Filibuster Alito
Looks like Alito is on his way to confirmation. Because of his views on executive power, and because of his refusal to give straight answers about important issues, I'm currently inclined to think that the Dems should filibuster. I didn't keep up well enough with his answers about abortion to have anything like a well-informed opinion on that issue.
I write the above not because I think my decidedly non-expert opinion on this should matter to anyone, but, rather, just to go on the record in case I turn out to be wrong about this and Alito turns out to be reasonable.
Oh, and for the same reason I say anything else around here--because it beats just yelling it at the tv.
Filibustering probably won't work, but the right has practically siezed control of the judiciary over the past 12+ years, and this could be the last straw. As you may recall, Republicans refused to fill many judicial positions under Clinton, arguing that there were too many federal judges and hence no need to fill many of the vacant positions.. Then when Bush took office, they suddenly decided that the positions needed to be filled after all. That bunch, they do love them some double standards...
(And don't, incidentally, forget about the Federalist Society--a conservative good-old-boy network in law schools that channels conservatives into judgeships.)
I have nothing against a reasonable number of reasonably conservative judges, and even have some inclination to be sympathetic to original intent arguments. But given that Bush is currently trying to grab inordinate power for the executive, and given the fact that SCOTUS seems in danger of leaning far, far to the right with this appointment, I hope the Dems will at least force the Republicans to exercise the nuclear option.
Unfortunately, I expect a filibuster to backfire, since most Americans don't know anything about Alito beyond the fact that his wife cried during the hearings. But, then, I expect the Democrats to lose basically every political battle. They've got nothing in their arsenal that can effectively combat flag-waving, Bible-thumping, and fear-mongering. So if you're going to lose anyway, you might as well lose doing the right thing.
[Note: I think you should do the right thing without much consideration of whether you'll win or lose; but I don't think the Dems think that.]
Looks like Alito is on his way to confirmation. Because of his views on executive power, and because of his refusal to give straight answers about important issues, I'm currently inclined to think that the Dems should filibuster. I didn't keep up well enough with his answers about abortion to have anything like a well-informed opinion on that issue.
I write the above not because I think my decidedly non-expert opinion on this should matter to anyone, but, rather, just to go on the record in case I turn out to be wrong about this and Alito turns out to be reasonable.
Oh, and for the same reason I say anything else around here--because it beats just yelling it at the tv.
Filibustering probably won't work, but the right has practically siezed control of the judiciary over the past 12+ years, and this could be the last straw. As you may recall, Republicans refused to fill many judicial positions under Clinton, arguing that there were too many federal judges and hence no need to fill many of the vacant positions.. Then when Bush took office, they suddenly decided that the positions needed to be filled after all. That bunch, they do love them some double standards...
(And don't, incidentally, forget about the Federalist Society--a conservative good-old-boy network in law schools that channels conservatives into judgeships.)
I have nothing against a reasonable number of reasonably conservative judges, and even have some inclination to be sympathetic to original intent arguments. But given that Bush is currently trying to grab inordinate power for the executive, and given the fact that SCOTUS seems in danger of leaning far, far to the right with this appointment, I hope the Dems will at least force the Republicans to exercise the nuclear option.
Unfortunately, I expect a filibuster to backfire, since most Americans don't know anything about Alito beyond the fact that his wife cried during the hearings. But, then, I expect the Democrats to lose basically every political battle. They've got nothing in their arsenal that can effectively combat flag-waving, Bible-thumping, and fear-mongering. So if you're going to lose anyway, you might as well lose doing the right thing.
[Note: I think you should do the right thing without much consideration of whether you'll win or lose; but I don't think the Dems think that.]
posted by Winston Smith at
12:41 PM
4 Comments:
it is when you are guaranteed to lose that doing the right thing is most important.
Winston, I think that your suggestion that the Democrats filibuster on this is bad advice. Sure, they are guaranteed to lose in the sense that Alito will definitely be confirmed, even with a filibuster. But there is losing, and then there is losing big. Using the filibuster now would endanger the tool itself, if the Republicans can use filibustering as an excuse to change the closure rule. If I thought that the electorate would find that outragous, then maybe even such a vast change in the character of the Senate would be worth it. But no. History shows that whenever the Congress refuses to vote something through as a way of taking on the President, the people most always see the Congress as at fault. Remember the government closures over the budget? A resounding victory in public opinion for Clinton. (Mind you, that was the weekend he got the non-sex from Monica, so in the long term it wasn't worth giving Bill the free time.) People with only half an eye on the situation - most everyone - judge preventing something from being done much more harshly than doing something, ceterubus paribus. This is one reason, above having an enormously compliant Congress, that Bush never uses the veto. Obstruction just looks bad as such. So not only could Democrats risk losing one of the only tools available to put the brakes on an already Comintern-like Senate, they could be easily portrayed as bullying while doing it. The Democrats do their principles no good by committing tactical blunders.
Best case scenario on Alito at this point, and it ain't that good: Foot drag the confirmation at least long enough to keep W from being able to trot Alito out at the State of the Union, and then let the vote go through on the enivitable party line split. The nomination is then usable in the compaign, especially if Alito can write a nutty dessent or two before November. The Dems can then use what little pull they have to get the hearings rolling on Abramov and the wiretapping. Best to start early on that.
There is a strong argument to be made here that we are on the verge of, if not already experiencing, a constitutional crisis with regard to the separation of powers and checks and balances.
Will Alito be the straw that breaks the camel's back? We can't be sure; but at some point just governance will have to outweigh politics. Or else we are lost.
A filibuster by the Dems might fail, possibly blasted away by the nuclear option, but it is necessary to show my party to be willing to stand and fight against the Bushist radicals who now would like to eliminate checks and balances as a feature of our polity.
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