. Can anybody help me with the Vanguard thing

I'm not up on it.
Ted is great though. I've been hearing more freepers bringing up the Killer Ted story on c-spn the last 2 days. Freepers never forgive and forget.

[adigal]

67. Yeah, Chimpy being responsible for killing

over 100,000 Iraqis is A-OK in their book, but make a tragic mistake when you are young - never forgotten.

When my wingnut friends brought this up a few weeks ago, I laughed and asked them why they don't care that Laura Bush killed her boyfriend with her car??

[Mist]

76. Alito had investments in Vanguard, and didn't recuse himself when

a case came up concerning Vanguard.IIRC, Alito's explanation was "No one mentioned recusal, so I didn't think of it."
But he should have thought of it himself, without suggestions from others!

[Gregorian]

61. Alito is sneaky.

Just my opinion. Not to mention that he's married to a reptile.

[Pacifist Patriot]

66. His evasive answers are something to behold.

He never did give a good reason in my opinion why a jury should not have heard the Marshall/Dairy case.

[LizW]

63. Oh, my god. He wants to PROTECT 10 year olds

from having drug dealers hide their drugs on them. The strip search of a child was for HER OWN PROTECTION?????

Okay, that's not exactly what he said, but that's where he was going.

[Pacifist Patriot]

68. That is EXACTLY what he said.

Just not in so many words.

[in_cog_ni_to]

65. He's putting the Knight Ridder study on the record!

WooHoo!

[Strawman]

70. Here comes... the executive statements stuff

Oh boy...

If anything gets him, besides some skeleton, this is it.

[malaise]

73. Brilliant Ted Kennedy

now let me hear this weasel.
Edit - sp.

[Sydnie]

74. the presidents understanding of the bill should be just as

important as the Congress? Dictators are them open for business!

[LizW]

75. Alito's wife has gone away to her happy place. n/t

[Sydnie]

77. LOL She is posing for her glamour shot now! n/t

[rodeodance]

82. here is a good article on the 'signing statement'-- (Jr saying he does not

or can do what he wants).

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0105-23.htm

During his first term, President Bush issued an unprecedented 108 statements upon signing bills of legislation that expressed his own version of their content. He has countermanded the legislative history, which legally establishes the foundation of their meaning, by executive diktat. In particular, he has rejected parts of legislation that he considered stepped on his power in national security matters. In effect, Bush engages in presidential nullification of any law he sees fit. He then acts as if his gesture supersedes whatever Congress has done.

Political scientist Phillip Cooper, of Portland State University in Oregon, described this innovative grasp of power in a recent article in the Presidential Studies Quarterly. Bush, he wrote, "has very effectively expanded the scope and character of the signing statement not only to address specific provisions of legislation that the White House wishes to nullify, but also in an effort to significantly reposition and strengthen the powers of the presidency relative to the Congress." Moreover, these coups de main not only have overwhelmed the other institutions of government but have taken place almost without notice. "This tour de force has been carried out in such a systematic and careful fashion that few in Congress, the media, or the scholarly community are aware that anything has happened at all."

Not coincidentally, the legal author of this presidential strategy for accreting power was none other than the young Samuel Alito, in 1986 deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. Alito's view on unfettered executive power, many close observers believe, was decisive in Bush's nomination of him to the Supreme Court.

Last week, when Bush signed the military appropriations bill containing the amendment forbidding torture that he and Vice President Cheney had fought against, he added his own "signing statement" to it. It amounted to a waiver, authorized by him alone, that he could and would disobey this law whenever he chose. He wrote: "The executive branch shall construe Title X in Division A of the Act, relating to detainees, in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the President to supervise the unitary executive branch and as Commander in Chief and consistent with the constitutional limitations on the judicial power, which will assist in achieving the shared objective of the Congress and the President, evidenced in Title X, of protecting the American people from further terrorist attacks." In short, the president, in the name of national security, claiming to protect the country from terrorism, under war powers granted to him by himself, would follow the law to the extent that he decided he would.

[Sydnie]

That's great! Thanks for posting it! n/t

[slaveplanet]

110. And thanks to todays testimony

we now have a clear name for what is described above....right from the architect's mouth...He calls it the TWILIGHT ZONE

[Mist]

81. Wow, she sure has! Alito's beginning to look wrung out. n/t

[realFedUp]

83. too bad she didn't bring a paperback book....

:-)

[gkhouston]

94. maybe she could bum a crossword puzzle off a Senator? n/t

[sweetm2475]

79. Signing statements for the signing statements are totally legal.

Whats wrong with you Kennedy, you radical left wing pinko commie? :crazy:

[Nimrod2005]

84. He hates America and hates freedom!!!!

:sarcasm:

[rodeodance]

86. isn't the women in blue suit barbie smile a sister or cousin? (family res-

semblance is stricking to me)-----unless he married a women who looks like himself.

[CottonBear]

101. I believe that a sister is there. Wife is wearing ruffled,aqua clown suit

and is sitting right behind Alito.

[LizW]

103. I thouth she was the wife, but

she does look strangely like him.

[DemonFighterLives]

114. The one behind him is wifey poo

With Grassley praising Alito, she is now smiling again.

[Tsiyu]

87. Thanks so much to all of you for these threads n/t

:kick:

[sweetm2475]

88. Kennedy is so obsessed with this separation of powers thing....

Why does he hate America?:silly:

[hang a left]

89. Ted is funny....

While Alito blabs and blabs on; he just like shakes his head like uh huh, yeah, uh huh, yeah, uh huh.

[Mist]

91. Some amazing double-talk from Alito--"There are two questions-

the SCOPE of executive power, and within the executive branch, WHO exercises executive power." WTF?

[rodeodance]

93. can anyone respond to # 86? Thanks in advance.

[sweetm2475]

98. well I'm from NJ, and from an Italian Roman Catholic family,

and no offense to us, but most of us do all look alike. That's why I married someone from Texas.:hi:

[Surya Gayatri]

92. "How big is executive power?"

"As big as this table?" :wtf:

He's babbling now. Push more Teddy, go for it! SG

[Greeby]

95. Grassley now, I'm off to walk the dog

later :hi:

[rodeodance]

96. cnn cuts in as Repug Grassley begins.

[Pacifist Patriot]

97. Wow, Grassley is impressive!

What a monumental idiotic ass.

[speedoo]

108. Grassley is making Mrs. Scalito have an orgasm.

"left wing liberal interst groups" really got her going.

[CottonBear]

115. That is a mental image that I did not need to have. :( n/t

[Strawman]

99. Specter redirecting to Vanguard

Because this executive statements thing is what's going to tank this guy. Not some conflict of interest on some mutual funds.

[ecstatic]

100. Grassley assures Alito that his lies are OK

After all, Senators, according to Grassley, lie all the time to their constituents.

[Lerkfish]

102. I was amazed at that logic

[slaveplanet]

118. Yep - throwin it right in our face

We BS you stupid slaves all the time, and now we're going to laugh about it...

[rodeodance]

104. Jeff greenfield--the public has difficulty understanding 'executive powers

and the other language. i am so tired of reporters assuming we are stupid!
i am going to write to cnn right now!

[rodeodance]

107. blast cnn right NOW

[Pacifist Patriot]

109. And that just feeds the perception that government officials

are some sort of elite fit to rule over the rest of us rather than servants responsible to us.

[Pacifist Patriot]

105. That logic is exactly what formed my opinion above.

The man is a moron.

[hang a left]

111. Check out the board they have some schmo holding up.

[hang a left]

113. Could Grassley get a bigger flag lapel pin.

[Synnical]

119. Need to save that clip to run

during his re-election bid. Of course, that's four years away . . but, still.

[Sydnie]

112. Official Thread 4 open now

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x97974

[Surya Gayatri]

120. Un-freaking-believable!

Sam sounds like he's giving a talk to grade school kids. "Our Constitution has set up a democratic system" blah, blah, blah. What a dufus, this Grassler from Iowa! :crazy: SG

[davidinalameda]

121. locking

see thread 4