Laura Bush Comforts Mrs. Alito
“We here in the United States are not going to stand for monarchial tyranny,†— Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), hosting a morning roundtable with reporters.
In a very classy, dignified move, First Lady Laura Bush called Samuel Alito’s wife to comfort her after Ted Kennedy and Senate Democrats bullied her husband on ethics charges.
Here’s what Mrs. Bush told CNN:
“I called Martha Alito yesterday to tell her to hang in there,” Mrs. Bush told CNN International. “I do think it’s really important in the United States for people like Judge Alito to be treated with respect,” she explained. “I think personal attacks are what people don’t like and what are really unwarranted.”
The reality is that Senate Democrats focused most of their ‘testimony’ berating soon-to-be Justice Alito about his limited involvement in Concerned Alumni of Princeton. As I’ve said before, it’s insulting to think that Ted Kennedy is lecturing anyone about ethics and character.
As much as anything, what we saw this week was a contrast between Republican composure and dignity and the Democrats’ bitterness and pettiness. What we saw was a Democratic Party that tried sliming Judge Alito, not for something that he did, but because he belonged to Concerned Alumni of Princeton group, which ran a supposedly controversial article that said:
People nowadays just don’t seem to know their place. Everywhere one turns blacks and hispanics are demanding jobs simply because they’re black and hispanic…
Dinesh D’Souza, who worked for CAP from 1983 to 1985, told ABC News “I think left-wing groups have been feeding Senator Kennedy snippets and he has been mindlessly reciting them,” D’Souza said. “It was a satire.”
But that didn’t matter to Ted Kennedy, whose only concern was to slime Alito with fact or fiction. Kennedy didn’t care a bit about how much it hurt Martha Alito to hear this trash about her husband.
Thanks to Laura Bush’s call to Martha Alito and Lindsey Graham’s speaking out against the Democrats’ trashing of Sam Alito, things will hopefully get back to normal for the Alitos.
UPDATE:
Right Side Redux sings, “The winner takes it all…”
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRing
January 14th, 2006 at 2:52 pm
The good news: once he is confirmed, neither he nor hs family will ever have to put up with that again.
January 14th, 2006 at 3:47 pm
Democrats pick their battles carefully
Not since the Senate rejected Robert Bork in 1987 has a nominee for the Supreme Court come to confir
January 14th, 2006 at 6:25 pm
And man, if there’s any woman alive who knows what it’s like to hear her husband constantly and unfairly trashed by rabid lefties who’ve left reality far behind…it’s Laura Bush.
January 15th, 2006 at 2:34 pm
Correct me if Im wrong. ( Im Irish so the hearings aren’t exactly news over here.) wasn’t it not a republican who asked the question that set her off.
January 15th, 2006 at 5:43 pm
Yes, it was but Sen. Lindsey Graham was apologizing for the obvious smear campaign that Democrats waged during 18 hrs. of testimony.
Was it right to inquire about? Yes. Was it right to repeatedly return to that line of questioning again & again & again? No because it was obvious that they wanted this to be that night’s story. They wanted it put into the media that Alito was against full women’s & minorities rights, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
It’s worth noting that Graham said that he saw the anguish on Mrs. Alito’s face numerous times when Democrats went back to that line of questioning.
I hope that explanation helps.
January 15th, 2006 at 5:45 pm
Yes, it was a Republican…reading things that had been said by Democrats in the “hearings”!
The zoo this has turned into turns sane peoples’ stomachs. The only consolation for the moonbats’ attacks on Roberts and Alito is that when another Breyer or Ginzburg is nominated by a leftist Prez, the Republicans can choose to take the high road and offer advices and consent, or they can be justified in raising whatever issues they want to roil up their constituencies for political gain, and all they have to do is point back to these “hearings”.
As sidenotes, I wonder if Schumer and the rest of the Democrats ever get tired of hearing themselves make senseless noise, or if Tubby Teddy even feels a twinge of guilt for bringing up things that happened twenty-five or more years ago?
