California Conservative

Here’s a partial roundup of what people are saying about Judge Alito’s confirmation hearings:

Nan Aron’s Alliance For Justice

“After two days of testimony, we have learned nothing new about Judge Alito. We are thus left with what we started with: his 15 year judicial record and his writings as a Reagan Justice Department official. Judge Alito laid out a hard-line political and legal philosophy in a 1985 job application and, as several comprehensive analyses have shown, he has tried to impose onto the law the very same views he expressed then. His efforts to use the hearings to distance himself from his past statements and to downplay the adverse impact of his jurisprudence on real people lacks credibility.”

That statement, Ms. Aron, is long on accusation and woefully short on specifics. Then again, that’s what I should expect from an extremist like you.

Public Advocate President Eugene Delgaudio

The following is a statement from Public Advocate President Eugene Delgaudio on Sen. Ted Kennedy’s attacks against Judge Alito during today’s confirmation hearings:
“It was almost comical to hear Ted Kennedy lecturing Judge Alito on Ethics. I half expect to next see Bill Clinton lecturing him on sexual morality or President Bush lecturing him on proper grammatical usage.
“Those that serve with Judge Alito have stated that his character is beyond reproach and even the liberal leaning American Bar Association admits that Judge Alito is ‘an individual of excellent integrity.’ When was the last time anyone said the same thing of the Senator from Chappaquiddick.”

Now that’s the type of sarcastic response to Ted Kennedy’s diatribes that I wish more people would use. Belittling Sen. Kennedy with facts is the shortest route to that goal.

The DNC’s Statement:

Despite troubling questions about President Bush’s nominee to a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court, Senate Republicans are obstructing a proper inquiry and thorough questioning to resolve them. Judge Samuel Alito’s membership in a ultra-conservative alumni group and his refusal to answer direct questions about his ultra-conservative record raise serious concerns not just about Alito’s fitness for the bench, but also Republican Senators’ commitment to their constitutional responsibility to evaluate Alito’s nomination.

Democratic National Committee spokesman Josh Earnest called on the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee to fulfill its constitutional obligation to thoroughly examine Alito’s background and record before reaching a conclusion about his fitness for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court:

“Time and again this Republican Congress has failed in its responsibility to provide oversight of the Executive branch. From refusing to investigate the use of faulty pre-war intelligence by the President to failing to investigate the outing of a CIA operative by senior White House officials, this Republican-led Congress has utterly failed to fulfill its responsibility to provide oversight of the Bush-led Executive branch.

“Unfortunately, this pattern has continued unabated as the Republican-led Judiciary Committee has questioned Judge Alito. Not only have Republicans failed to thoroughly and properly question the President’s nominee for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court, but they have repeatedly tried to stop Democrats from doing so. Why are Republicans shutting down the process? What are Republicans trying to hide? “The American people deserve the truth. Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee should be working with Democrats to find the truth about Judge Alito’s past, not conspiring with the President’s nominee to keep his past hidden.”

I was kinda expecting them to throw the kitchen sink at them, too. I’ll give them credit, though, for getting in nearly all of their talking points, regardless of how baseless most of them are, in this brief statement.

To be fair, though, that’s Dr. ‘Scattergun’ Dean’s approach. Throwing everything out there, with little regard for focus but with a high priority on flailing speech, is his penchant. It isn’t like Dr. Dean isn’t prone to saying a string of outlandish things in a short paragraph. In fact, I’ve yet to hear him practice the type of focus and message discipline of even a Terry McAuliffe, much less that of an Ed Gillespie or Ken Mehlman. To expect that is like expecting a leopard to change its spots.

UPDATE:
A Woman The Dems Don’t Want To Hear

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRing

This entry was posted on Friday, January 13th, 2006 at 12:22 pm and is filed under Activism, Author: Gary Gross, DNC, Judiciary, Liberals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.