The first Justice confirmation sponsored by a major brewery
Anyone else scared about what is happening to what is arguably our most powerful branch of government? I may be coming late to this conversation, but I've been really angered by what I've been hearing over the last couple of days as debate over Samuel Alito continues on the Senate floor.
I've had issues with the way that the Court is being constructed for a while. The neo-conservatives have made no attempt to hide the fact that they are attempting to construct a court that will strike down Roe vs. Wade, which I take huge issue with. It's not because of Roe vs. Wade itself, because though I happen to think it should stand, I have a problem with constructing a branch of government solely to accomplish one thing. If they were trying to put together nine Justices to enact a law that required a chocolate fountain be installed in every home (oh, if only they would!), I would still take issue with it. But you know, that really isn't Alito's fault. This missive isn't really about him anyway. It's about the blitz that is surrounding him.
Some people are pushing for his confirmation because he will bring "balance" to a court that was "leaning to the left." Huh. Who's he replacing? Sandra Day O'Connor? That's funny. She's widely credited with being both a deciding vote and the one person on the Court whose vote you could never predict, meaning that you did have balance. You wouldn't be able to guarantee that the Court would always return a "left" or "right" decision, and if Alito is confirmed then that will definitely go away... Which gives you a right-leaning Court which is by definition not balanced. But one thing that Bush has never counted on was the critical thinking ability of the American public, so a shocking number of people will just swallow that statement and be done with it.
Bush also urged for his nomination because Alito is "a decent man." He makes no mention of his qualifications (which I am not contesting) while urging people to put the rubber stamp of approval on his golden boy. Hey, y'know what? My dad is a decent man. Does that mean that he should be confirmed as a member of the Supreme Court? That's a pretty piss-poor basis for urging a favorable vote.
Some people say that they like Bush because he's someone they could sit down and have a beer with. Well, if he's trying to push the decent, hard working, every day man image forward while sweeping his qualifications under the rug, well, why not portray the beer drinking image for the Judge too? I can see it now:
"Tell your senator to vote for Sammy!"
"Have a Sam Adams with Judge Sam!"
"Judge Sam: He's a helluva laid-back kinda guy."
I mean, really. The dude looks like he has no personality, you can really dress him up and sell him however you want. And surely I'm not the only one that thinks that Alito looks like Bill Gates! Oodles of fun could be had with that!
It's sad and scary that the people who run this country seem to feel the need to portray themselves this way these days.
But what I would really like to change? I just wish that someone getting appointed to the highest court in the land for the rest of his natural life needed more than a simple majority to be confirmed.
I've had issues with the way that the Court is being constructed for a while. The neo-conservatives have made no attempt to hide the fact that they are attempting to construct a court that will strike down Roe vs. Wade, which I take huge issue with. It's not because of Roe vs. Wade itself, because though I happen to think it should stand, I have a problem with constructing a branch of government solely to accomplish one thing. If they were trying to put together nine Justices to enact a law that required a chocolate fountain be installed in every home (oh, if only they would!), I would still take issue with it. But you know, that really isn't Alito's fault. This missive isn't really about him anyway. It's about the blitz that is surrounding him.
Some people are pushing for his confirmation because he will bring "balance" to a court that was "leaning to the left." Huh. Who's he replacing? Sandra Day O'Connor? That's funny. She's widely credited with being both a deciding vote and the one person on the Court whose vote you could never predict, meaning that you did have balance. You wouldn't be able to guarantee that the Court would always return a "left" or "right" decision, and if Alito is confirmed then that will definitely go away... Which gives you a right-leaning Court which is by definition not balanced. But one thing that Bush has never counted on was the critical thinking ability of the American public, so a shocking number of people will just swallow that statement and be done with it.
Bush also urged for his nomination because Alito is "a decent man." He makes no mention of his qualifications (which I am not contesting) while urging people to put the rubber stamp of approval on his golden boy. Hey, y'know what? My dad is a decent man. Does that mean that he should be confirmed as a member of the Supreme Court? That's a pretty piss-poor basis for urging a favorable vote.
Some people say that they like Bush because he's someone they could sit down and have a beer with. Well, if he's trying to push the decent, hard working, every day man image forward while sweeping his qualifications under the rug, well, why not portray the beer drinking image for the Judge too? I can see it now:
"Tell your senator to vote for Sammy!"
"Have a Sam Adams with Judge Sam!"
"Judge Sam: He's a helluva laid-back kinda guy."
I mean, really. The dude looks like he has no personality, you can really dress him up and sell him however you want. And surely I'm not the only one that thinks that Alito looks like Bill Gates! Oodles of fun could be had with that!
It's sad and scary that the people who run this country seem to feel the need to portray themselves this way these days.
But what I would really like to change? I just wish that someone getting appointed to the highest court in the land for the rest of his natural life needed more than a simple majority to be confirmed.