January 15th, 2006 at 6:39 pm
Mrs. Bush is right. The far left should not personally attack Judge Alito. The Democrats took things too far. Attacking someone just because you have an agenda is completely wrong.
January 15th, 2006 at 6:55 pm
I wonder if…Tubby Teddy even feels a twinge of guilt for bringing up things that happened twenty-five or more years ago?
Teddy feeling guilt? I’ve got a great imagination but it won’t stretch that far.
January 16th, 2006 at 7:59 am
Good point, gmg425. It was actually more of a rhetorical question, but thinking about it, if the MA senator had a conscience at all he probably would have ended his miserable life years ago, what with getting thrown out of Hawvud, the swimming incident, the theft of public funds, the campaign lies, the continuing enslavement of people of color, etc., etc., etc., …
January 16th, 2006 at 7:57 pm
Yes Carlos, but then a conscience would constitute good ‘ole Ted Kennedy with having ethical considerations, which seem to have been left of the DNA of the Kennedy blood. However, his rantings have obviously done more good than bad, and there is never a better time than on live national TV to show your true colors like he did. Alito showed what he was made of as he sat by calm, cool, and collected, exemplifying his temperment and qualifications and a judicious and thoughtful nominee. I dont think we could ask for more in a Supreme Court Justice.
January 17th, 2006 at 7:31 am
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January 17th, 2006 at 9:09 am
Thank you, Mrs. Bush. I’m sure Mrs. Alito appreciated the empathy from a woman who clearly knows what she is going through. Although, I’m sure it is more intense to sit before a committee and have the lies and insults thrown in your face. Judge Alito could not have handled the situation any better than he did. He gave a stellar performance and should be commended on his willingness to answer the questions.
January 17th, 2006 at 1:19 pm
The attack on Judge Alito and the obvious upsetting of Mrs. Alito was a front page story the day after it happened - not the success of Democrats in the nominating committee discrediting Alito. This obviously made their rants and accusations against Judge Alito appear ridiculous and only served to make him look better in the eyes of Americans watching it take place. Even Sen. Feinstein stated on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that she was impressed with his ability to maintain a very even demenaor. I agree and my heart goes out to his family who endured the hearings with him.
January 17th, 2006 at 7:45 pm
The incident with Mrs. Alito only helped to literally illustrate the quality of character that Judge Alito possesses. While the hearings were taking their toll on his family, Judge Alito was able to maintain the extreme poise that the American people expect from a Supreme Court Justice.
January 18th, 2006 at 5:10 am
Alito really did stand above the partisan bickering in the hearings, which is only the more reason to confirm him. His performance to me shows how he can ignore the politics behind the question and just give a completely honest legal interpretation.
January 18th, 2006 at 4:23 pm
I agree Andreww, Alito’s stellar performance throughout the hearings was classy, thoughtful, and judicious. Bush definitely made the right choice on this guy.I think Alito is going to prove to Democrats and Republicans alike that he is above political bickering and is fully prepared to abide strictly by the Constitution.
January 19th, 2006 at 4:15 am
Alito is going to be on the Court for the next 30 years. He will long outlive the liberals on the court and many of the Senators that are going to vote against him. He has no reason to sink to their level and fight back. Whether Alito realizes it at not, but just being on the court is punishment enough for the Senators poor performance in the hearings.
January 19th, 2006 at 6:37 pm
Great point, his impact on our country will surely stretch way beyond anything any of them have or will ever do as well.
January 22nd, 2006 at 2:26 pm
Ted Kennedy’s song and dance set a new low, even for him. He wasn’t there for CAP, he wasn’t there for the eviction case, he wasn’t there for the Vanguard case; and independent anlysis consitently re-affirms these cases, when examined closely, were handled properly by Judge Alito. This is a man of the highest character. What if we happened to selectively scruitinze Mr. Kennedy’s past? Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, Mr. Chappoquidock. You couldn’t hold a candle to Judge Alito’s integrity.
January 29th, 2006 at 3:49 pm
First all of this, now the filibuster with Kerry. He’s becoming a 1 man side show of the wacko left.