Obama nixes gay judge nominee because he didn't think 'Merry Christmas' was inclusive

[Bluebear]

Surprise!

===

The White House has rejected the recommended nomination of a New York attorney who would have become the first openly gay man to sit on the federal bench, because of comments he reportedly made about the Pledge of Allegiance and Christmas that were deemed anti-Christian.

In February, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) recommended the nomination of Daniel Alter to serve as a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Presidents traditionally follow the guidance of senators from the state where there’s a vacancy for judicial nominations.

But informed sources told the Washington Blade that the White House rejected Alter’s nomination because of remarks he reportedly made regarding a case challenging inclusion of the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. In addition, the White House reportedly objected to remarks that Alter made suggesting that merchants not wish shoppers “Merry Christmas” during the holidays.

In a 2005 article published by Cybercast News Service, Alter is quoted as saying that a general holiday greeting is more appropriate and inclusive for retailers as opposed to saying “Merry Christmas. It seems both from a business … and a community perspective, that if merchandisers were going to do that … they would try to wish those in the community who may not share in celebrating Christmas a happy holiday as well,” Alter is quoted as saying.

“Our diversity has made us great and will continue to make us great and <'Merry Christmas'> undermines both the holiday spirit as well as the message I think Americans should be sending to each other,” Alter reportedly continued.

http://www.washingtonblade.com/2010/10/20/white-house-rejects-gay-judicial-nominee/

[polichick]

1. Well, Obama invited that idiot Rick Warren to speak on his big day and...

...expanded the faith-based initiative, so I guess we shouldn't be surprised.

[Bluebear]

2. Well, remember, God is in the mix, sez Obama

:silly:

[polichick]

22. Maybe Crazy Christine isn't the only one who doesn't fully embrace a...

...separation of church and state. Yikes!

[FreeState]

3. The War on Christmas

coming to a bigot near you...

[Behind the Aegis]

4. This is fucking absurd!

How the hell were his comments "anti-Christian?"!

[Egnever]

29. !!!!!1111! SERIUOS!

[Behind the Aegis]

38. Christophobia! It's OUT OF CONTROL!!! OH NOES!!!

Lions! Watch out for the lions!

:eyes:

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Brickbat]

6. Well, you know, if this guy had been approved, the right MIGHT HAVE found out, and they MIGHT HAVE

gone after Obama for appointing a War on Christmas/Sharia/h8r judge, and that MIGHT HAVE been really uncomfortable and annoying, so, you know, slip in some mega-level chess and he's TOTALLY OUTPLAYED the other side! BOOYAH!

[RaleighNCDUer]

7. I don't know about you-all, but this Jewish atheist gets pretty fucking

tired of "merry christmas" every time I walk out of the house in December.

Happy holidays worked just fine all my life - and now people who say that are look at like some kind of subversive.

But I wonder if this actually has more to do with it:
"Alter was previously an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and specialized in First Amendment and terrorism issues."

One word - Gitmo.

[Bluebear]

10. +++GOOD CATCH+++

[uppityperson]

15. You mean it had nothing to do with sexual orientation or christmas but Gitmo involvement?

That puts a bit different slant on why they might not want him.

[laughingliberal]

41. Good catch! nt

[TheWraith]

8. Gosh, they didn't nominate someone who would be guaranteed a massive defeat in the Senate?

How shocking. :sarcasm:

[Behind the Aegis]

9. Your crystal ball give you the 411?

[superduperfarleft]

11. You're right, we should let the minority party just appoint Obama's judges for him. n/t

[Tesha]

75. Wraith appears to have certain issues when it comes to GLBT... concerns. (NT)

[laughingliberal]

43. Gosh. Consummate politician Chuck Schumer proposed someone guaranteed a massive defeat?

Somehow I doubt that.

[grantcart]

47. Article seems to confirm the idea that Schumer determined that he could not get confirmation.

But based on those reported statements, the White House and Schumer determined that Alter wouldn’t be able to reach the 60-vote threshold needed in the Senate to overcome a filibuster of his nomination. It’s unclear when the decision to reject Alter was made

[laughingliberal]

49. "the White House and Schumer determined that Alter wouldn’t be able to reach the 60-vote threshold"

I'm guessing the White House 'dedetermined that Alter wouldn’t be able to reach the 60-vote threshold' and Schumer was persuaded to agree.

