Scotus #8
The confirmation hearings for Samuel Alito haven't gone like I expected they would. Well, that's not completely true. I fully expected the blowhard senators to make speeches disguised as questions. I also knew that during their "questions," Democrats would take shots at the president over issues that have absolutely nothing to do with Alito. I also expected that that total buffoon, Ted Kennedy, would imply that Alito is a racist and a sexist simply because he's a conservative. I further expected the Republicans to say that Ruth Bader Ginsburg was confirmed 96-3 even though she didn't say how she would vote on cases, and that the same standard should apply to Alito.
But where are the fireworks? I thought this was going to be a knock-down, drag-out fight between left and right that broadcasts our worldviews to the whole country. If I was one of those people who donate a lot of money to the left, I'd be pretty upset, because the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee are just rolling over and dying. But really, what else can they do? They read the "questions" that were probably written by their staff, and Alito runs rings around them in his answer. I'm really beginning to think that those liberal senators just aren't as intellectually superior as they're made out to be (big surprise).
There's still the remote possibility, though, that the Dems could bring up a "bombshell" like they did with Clarence Thomas. For example, some senator could anonymously tell the press that in the 1960s, Alito murdered a prostitute in El Paso. Then the senators on the Judiciary Committee would express "deep concern" over this startling revelation, and the hearings would be drawn out for several more weeks, or the nomination could even be derailed altogether.
There's also the remote possibility of the threat of a filibuster taking place. I say it's only a threat, because senators don't filibuster anymore. All the Democrats have done over judicial nominees is threaten to filibuster, and that alone has been enough to keep judges from being taken to an up-or-down vote. If the Dems are saying that they're going to filibuster, then the Republicans should make a Democrat senator get up and read a phone book or something.
In the good old days, senators would get up and speak for hours on end. The Senate would come to a grinding halt as the senator would filibuster in order to delay the passage of a bill or amendment. Strom Thurmond would go to a sauna before filibustering so that he'd be drained of his bodily fluids and wouldn't have to use the bathroom as often. Because once you stop speaking and leave the podium, the filibuster is over. He even kept a jar in the lectern for when he eventually did have to relieve himself. He also set the record for the longest filibuster in Congress in 1957, when he spoke nonstop for a whopping 24 hours and 18 minutes.
That is how it's done. These Democrats today just flail their arms in the air and scream, "We're filibustering!" and then everyone drops the issue at hand and goes on to other business until they can gather enough votes to override the faux filibuster.
So if everything goes as planned, the committee will vote on January 17, and the full Senate will vote on January 20. But seriously, something needs to happen, because it's getting kind of boring. And if I think that something political is boring, then you know it really must be boring.
But where are the fireworks? I thought this was going to be a knock-down, drag-out fight between left and right that broadcasts our worldviews to the whole country. If I was one of those people who donate a lot of money to the left, I'd be pretty upset, because the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee are just rolling over and dying. But really, what else can they do? They read the "questions" that were probably written by their staff, and Alito runs rings around them in his answer. I'm really beginning to think that those liberal senators just aren't as intellectually superior as they're made out to be (big surprise).
There's still the remote possibility, though, that the Dems could bring up a "bombshell" like they did with Clarence Thomas. For example, some senator could anonymously tell the press that in the 1960s, Alito murdered a prostitute in El Paso. Then the senators on the Judiciary Committee would express "deep concern" over this startling revelation, and the hearings would be drawn out for several more weeks, or the nomination could even be derailed altogether.
There's also the remote possibility of the threat of a filibuster taking place. I say it's only a threat, because senators don't filibuster anymore. All the Democrats have done over judicial nominees is threaten to filibuster, and that alone has been enough to keep judges from being taken to an up-or-down vote. If the Dems are saying that they're going to filibuster, then the Republicans should make a Democrat senator get up and read a phone book or something.
In the good old days, senators would get up and speak for hours on end. The Senate would come to a grinding halt as the senator would filibuster in order to delay the passage of a bill or amendment. Strom Thurmond would go to a sauna before filibustering so that he'd be drained of his bodily fluids and wouldn't have to use the bathroom as often. Because once you stop speaking and leave the podium, the filibuster is over. He even kept a jar in the lectern for when he eventually did have to relieve himself. He also set the record for the longest filibuster in Congress in 1957, when he spoke nonstop for a whopping 24 hours and 18 minutes.
That is how it's done. These Democrats today just flail their arms in the air and scream, "We're filibustering!" and then everyone drops the issue at hand and goes on to other business until they can gather enough votes to override the faux filibuster.
So if everything goes as planned, the committee will vote on January 17, and the full Senate will vote on January 20. But seriously, something needs to happen, because it's getting kind of boring. And if I think that something political is boring, then you know it really must be boring.