January 31, 2006
THE DEMOCRATS' HIGH-TECH AUTOEROTIC ASPHYXIATION:
Two Nominee Strategies. One Worked. (DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK, 1/31/06, NY Times)
The week before his Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. e-mailed the text of his opening statement to the White House. It included very little about his legal thinking, dwelled at length on his family and opened with a tired and rambling joke about courtroom banter between a lawyer and a judge.The response from the White House: "Perfect, don't change a word," according to an administration official who was granted anonymity because Judge Alito's preparation sessions were confidential.
As the last obstacles to confirmation faded away Monday, Democratic aides said their party had initially expected Judge Alito to live up to his reputation as "Scalito," suggesting a conservative firebrand in the mold of Justice Antonin Scalia. Failing to adjust to his meekness, Democratic aides admit they searched too hard for scandal in Judge Alito's past.
The White House, meanwhile, sought to take advantage of Judge Alito's low-key, almost shy demeanor to build sympathy for him. They say they succeeded beyond all expectations when Judge Alito's wife, Martha-Ann, walked out in tears from his confirmation hearings.
"Any time they are yelling, preaching, lecturing, and you are cool and calm and breathing deep, you are winning," the administration official said the White House team told Judge Alito. "What that means on television sets where the American people are watching this is, you look good and they look bad. It was the central operating premise."
How is it going to look when Democrats act just as psychotic with Janice Rogers Brown, Viet Dinh, and Emilio Garza sitting one by one in front of them?
MORE:
Alito sworn in as member of Supreme Court (Reuters, 1/31/06)
Samuel Alito was sworn in as a U.S. Supreme Court justice on Tuesday after a divided Senate confirmed him as a second conservative appointed by President George W. Bush in his effort to move the high court to the right.Posted by Orrin Judd at January 31, 2006 2:18 PMChief Justice John Roberts, Bush's first Supreme Court nominee, administered the constitutional and judicial oaths in a private ceremony at the court, a spokeswoman said.
Viet Dinh, now you're talking.
Posted by: Pepys at January 31, 2006 2:26 PMBush won't nominate Brown--she's too libertarian. McCain very well might, especially if he gets an open spot right after his 45+ state victory...
Posted by: b at January 31, 2006 3:02 PMOne thing that really reared its ugly head was the fact that the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee are not that intelligent. That helps immensely.
I am absolutely overjoyed that Roberts and Alito made it; however, I am really disappointed that those sob Democrats voted against either nominee. When nominees as intelligent, humble and qualified as Alito or Roberts fail to get 95 votes like Breyer and Ginsburg, then something is terribly wrong with the system.
Posted by: pchuck at January 31, 2006 3:59 PMThe most fascinating part of the article:
"Judge Alito's political naïveté led to at least one early miscue. Unaccustomed to attention from the news media, Judge Alito looked surprised when White House aides advised him to dispatch a relative to guard his 90-year-old mother from inquiring journalists, one administration official said."
"The next day, The Associated Press quoted his mother saying, "Of course, he is against abortion," — the first chink in his supporters' portrait of him as an impartial jurist with no preconceived views. Judge Alito shyly acknowledged that he had not managed to get a relative to her door, the administration official said."
This is what it has come to: the press immediately lunging for a nominee's elderly relatives in an effort to find an "incriminating" quote.
Gee, I wonder if they press does the same for liberal judges?
Posted by: Pat Phillips at January 31, 2006 4:09 PMA circular firing squad replete with jerks. Yes, indeedee.
Posted by: ghostcat at January 31, 2006 4:26 PMPerhaps the Senators will hone their technique and burnish their reputations at the soon to be held hearings on NSA's anti-terror operations.
Posted by: Luciferous at January 31, 2006 5:11 PMa divided Senate confirmed him as a second conservative appointed by President George W. Bush in his effort to move the high court to the right.
Before editing, this sentance read:
a divided Senate dominated by hard-right conservatives confirmed Scalito as a second extreme right-wing conservative appointed by President George W. Bush, the most extreme conservative ever to hold public office in the United States, in his effort to move the high court to the right-wing extremist positions his extreme conservative base insists upon from their ultra-conservative, right-wing Republican office holders.
Posted by: David Cohen at January 31, 2006 6:21 PMWhat the article reveals is the liberal belief that their problems stem from their "strategies" (i.e. tactics). They have yet to figure out that it is their substance that is their problem. Other than changing their wicked ways, there is nothing that they can do to improve their standing with the American people.
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at January 31, 2006 11:04 PM