[grantcart]

52. Or, more probably the WH asked Schumer how he thought he could get 60 votes

and with the new quotations in hand Schumer said that it was not likely to be achieved.

[longwinded]

79. No filibuster for district court nominees

Hasn't officially happened. Not yet, at least. If the Republicans choose to cross that bridge, they'll be escalating the judicial nomination wars. Even master obstructionist Tom Coburn acknowledges that such a move would be unprecedented.

Alter could have gotten 50 votes, especially if he had been nominated a few months ago. If the Republicans really wanted to make Alter the first district court nominee to be filibustered, they should have been put on record. Instead, the White House filibustered itself and Republicans can continue to plausibly say that they have never filibustered a district court nominee. Pathetic.

[ProSense]

12. The President also

nominated Marisa Demeo who was confirmed.

Alter was rejected for specific reasons, being gay had nothing to do with it.

[AtomicKitten]

13. +1

:thumbsup:

[dionysus]

14. don't get in the way of the daily "obama = evil homophobe" rant!

[Egnever]

18. God knows we wouldnt want to do that

the OP might put you on ignore! Or call you a biggot!


:scared:

[superduperfarleft]

16. Um, I think most people are clear that this thread is not about him being gay.

It's about nixing an otherwise qualified judge for bullshit reasons.

[Ineeda]

48. Yeah. Right.

:sarcasm:

[superduperfarleft]

58. Well, maybe you're not. Too many big words or something? n/t

[Behind the Aegis]

17. Did anyone or the article say he was rejected for being gay?

Or you just throwing up pre-emptive strawman arguments?

[dionysus]

19. .

:rofl:

[Behind the Aegis]

Logic can be confusing, nervous laughter aside.

[dionysus]

24. you're either doing a poor job of playing coy, or you don't really notice trends...

:shrug:

[Behind the Aegis]

26. What trend would that be?

[dionysus]

28. you really need it to be explained?

:eyes:

[Behind the Aegis]

33. Apparently you are seeing something I am not.

Tinfoil too tight? I tend not to wear tinfoil caps, messes with my hair and general rational thinking.

Edit: Nevermind...you are carrying on with the Prosense strawman.

[dionysus]

40. i guess you don't read the forum that much. oh well.

[superduperfarleft]

20. Or maybe they're just being preemptively defensive.

"You know, I really wish Obama had fought harder for a public option."
"What do you mean?! He's not a homophobe! Stop saying that!"

[ProSense]

21. "White House rejects gay judicial nominee"

Surprise!

[superduperfarleft]

23. It's a gay magazine. Maybe they thought it would be of interest to their audience. n/t

[Behind the Aegis]

25. Selective reading? Surprise!

....because he didn't think 'Merry Christmas' was inclusive

[ProSense]

27. Is this

selective bolding "a New York attorney who would have become the first openly gay man to sit on the federal bench"?

[dionysus]

30. it's the worst attempt at playing coy i think i've ever seen... why, this has NOTHING to do with the

guy being gay! it's because of.. uh.. christmas!!! ;)

[Behind the Aegis]

31. That is called "fact." However, it still doesn't substansiate your "claim."

Thus, your claim is not factual but a common logical fallacy known as a "strawman."

[dionysus]

34. hm. let's see.

you've got an OP who calls the admin homophobic all the time.

posts an article about a gay nominee that isn't chosen, the gay part is bolded...
with an editorial Surprise! added...

ifthat's not implying something, i don't know what is.

[superduperfarleft]

35. And that's an ad hominem. n/t

[dionysus]

39. what is?

[superduperfarleft]

42. "you've got an OP who calls the admin homophobic all the time."

It doesn't dispute the article, it just attacks the messenger.

Maybe my lack of a vested interest in the elementary school food fight DU seems to be engaged in lately allows me to not have to keep an enemies list every time I'm here.

[FreeState]

32. Yes - that is half the sentence - its selective and dishonest

"The White House has rejected the recommended nomination of a New York attorney who would have become the first openly gay man to sit on the federal bench, because of comments he reportedly made about the Pledge of Allegiance and Christmas that were deemed anti-Christian."

[displacedvermoter]

37. Keep on keeping on!

[political_Dem]

62. +100000. Thanks for that news.

