The Non-Compliant Ones
Jan 25th, 2006 at 7:15 am by Susie
Tim Grieve in Salon:
You can make an argument that the president is entitled to some senatorial deference when it comes to Cabinet picks. The guy runs the executive branch, so maybe there’s a rebuttable presumption that he gets the people he wants to work for him there. But the judiciary isn’t part of the executive branch. It’s the independent third branch of government, and it’s hard to articulate a reason why the Senate must defer to the president’s judgment on how it should be staffed. So yes, Bush has nominated exactly the sort of nominee that Democrats probably expected. But that doesn’t mean that they’re bound — legally, morally or otherwise — to put such a nominee on the court.
To the contrary, most Democrats in the Senate have run for election and reelection by promising that they’d do what they could to prevent a president from packing the court with judges who will vote to overturn Roe. By voting against Alito — as almost all of them now seem likely to do — they’re keeping their campaign promises just as surely as Bush did when he nominated him. As Feinstein put it today, “If one is pro-choice in this day and age, in this structure, one can’t vote for Judge Alito. It is simply that simple.”
Senate Panel’s Vote Goes Alito’s Way…
Voting along straight party lines, the Senate Judiciary Committee sends Judge Samuel Alito’s Supreme…
I am glad my Senator, Bill Nelson will at least be sending the message, and not cast a yes vote. He stated today that Judge Alito’s record was clear in that he did not side with the average American, generally siding with government and corporate interests. Thank you Senator Nelson.
Off topic, but how ’bout a good old fashioned cup of SNARK for the middle-of-the-week blues: “50 Most Loathsome People in America, 2005″ - http://www.buffalobeast.com/91/50.htm