The Bush Administration and Judgment Under Uncertainty
One great thing about being a professor is the flexibility. Most weeks there are only about 15 hours when I have to be on campus doing something. Of course I'm always around more than that and, like most responsible profs, spend a preposterous amount of time working at home. But, anyway, I enjoy the flexibility. And that flexibility allows me to do things like watch lots more of the Alito hearings than about 99% of the electorate. Which I've been doing.
Thing is, I still haven't been able to watch enough of them to form anything like a trustworthy opinion about what's going on. I just can't tell. The Democrats, as usual, seem to be coming off pretty bad. Sometimes they seem to have only two modes, passive and shrill.
At any rate, I haven't yet heard Alito say anything that clearly rules him out. Five years ago that would have been good enough for me.
But not anymore. One thing we've learned the hard way is that we can't trust this administration or their agents and cohorts to be straight with us. The there-are-no-plans-to-invade-Iraq-on-my-desk incident put the exclamation point on that conclusion.
What we've learned, in brief, is that we have to expect that this administration is actively trying to trick us whenever that's to their advantage. What that means is that we can't give them the benefit of the doubt and, in particular, can't interpret their words in the way we'd interpret the words of those we can trust.
Therefore, Alito's "no one is above the law" response to questions about presidential power is not good enough, given the fact that this response is consistent with a preposterously expansive view of presidential power. Democrats--and Republicans--should insist that Alito say something specific about his views on the limitations of presidential power, and show him the door if those answers indicate that he'd support the imperial presidency.
If specific--and reasonable--answers are not given to such questions, I'll be opposed to Alito's confirmation.
Er, for what that's worth.
Which, for those of you keeping score, is exactly nothing.
One great thing about being a professor is the flexibility. Most weeks there are only about 15 hours when I have to be on campus doing something. Of course I'm always around more than that and, like most responsible profs, spend a preposterous amount of time working at home. But, anyway, I enjoy the flexibility. And that flexibility allows me to do things like watch lots more of the Alito hearings than about 99% of the electorate. Which I've been doing.
Thing is, I still haven't been able to watch enough of them to form anything like a trustworthy opinion about what's going on. I just can't tell. The Democrats, as usual, seem to be coming off pretty bad. Sometimes they seem to have only two modes, passive and shrill.
At any rate, I haven't yet heard Alito say anything that clearly rules him out. Five years ago that would have been good enough for me.
But not anymore. One thing we've learned the hard way is that we can't trust this administration or their agents and cohorts to be straight with us. The there-are-no-plans-to-invade-Iraq-on-my-desk incident put the exclamation point on that conclusion.
What we've learned, in brief, is that we have to expect that this administration is actively trying to trick us whenever that's to their advantage. What that means is that we can't give them the benefit of the doubt and, in particular, can't interpret their words in the way we'd interpret the words of those we can trust.
Therefore, Alito's "no one is above the law" response to questions about presidential power is not good enough, given the fact that this response is consistent with a preposterously expansive view of presidential power. Democrats--and Republicans--should insist that Alito say something specific about his views on the limitations of presidential power, and show him the door if those answers indicate that he'd support the imperial presidency.
If specific--and reasonable--answers are not given to such questions, I'll be opposed to Alito's confirmation.
Er, for what that's worth.
Which, for those of you keeping score, is exactly nothing.
posted by Winston Smith at
12:56 PM
4 Comments:
Me watching the hearings: "Okay I see Kennedy, I recognize his fat face...that is Spec.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Yeah, they're a bit uneven in terms of entertainment value...
Try getting stoned. It makes them fascinating.
Winston,
You are clearly underestimating the worth of your opposition to Alito's confirmation. You must get literally dozens of hits on this site everyday. If you influence just one person, who discusses the issue with one other person, which eventually results in someone sending an e-mail to a senator, then your opposition has enough impact to get above absolute zero on the scale of worth. To ten significant digits, however, your original estimation remains accurate.
Might it not be easier to cut out the middle-man and just call the Senator myself?
"Literally dozens"???
You underestimate me, sir...
It's literally scores...
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