Scotus #9
Today Samuel Alito was confirmed by the Senate 58-42 to replace Sandra Day O'Conner on the Supreme Court. I can't really think of much to say about the nomination. I think what's remarkable is that the Senate Democrats on the Judiciary Committee just rolled over and died. Their arguments for why Alito is unfit to be a justice seemed pretty halfhearted. Another halfhearted effort on the part of the Dems was when a large amount of them voted for cloture on Alito, therefore ending debate on the floor, then turned around and voted against him in the confirmation vote. So they voted for him before they voted against him. That didn't do anything except plainly showing that they're trying to straddle the fence and please two different groups of people.
Louisiana's own Mary Landrieu voted against Alito, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that that is just about the dumbest thing that she could've done. She's already in reelection trouble if that Brown University study is true when it says that 80% of evacuated blacks aren't planning on returning to New Orleans. The black Democrats in that city were singlehandedly responsible for her reelection in 2002. I think this was a big miscalculation on her part, but I welcome it, of course.
One thing about these past two nominations is that maybe now it will start to sink in with the Dems that the they are the minority party. Liberal advocacy groups can go all-out with their ad campaigns, but that doesn't change the fact that the Republicans have 55 senators. Barack Obama (D-IL) was right when he said that if the Dems want to get their people on the Supreme Court, then maybe they should try winning elections.
Louisiana's own Mary Landrieu voted against Alito, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that that is just about the dumbest thing that she could've done. She's already in reelection trouble if that Brown University study is true when it says that 80% of evacuated blacks aren't planning on returning to New Orleans. The black Democrats in that city were singlehandedly responsible for her reelection in 2002. I think this was a big miscalculation on her part, but I welcome it, of course.
One thing about these past two nominations is that maybe now it will start to sink in with the Dems that the they are the minority party. Liberal advocacy groups can go all-out with their ad campaigns, but that doesn't change the fact that the Republicans have 55 senators. Barack Obama (D-IL) was right when he said that if the Dems want to get their people on the Supreme Court, then maybe they should try winning elections.