[Touchdown]

65. Oooh! Give him a cookie!

:eyes:

[laughingliberal]

36. Welcome to the Theocratic States of America. nt

[leftstreet]

45. Thousands gather to see Flying Spaghetti Monster image on iron

Ramen

[guruoo]

44. "informed sources" nt

[uppityperson]

46. Rather inaccurate subject line. More from article...

Alter was previously an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and specialized in First Amendment and terrorism issues.
(clip)
But based on those reported statements, the White House and Schumer determined that Alter wouldn’t be able to reach the 60-vote threshold needed in the Senate to overcome a filibuster of his nomination. It’s unclear when the decision to reject Alter was made.

Not being able to overcome a filibuster is far different than what is written in OP. Also, wondering if the "First Amendment and terrorism issues" had to do with gitmo and/or whateverthehellitwascalled (flying people to other countries for torture).

[EFerrari]

55. Rendition. A "tool" that Panetta said he would use. n/t

[uppityperson]

56. Thank you. That is it. nt

[JerseygirlCT]

50. Oh brother

I really hope there's something more to this. Because this is just plain stupid.

[Mimosa]

51. Retailers should be able to say or print Merry Christmas

It's called freedom and if somebody doesn't like it they can refuse to participate in Christmas holiday festivities. Just opt out. Judges shouldn't be trying to dictate freedom of expression. I'm with Obama on this one! *clap* (I'm sure they looked at other statements and decisions too.) :D

[LoZoccolo]

53. 0 recs

lol

[QC]

54. Just like all of your threads. n/t

[Bluebear]

59. "What is the total amount of recs that the last 20 LoZoccolo threads received?"

I got that one easy!

[LoZoccolo]

60. It would be impossible to say because

you do not have access to how many negative recommendations I got.

I was talking about a colloquial "0 recs", not a precise "0 recs".

[Touchdown]

I've kept count.

I'll tell you for $100

[ClarkUSA]

57. Alter has no chance of being approved by The Judiciary Committee due to GOP obstructionism.

The Republicans will make sure that he is never ever confirmed:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9355959&mesg_id=9355970

[Terra Alta]

61. The "War on Christmas" is starting early this year.

Sad to see Obama giving in to the Repukes on this one.. doesn't he realize that caving in to the right will get him nowhere?

[Ikonoklast]

63. Please show how President Obama can get sixty votes in the Senate

to overcome the filibuster on this nominee.

It's not 'caving', it's living in reality.

[Terra Alta]

67. Let 'em filibuster

At least then Obama can say he tried, and the Repukes will come out looking like the bad guys for blocking the appointment.

[Tesha]

76. Somehow, Thomas, Scalia, Alito, and Roberts got sixty supportive votes.

Apparently it can be done.

But to do it, one must, of course, *TRY* to do it.
If you fold your hand at the outset, you always lose.

Tesha

[Tx4obama]

64. unnamed sources = article is BS. n/t

[Bluebear]

66. Your opinion on this = irrelevant

Every source is not named, and to think so is foolish.

[Tx4obama]

69. The article says....

'' Schumer’s office didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment. A White House spokesperson declined to comment. Alter also declined to comment for this story. ''
----
So, considering that the main people involved in this have not commented - an article with unnamed sources is basically BS.
Come on back when there are some proven facts regarding the issue.

[Bluebear]

70. 'the main people involved in this have not commented'

God are you naive.

[Tx4obama]

72. Rudeness is uncalled for. n/t

[Bluebear]

73. Saying a posted article from the gay press is "bullshit" is more than rude. Adieu.

[QC]

68. Like that Watergate story that never amounted to anything.

I mean, nobody is really named Deep Throat.

Just a bunch of anonymous sources.

[Bluebear]

71. Watergate = BS!

:cry:

[Bluenorthwest]

74. They are just such huge hypocrites and religious fakes

The vicious language he has defended out of his religious pals, horrible invective, and then he's in a snit over Merry Christmas, like Bill O'Reilly? So the religious hate preachers get to just slander and rail, but if others perfer to say Happy Holidays that is unacceptable?

[Zax2me]

77. You have to be careful what you say...

'Merry Christmas' undermines both the holiday spirit....'
Merry Christmas undermining - Christmas?!
Silly.

[MineralMan]

78. You really had to dig for that one, huh?

It had nothing to do with his being gay, now did it?

[Touchdown]

80. You would know, with your vast experience in digging.

:hi: