The Gang of 14 was put together in an attempt to find a compromise between the Democrats that were filibustering judicial appointments and the Republicans that were threatening to use the nuclear option in response. The nuclear option would change the Senate rules so that judicial nominees would no longer be subject to filibusters. The compromise involved some Democrats agreeing to break the filibusters on several stalled nominees, in exchange for some Republicans agreeing not to support the nuclear option. The motives of the Senators varied. For most of them, the overriding concern was for the traditions of the Senate. There are seven Democrats that are part of the Gang of 14.
* Joseph I. Lieberman, Connecticut
* Robert C. Byrd, West Virginia
* E. Benjamin Nelson, Nebraska
* Mary Landrieu, Louisiana
* Daniel Inouye, Hawaii
* Mark Pryor, Arkansas
* Ken Salazar, Colorado
These Senators agreed not to participate in future filibusters of judicial nominees unless there are ‘extraordinary circumstances’. These circumstances are not defined, and at least part of the Democratic strategy for the Alito hearings was/is to elicit or uncover something that these Senators could latch onto to call ‘extraordinary’.
I don’t mean to suggest that Alito’s record doesn’t provide plenty of ammunition. But, the hope was that there would be some sound bite moment that would exemplify and crytallize Alito’s radicalism. Unfortunately, Alito was able to avoid making any glaring blunders and, so far, the Democratic investigators have not been able to turn up anything really juicy.
That leaves the Gang of 14 back where they started. Is Alito’s record, by itself, sufficient to be classified as ‘extraordinary’? I believe it is. But do the seven Democratic senators feel the same way?
The Associated Press reports:
And Raw Story reports:
After Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) remarked that a Democratic filibuster was a “definite possibility” late Wednesday, some liberal blogs championed the possibility that Alito might be stopped. But this scenario is unlikely, aides say.
There’s “not much discussion” of a filibuster, said one veteran Democratic Judiciary Committee aide Thursday, who called the move in which 40 senators block the confirmation of a presidential nominee, “very unlikely.”
The only thing we can do is write letters to the members of the judiciary committee, to our own Senators, and (especially) to the members of the Gang of 14. The hearings are not over and things can still change. The Democrats can win a filibuster if they can convince the members of the Gang to go along with one.
It is still possible that the Republican members of the Gang will respond by going nuclear. That threat may be dissuading some Democrats from participating in a filibuster. But, we might as well call their bluff. If the Democrats cave on Alito, we need to remember which Dems made that cave inevitable.
So Alito hasn’t broken down and shouted, “I’m a fascist, dammit, so get over it!” Isn’t his record enough to alarm any true believer in the Constitution? Aren’t his statements in support of the idea that a President can decide what is Constitutional and overlook any laws he doesn’t agree with enough to declare an “extraordinary” state?
Gawd, the Dems should go for broke, they should risk all because this is one of those crossroads where you don’t get to turn back. If the Repubs control all three branches of government and the media we are fucking doomed, the Democrats are doomed, our democracy is doomed. They have nothing to lose by fighting and going down in defeat. Not fighting IS defeat. At the very least, they should rage, rage against the dying of the light. Don’t lie down and do nothing!
I’m so frustrated and politically depressed I can’t read the Live Blog from today.
No guts, no glory!
Enough with the wimpy Dems, and smug and obscuring bloviation from Republicans, it’s time WE vetoed Alito:
This the best and brightest contact info, actions and petitions I could dig up.
Dig in:
Phone, fax, and email addresses for the Judiciary Committee.
Write a letter to the editor of your local paper and contact your congress critters — all with one click.
People for the American Way has collected over 60,000 signatures to send to the Senate, please add yours:
Save the Court Petition
JOHN EDWARDS CALLS FOR FILIBUSTER!
http://ga3.org/campaign/opposealito
instead of barely lasting one term before chasing his ego, he would have some clout in calling for a filibuster.
Since a Rethug now occupies his abandoned seat, he does not.
The Republicans had this carefully choreographed. The marching orders to Alito clearly called for him to be boring and to avoid saying anything while pretending to answer.
