MY WAY is reporting that the Democrats are trying to push back the confirmation hearings until 2006.
Senate Democrats pushed on Tuesday for a 2006 date for hearings on Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, challenging President Bush’s call for confirmation by year’s end.
“There’s no way you can do an honest hearing by the end of December, or a fair hearing,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
In a jab at the White House and the Senate Republican leadership, Leahy said he and the panel’s chairman, Sen. Arlen Specter could likely agree on a date for confirmation hearings if left to themselves.
Specter, R-Pa., was noncommittal on timing for hearings for Alito, a judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. “This is a swing vote on the Supreme Court…. I don’t know enough yet to say whether it’s realistic by the end of the year,” he said.
Alito has been involved in 1,500 or more cases during 15 years on the appeals court, and he has authored an estimated 300 rulings.
So if Alito is a swing vote on the SCOTUS, just what was Meirs classified as? It used to take less than a week to get the person confirmed. Now it takes months. Obstruction and stupidity combined!
This “Swing Vote” nonsense is getting old. The framers of the Constitution NEVER intended for it to be a political branch of government. It was put there to keep the other two branches in check, not go off willy nilly making proclamations about what social ill needs to be addressed this week. It isn’t supposed to be an us vs them entity. It’s supposed to be 9 learned individuals with a little common sense who are able to adjudicate fairly without risk of reprisal. I want one of these moronic Senators to show me in the Constitution WHERE it says that there is a “Swing Vote” seat to be occupied by a moderate. It doesn’t exist. The Republicans need to reach between their legs, find their little round furry ones, and hold the damn hearings already. If the Dems want to complain, let them. The man is imminently qualified. He was confirmed by a unanimous vote last time. It’s time to set the politics aside and get back to governing this country instead of playing BS games over who gets appointed to the Supreme Court.
If they try to pull the filibuster crap, the Republicans need to invoke the Constitutional option and bring out the indictments against the Dems who oppose it. There is plenty of evidence to indict Hillary for perjury and obstruction. Indict the Queen B$%^& and watch how quickly the rest of them get into line. Want to really light up the Senate? Bring Teddy up on charges for involuntary manslaughter. Not a jury in the world wouldn’t convict him for Mary Jo Kopechne’s death if the charges were ever brought. As a minimum, it would be vehicular Homicide and he’d be out of the Senate.
1- Good point. As I heard last night ,Howard Dean, the left wants a judge that fits more into the main stream judicial philosophies of today. Upon hearing that, I took it as an admission that many of the judges are left wing that legislate from the bench and disregard the COTUS.
The problem is that people are focusing on “the swing vote” instead of is this nominee qualified and competant. That is why Breyer and Ginsburg were confirmed. If we are going to take politics into account, neither of Clinton’s picks should have been confirmed.
All that is going on is that the Democrats think they are living in a “Death Race 2000″ world where it is Minority Rule.
The actual problem is that the left does not want a person to follow the COTUS. As Teddy, said “or will you bend a little”.
5, P, Uh, I think Teddy was referring to his dates when he said that.
More demacratic dirty work what else dose one expect from a bunch of rotten liberals like this:roll:
I have a story that this closed session ploy is just that. This is a ploy hatched back in 2003! It is time to punish the Democrats by voting them ALL out of office.
Link
Edited. Please use the ling button. highlight a word then hit link. paste the web address in the box and hit okay. hit close tags and then enter your comment
It is time for the Republicans to just move forward. If the Democrites won’t get out of the way, just crush them. It has gotten to the point where their obstructionism and incessant frivolous opposition to everything should not even be accorded the usual consideration.
Just roll over them. Crush them. Let the people see them for what they are: a lunatic group of twisted, hate-America scum that needs to be flushed down the toilet and started over as a party.
If the Democrats do filibuster Judge Alito’s nomination, I think I would have to support a rule change in the Senate. Hopefully the reasonable Democrats will prevail though.
10, just whom do you consider reasonable? Chuckie Schumer? Lyin’ Tom Harkin? Maria “I can’t pay my campaign consultants” Cantwell? “Wall Street” Corzine? Marc “Cut and Run” Dayton? “Indepencent” Jim Jeffords?
I would consider the following Democratic Senators reasonable on the issue of Supreme Court nominees:
Baucus (MT)
Bingaman (NM)
Byrd (WV)
Carper (DE)
Conrad (ND)
Dodd (CT)
Dorgan (ND)
Feingold (WI)
Johnson (SD)
Kohl (WI)
Landrieu (LA)
Leahy (VT)
Levin (MI)
Lieberman (CT)
Lincoln (AR)
Murray (WA)
Nelson (FL)
Nelson (NE)
Pryor (AR)
Rockefeller (WV)
Salazar (CO)
Wyden (OR)
And yes, for this issue I would consider Senator Jeffords to be reasonable.
Z, you been on the Crack Pipe too long. Carl Levin is a hyperpartisan who blackmailed this administration to get his judges seats on the Federal bench.
Robert “KKK” Byrd?? What are you thinking???
Leaky Pat Leahy? Again, you are dreaming if you think this nutjob is reasonable.
Patty Murray is a Whackjob in her own little world. The Comet Khoutek came closer to Earth than Murray has.
Dodd? Thay lying loser. He lead the charge condemning Lott for saying nice things about Ol’ Tangerine head, but then praises KKK Byrd’s Klan years.
Zelda, you sure know how to pick em.
You can scratch Landrieu, Leahy, “KKK” Byrd and Rockefeller from your list of “Reasonable” Democrats. Landrieu’s family is a legacy in the corrupt politics of Louisiana, Leahy and Rockefeller have both indicated that they will be difficult about this nomination, and Byrd is just going to be the obstructionist piece of crap that he’s been for years. It’s funny how these same Democrats voted unanimously to confirm him to the federal appelate bench 15 years ago but want to try and torpedo him now.
Over at RadioBlogger, a Fort Worth Star columnist just uttered the “Dean Scream” of Judge Alito’s nomination by saying judges picked by Bush are more comfortable in white robes than in black ones. Zelda, pass that poor a hit on your crack pipe. Robin Williams as Adrian Cronauer in “Good Morning, Vietnam!” summed up this columnist best. I’ll let all y’all recall that quote.
“Zelda, you sure know how to pick em.”
I know I do. Every one of them was reasonable enough to vote to confirm Chief Justice Roberts.
LEVIN
Now I know Zelda has been smoking too much! I can tell you he is anything but moderate.
17: DITTO! and Stabenow isn’t any better.:mad: