In 1990, the U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed Samuel Alito to serve on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.I support Alito, but I am disgusted by this kind of argument in favor of him. Alito is a judge, not a political candidate. This is very similar to the way the White House presented Harriet Miers, as a social conservative who would vote for outcomes that would please social conservatives. The Alito nomination corrected the mistake that was made with Miers. He's a well-qualified, experienced judge who appears to have a sound judicial temperament. Don't try to help him by making it sound as though he's not.
Today, liberal groups led by People for the American Way oppose Judge Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court. Their agenda is clear.
They want to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance and are fighting to redefine traditional marriage. They support partial birth abortion, sanction the burning of the American flag, and even oppose pornography filters on public library computers.
Do these groups represent you? If not, call your Senators. Tell them to support Judge Alito.
November 17, 2005
What a horrendous pro-Alito ad!
From the Committee For Justice. View it at this link for the full effect with cheesy visuals and cornball patriotic trumpet music. Here's the text:
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16 comments:
Many of the so-called People for the American Way are Hollywood types, like Alec Baldwin, who don't even live in Springfield.
Sorry for the Simpsons reference, but I couldn't think of anything the Three Stooges had to say on the matter of third party advocacy ads.
Dumb me, wanting him to be rated and voted on for his 15 years on the bench, with no casting of yarrow stalks and reading of tea leaves in the process. We get a White House counselor who has been scurrying around behind closed doors much of her life with no bench time, then we get a seasoned veteran like Alito and it's the same political bullshit. I grow weary of it.
What we keep discovering to our chagrin is the W crew seems all too willing to make disrespectful self-demeaning arguments for issues that would actually benefit from a thorough and respectful approach.
Pooka, are you claiming that judicial nominations were always partisan donnybrooks with intellectually dishonest campaign commercials being run on both sides? That is surely untrue.
I cringed when I saw the ad.
That said, the ad will play very well here in rural New Mexico. I absolutely HATE it when a party, either party, pushes the hot buttons. But, as others have said, I guess I'd better get used to it.
I hope that none of you think I had anything to do with the ad myself.
I'm mainly mad that these guys used the old picture of me in which it looks like I have less hair.
Sam
http://samuelalito.blogspot.com
Sean:
That's exactly what I'm saying.
Browse here for a sampler from 70 or so years ago.
But that's FDR -- whom the Establishment reviled.
He wasn't the first populist president (Hello Andrew Jackson), but he was surely the most politically divisive man to hold office in the US, in his first two terms. Yes, even counting Nixon, Reagan, and Bush2 (note how all of these men are Republicans, whereas FDR was a Democrat).
The link correctly shows that he wanted to up the Supreme Court by 6 members, as well as piling on the Lower Courts with his judge-appointees, the better to allow his New Deal programmes to pass.
That caused (rightly) an absolute furore when announced.
Tangential anecdote: When I was in training to be a Clerk of a Polling Precinct for the Nov. '04 elections, the lady next to me, a retired federal court judge, was going on and on about how she was doing this to safeguard the elections process, since she thought the President and the Repubs would try to "stuff" the, erm, computer boxes...when I brought up the FDR episode of trying to "stuff" the SCOTUS by appointing 6 new justices, she STFU.
People, all people, have short memories when it comes to how politicised events were, when "your guy" was in power.
Cheers,
Victoria
http://samuelalito.blogspot.com
Darling, it was funny for Harriet and Benedict. Maybe.
But after a while, you begin to wonder out loud about people who do this:
They're either 16 years old, who have lots of time on their hands, or they're a 45 year-old man with no life.
Let's hope for your sake you're Option A.
Cheers,
Victoria
You're surprised? This is to sort of tactic that has become standard form in the war over "activist judges." This ad is thoroughly disgusting, but hardly unexpected, or even the worst of it.
In Harriet Miers, far-right conservatives weere disappointed because they wanted a reliable activist. (Of course, there were principled people on all sides who legitimately saw that Miers was just a bad choice). In Alito, the right has their golden pick now, and they wil fight for him, to the death it seems.
It's funny I thought what conservatives wanted was an up or down vote? Oh yeah unless they decide a candidate doesn't deserve one and as long as it isn't Democrats doing it. I get it now.
Alito is a judge, not a political candidate
If you want the public to "engage their senators on the issue" you need to "sell him" like a side of beef -- just like a politician.
I think the "pitch" is too premature though.
As to Miers, our esteemed hostess ultimately came out against her, and I don't think that even the rabid moonbats on the extreme left consider Ann an arch conservative. The moonbats on the right surely don't think so either, given the sexist things said about her on LGF.
The problem is that Congress has delegated it's legislative authority to the Executive and Judicial branches of government.
The fight over appointments allows them to be brave by proxy. It gives the appearance of decisive action, but removes them from the consequences of voter displeasure.
I'm just joining the conversation about the new CFJ television ad, but I think it's extremely effective at reframing the left's claim that Alito is "out of the mainstream." By reminding the public what Alito's critics mean when they say "mainstream" -- removing God from the Pledge of Allegiance, redefining marriage, protecting partial birth abortion at every stage of pregnancy, and ensuring pornography access on public library computers used by children, CFJ inoculates viewers from the ridiculous complaints about Alito being unacceptable.
[cross posted at the Committee for Justice blog]
Brylin: Of course I'm disgusted by the attacks on Alito. I've been critical of those too. I'm critical of them in this post when I say don't stoop to that level!
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