"Justice" Alito

'Cause those words go together so well, right?

Well, in what comes as a surprise to no one, Sam A-lie-to was sworn in to the Supreme Court following a virtually party-line confirmation vote in the Senate. Said vote was taken after an eleventh hour filibuster push, championed by John Kerry and Ted Kennedy, mustered only 25 votes against cloture.

Like many, I'm disappointed about this filibuster. Alito has absolutely no place on the court, and should've been blocked. However many glowing bar association reviews he's had, his record and his confirmation hearings revealed him to be nothing more than a mendacious, GOP supplicant who will say anything to get a job, and is dedicated to the subservience of powers rather than their separation. That being said, unlike some of Left Blogsylvania, I'm not tarring the Democratic Senators who broke ranks and voted to bring the nomination to it's "upperdown" conclusion. What disappoints me, is that those senators who refused to fall in behind the honorable gentlemen from Massachusetts in this slap-dash stunt--were dead right.

The march to filibuster should've happened as soon as ScAlito's confirmation hearings were gaveled to a close. One or two spokesmen (and not the bland Kerry or the cartoonish Kennedy) should've immediately stepped forward and hammered away on the non-answers, evasions, and contradictions left in Sammy's wake. His name should've been inexorably linked to the "signing statements" he championed and the clear disregard for the law they represent. Ditto, broken promises of recusal, and his lame reversals on abortion views he described as "legal positions in which I personally believe very strongly."

Without the Dems laying that ground work, the average American was left with a guy who just didn't seem that bad. Pretty hard to overcome that perception and show the man to be a threat in 72 hours, to say nothing of doing so over a weekend. Hell, I love this stuff, and I more than occasionally take a break from it starting at Happy Hour on Friday. Joe and Jane Sixpack? They're almost certain to see this as much ado about nothing. And those who opted out of Kerry's filibuster gambit knew that very well. A damn shame (for all of us) that more people weren't so enlightened.

If you "keep your powder dry" for too long, sometimes you forget when to aim and fire.