The tactical mistake the Democrats made was to hang their hopes for a filibuster on the hearings rather than making it all about his record before the hearings ever began. They should have threatened to filibuster from the beginning unless Alito gave persuasive substantive answers to their questions about his record.
A filibuster is justified, but I think the Democrats were out-flanked by the Republicans, and I fear Bush will get his up or down vote.
the polls show that no one cares and the few people that do care support Alito 2-1. The polls in Louisiana, West Virginia, and Arkansas are probably even worse.
So, part of the problem is that there is no wind in our sails.
But, you’re right. The only way to counter that was to scream bloody murder the second he was nominated. Unfortunately, no one was paying attention because of the holidays.
Both you and Jerry are making great points.
If you’d been in charge of the anti-Alito campaign, what might you have done differently?
btw, I hadn’t listened to Majority Report on Air America in a while … I listened to last night’s archived show this morning, and it was superb on Alito.
Hmm.
Well, let me look at the same way a cynical political advisor would, which is to say, let me look at the polls.
The Dems thought making it all about abortion would be a mistake. But that is exactly what they should have done. Now, they needed to do this in a nuanced way because our leader, Reid, is anti-choice, so he can’t make that argument.
Therefore, I would have used a two-pronged approach.
Reid would say that he was going to lead a filibuster over the unitary Executive Power issue, while the mainstream pro-choice Senators would say that they would oppose unless he promised explicitly to uphold Roe.
I would have them compare rolling back Roe to rolling back Brown v. Board of Education. Over and over.
And I would have the centrists hammer on the NSA and also have a couple radicals mention the impeachment word.
Total offense.
I also would have made Senators appear on Cable news where they appear to be banned on all days but Sunday.
The whole wiretapping mess should’ve made Alito’s Imperial Presidency Ambitions a grand slam for the Democrats.
Yeah, and you want to know why no-one cares? Because the Democrats haven’t really been doing anything to opposte the nomination, which has let the media spin it as a “done deal”. And who’s going to waste their time worrying about a done deal?
Poll-based politics don’t work.
Sigh. This is so depressing. All of it.
I understand why people don’t pay attention to news much, and would rather hear about the latest knocked-up celebrity. The real news is all so awful. I can’t even believe I live in the same country I grew up in.
I’m going to go play Everquest II (aka Evercrack II).
Don’t forget how his wife burst into glycerine/tears. That had a psychological effect on everything! This admin plays on emotion, not fact!
[from The Nation]
His nomination cannot stand.
On the ‘NewsHour’ Tonight, if you missed it.
THE ALITO HEARINGS
January 12, 2006
Senators wrapped up their questioning in the fourth day of confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. Two guests give their insight on the confirmation process and how the Senate Judiciary Committee handled the hearings.
Click the Link or Pic to Read Transcript or Listen also! No High Marks For Senate On This Or Past Hearings!
moment to happen can lead to a certain longevity but if a person truly believes something and they play the middle, not only have they lost themselves but history will never remember them either because nobody saw their spirit and heart flash in their eyes. I would rather stand up and shout about illegal wiretaps and NSA and Alito’s record of always siding for the government and risk whatever they would throw at me. I would risk being called biased, partisan, and I would make damn sure they called me UNDIGNIFIED. Dignity is something given…..the most broken being deserves to be treated with dignity. Liars, cheaters, murderers, jailers, and manipulators and deceivers do not require dignity from me. It makes little difference if I treat them with dignity or not, they do and be who they want to be. It is a choice that I can make, and most of the time I can let nature take its course and choose dignity for me knowing that those who sow that kind of evil are going to reap also. Sometimes the time is ripe and short though and I find God tapping me on the shoulder and whispering in my ear, “Your turn to do what needs to be done. Gather your courage and toss your fears aside because it isn’t as if you were going to live forever anyhow!”
Driving with your lights on for filibuster. Let’s publicize it. And make sure that there are a lot of lights in Connecticut, West Virginia, Colorado, Arkansas, Hawaii, Nebraska and Lousiana.
If this isn’t extraordinary circumstances, what is?
I’ve barely seen or heard much of the Alito Q & A directly since the last few says I’ve had all manner of complicated things going on. So I’ve relied, in the main, on all the great bloggers to fill me in in the evenings.
Clearly, from the “evidence”, Alito is an anti-democracy ideologue. He would be right at home, secure in a comfortable and rewarding job, in almost any tyrannical government in history, whether it be that of Pinochet in Chile, Mussolini in Italy, (this is not an attack on his [presumed] Italian heritage], or even the era from Lenin to stalin and then Kruschev in the old Soviet Union. He is an advocate for the authoritarian form of government, despite his efforts to portray himself otherwise.
Eventhough I didn’t see him or listen to more than fragments of his testimony spanning the last couple of days, I have an impression that thus far I haven’t seen anyone else yet mention.
Looking at Alito’s visage on the TV, I see a personna eager for redress, impatient to set about righting numerouse wrongs that have been eating away at his “little man” psyche for decades; someone hungry for vengeance against who knows who for who knows what (imagined) transgressions. I see a guy with deep-seated yet dysfunctional emotional imperatives combined with a frenetic mental turbulence who is in an extremely volatile state. I see him as the kind of nerd who get’s picked on a lot at school and has self-image problems related to (societal) “class”, and who then one day just “snaps” and starts mowing people down with a machine gun, (or,in his case, with court decisions).
“Bonkers” might be the kindest term I could use, yet, because his role on SCTUS makes him so dangerous to the very foundations of our Constitutional Democracy, such a term is deceptively mild.
If I were a strategist for any political party that loved the idea of upholding the spirit of our constitution in a way that enables us to advance as a society, I’d be researching ways to argue the legitimacy of reversing the damage done by the Bush regime, (once they’re finally out of power), including voiding the appointment of Alito to the SC.
Who will be the Dem defectors that make a successful filibuster impossible?
Also, can a member of the Judiciary Committee “block” the process from going forward? And if so, is it ikely that anyone might in fact do so? (like Diane Feinstein?)
enough to provoke a filibuster?
Or are we supposed to believe him when he says he can’t remember being a member of CAP and didn’t know what the group really stood for? This being the same brilliant jurist who has details of hundreds of court decisions on the tip of his tongue?
And are we supposed to believe him when he says he has an open mind, even though every shred of his record says otherwise?
The man is a fucking liar.
Call or write your Senator today.
Filibuster the sunuvabitch!
Is Alito worse than the three judges the Democrats let on the bench back in May last year? Owens, Brown and Pryor where not right leaning judges, they were the worst judges Bush could think of at the time.
I don’t believe there will be a filibuster — and if there is one, the Democrats will lose. The reason is simple: the Democrats did not lay the ground work for a filibuster during the questioning period — they refused to work together. Instead, we got grandstanding of the worst kind: Biden might as well had brushed his hair and had his nails done while on camera; Kennedy pushed an issue even he did not have all the facts.
(How many times have I had to say this: never, ever ask a question at one of these hearings if you do not already know the answer. Never ask for documents to be made public unless you already know what is in them.
These nominees, obviously, are lawyers. They know that you only ask a question if the answer benefits you, and you only answer a question if the answer benefits you. But instead we have stupid Democrats who ask a bunch of questions thinking that the guy will screw up — and when they don’t they end up looking at their papers and say “ok, well, let’s move on”. Idiots.)
As it stands now the public doesn’t understand why the Democrats have a problem with Alito. It has been portrayed in the press as simply a partisan issue. And based on the performance of the Dems on the panel, I can understand why people don’t get it.
I agree with all of the above. The important difference between Alito and the other judges you mention is, of course, the influence of the court he’s being appointed to.
Bush’s reign is exposing not only the endless greed and venality of the right-wing power machine, but the utter bankruptcy of the Democrats.
I don’t, frankly, have much hope–it’s all part of a much larger national decline. The American century is coming to an end.