To Filibuster or Not to Filibuster?
January 30, 2006
Today is the day when a filibuster will either happen or not. And I still have major reservations about it. It’s most likely going to be ineffective - Alito will still be confirmed - and will probably result in a lot of ugliness in Congress. And it will be used as a campaign tactic in November and in 2008.
But then there’s the real need for progressives to stand up for what we believe. For too long, we’ve allowed conservatives to frame the debate - “values voters,” “tax relief,” and “up or down vote,” are all good examples. If progressives are going to filibuster Alito - we need to give the American people a good reason, one that will stick in an election. We can’t just go tilting at windmills if we don’t have a good political framework in place to explain to the American people why we’re doing so.
And that’s ultimately why I think that a filibuster is ill-advised. Because we don’t have the framework in place to explain it to the people, and the other side does. So our actions will be explained in their terms, and it will make the ensuing “nuclear option” look like our fault. It will also make John Kerry look like the ill-informed pompous ass that he is and that’s bad if he somehow gets the nomination once again in 2008.
I still say we should admit defeat and refocus. But I’ll support my Senators if their consciences dictate that a filibuster is necessary.
UPDATE 2:16pm PST - Ill-advised or not, it looks like Alito has enough support to override a filibuster if one should take place. I’m not happy about this nominee to be sure, but I hope that these numbers will at least convince the Democrats still in the filibuster camp that it’s not worth the political sacrifice.
UPDATE 4:01pm PST The fight is over. Alito will be confirmed tomorrow. Here is a list of Senators and how they voted. From Washington, Senator Cantwell voted to end debate while Senator Murray supported the filibuster. Hmm….
UPDATE 4:05pm PST Incidentally, I have called both of my Senators to encourage them to oppose Judge Alito’s confirmation to the high court. I encourage all of you to do the same. You can find your Senator’s contact information here.
True to Form, John Kerry Picks Worst Possible Moment to Act Like a Visionary
January 27, 2006
Have you ever heard of a politician whose timing and instincts were so clearly off about everything as John Kerry, who today announced that he and Senator Kennedy would attempt to mount a filibuster against all-but-confirmed SCOTUS nominee Sam Alito.
I’ll admit that I get a little flutter in my heart every time someone says “defeat” and “Alito” in the same sentence. It would be so brilliant if we could get together the votes to keep that guy off the Supreme Court. But the fact is, he’s qualified and ideology is not a justification for a filibuster.
The filibuster idea is getting a cool response on Capitol Hill and I called my Senators to urge them to vote against his confirmation, but not to filibuster. This is a battle we have lost.
The Right to Choose: The Barn Door has Closed
January 24, 2006
Predictably, CNN predicts “smooth sailing” for Alito past the judiciary committee. Despite all his talk about the right to privacy, committee chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) will vote to recommend the nominee to the floor.
The Democrats are still trying to fight this nomination. And I do genuinely feel a little flutter of hope in my heart every time someone says something like “we may have enough votes for a filibuster.” But while it’s hard to admit, it’s pretty much a given that Alito is going to get through. Like I say, we lost this battle in 2004 when young people didn’t turn out in any kind of significant numbers to protect our rights, and now we’re going to pay the price.
I read a great Op Ed by William Saletan in the Sunday New York Times about how everyone on all sides of this debate can support the idea of fewer abortions.
We in the pro-choice movement need to take our eyes off the Supreme Court and start reframing the message about why we support a woman’s right to choose from “it’s a privacy thing” to “the government should give women every opportunity to prevent unwanted pregnancies via free unfettered access to birth control, and trust that they’re going to make good decisions.”
That’s going to save more babies than overturning Roe ever will. Too bad we’ve been getting it wrong all these years.
Alito is Dangerous, but There’s Little We Can Do
January 10, 2006
When Harriet Miers was nominated, I thought that with enough phone calls to our Senators and enough organization, progressives could defeat her nomination. I was wrong.
The only people who could defeat Miers’ nomination were Bush’s base. And you have to admire them. They didn’t work this hard and long to rile up the anti-choice and anti-gay zealots only to have an unqualified “cleaning lady” - as Ann Coulter so aptly put it - seated on the Supreme Court of the United States. They stood up for the judicial legacy of their movement, and they succeeded. And Sam Alito, unfortunately, is that legacy.
The conservative zealots won the 2004 election when they sent W. to a second term and retained their majority in both houses of Congress. They chose the ideology of the president who would turn around and choose the ideology of the next two Supreme Court justices. Miers was defeated because she was unqualified, not because of her ideology. And if Democrats try to defeat Sam Alito - who is clearly qualified - on the grounds of ideology, then they are overstepping their role to “advise and consent.”
It doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t raise the issues of a woman’s right to choose, gay rights, and the overexpansion of presidential power. Those issues are critical, and should play a front-and-center role in Alito’s confirmation hearings. But there isn’t much we can do to actually thwart them - unless some sort of impropriety rises Anita Hill-like from Alito’s past.
Like it or not, Sam Alito will almost certainly replace Sandra Day O’Connor. He’ll probably do a lot of damage in his years on the court. But that’s the battle that Bush’s base has won. Backlash succeeded. Game over.
We’ve got to refocus our attention to the battles we can win, like the 2006 Congressional midterm. The American people are fed up with the corruption on Capitol Hill, and with hard work and good reframing of the issues - we can take back Congress. And with the right nominee - not Hillary Clinton, unfortunately - we can take back the White House in 2008.
With hard work and enough organization, we can make sure that the next time there’s a vacancy on the high court, a progressive will be sitting in the White House, ready to choose a justice whose philosophy reflects the values of the true American majority.
Another Example of Bush Administration’s Arrogance
November 17, 2005
Remember that week a while back when Miers withdrew on Thursday and Libby was indicted by Friday? Then on Monday morning Bush nominated Alito.
That was what we psychology types like to call deflection. It was a “look over here” defense mechanism that this administration arrogantly believed would press a “reset” button on all the national anger and legislative backlash over their foibles and failings. It’s just one more example of the irresponsible, arrogant, inflated bullshit that goes on in this White House. They actually believed that they could change the subject and go back to 70% approval ratings.
No, Mr. President, it’s more complicated than that. This national anger has been a long time coming, and it’s not going away. You’re going to have to deal with criticism and questioning, and calling it irresponsible isn’t going to make it go away. You’re the irresponsible one. It’s time you accepted some accountability for your decisions in office.
Alito’s Alma Mater Doesn’t Want Him on the Supreme Court
November 13, 2005
Yale Law School has a history of sending controversial nominees to the Supreme Court. Among Samuel Alito’s predecessors in the hot seat are failed Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork and now associate justice Clarence Thomas.
According to this New York Times Thomas, who was confirmed by a vote of only 52 to 48 in the full Senate, severed ties with his Alma Mater after its students vociferously opposed his nomination. Bork has a similarly frosty relationship with the school - whose leanings are decidedly progressive.
According to the Times:
The mood [at Yale Law] appeared to be cautiously hostile. A few students who supported Judge Alito tended to make strategic or structural arguments. Some said, for example, that ideology alone should not derail a candidate who was otherwise qualified.
But the dominant view, based on a day of interviews at the law school, appeared to be that Judge Alito’s jurisprudence represented a betrayal of the law school’s liberal values.
What does it tell us that students at his own law school - a school whose students have previously rallied in opposition to two highly problematic nominees - oppose Alito’s nomination?
It may not be enough to hold up in the Senate Judiciary hearings, but it’s one more reason why we should be working to defeat Sam Alito’s nomination to the Supreme Court
The Scariest Thing this Halloween: Coathanger Abortions
October 31, 2005
If ideology is the only reason that Democrats use the filibuster to block Sam Alito’s nomination, it will be an attempt to overturn an election. And it will ultimately fail.
The sad truth is that the American people voted George W. Bush in for a second term. It was an incredibly slim margin, but he’s in nonetheless. And he has the right to nominate Supreme Court justices who share his ideology.
But we may yet snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. As reported in The New York Times and on NPR, we can hold out slim hope that a few moderate Republicans who support abortion rights will do the right thing and break with their party over the Alito nomination. These senators can swing the inevitable vote on the Senate floor. And we must do all we can to make sure that they do.
Probable Nay Votes:
Other Possible Nay Votes:
We must also pay attention to those Democrats whose credentials on abortion rights are less than stellar. Swinging Republican votes matters little when we lack unity within our own party.
Potential Problem Democrats:
If you’re registered to vote in any of the above states, please make sure to mention that you’re a constituent when you call. And for those of you registered elsewhere - send friendly messages of support. Let them know that the future of a woman’s right to choose is in their hands - and that you’re watching.
It’s Alito
October 31, 2005
President Bush is set to announce Samuel Alito Jr. as his nominee for the O’Connor vacancy at 8am EST today say news sources.
Alito is a conservative, anti-abortion judge who has (fairly or otherwise) earned the nickname “Scalito” - for his Scalia-like conservatism. According to White House officials quoted here, “Bush believes that Alito has not only the right experience and conservative ideology for the job, but he also has a temperament suited to building consensus on the court. A former prosecutor, Alito has experience off the bench that factored into Bush’s thinking.”
His judicial record on abortion is most prominently represented by his dissenting opinion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals - saying that the constitution required a married woman to notify her husband before having an abortion.
I’m not too happy about this…
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