it's Alito!

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Bluer White said:
It's a double standard, that's all. Hopefully democracy wins out and there will be a swift up or down vote for Alito, rather than a filibuster.


Hopefully democracy wins out and there is a proper investigation of the flawed Diebold-administered voting process that led to the 2004 election 'results'.
 
financeguy said:
Hopefully democracy wins out and there is a proper investigation of the flawed Diebold-administered voting process that led to the 2004 election 'results'.

While it may never be known, I find it ridiculous that there is no paper trail for manual recounts with these machines. Diebold was lying through its teeth when it said it wasn't possible. They've made millions of bank ATMs around the nation, and all of them have paper trails. If banks had to rely solely on the accuracy of computers, they'd probably rack up substantial losses.

But when the CEO of Diebold is an extreme far-right Christian (even further to the right than fundamentalist Christians) and publically stated that he'd ensure victory for Bush, what do you expect?

Melon
 
melon said:
While it may never be known, I find it ridiculous that there is no paper trail for manual recounts with these machines. Diebold was lying through its teeth when it said it wasn't possible. They've made millions of bank ATMs around the nation, and all of them have paper trails. If banks had to rely solely on the accuracy of computers, they'd probably rack up substantial losses.

But when the CEO of Diebold is an extreme far-right Christian (even further to the right than fundamentalist Christians) and publically stated that he'd ensure victory for Bush, what do you expect?

Melon


Melon I agree with you. And I have done audits of voting processes for an AGM of a large company, so I know something about the auditing processes, and what is considered best practice. And based on what I've read, I wouldn't consider Diebold to represent best practice, at least in respect of their electoral vote machines.

ANY such process should have a manual trail. It might not always be necessary to appeal to it, but it's not rocket science to have it.
 
MrsSpringsteen said:
Yes, I can't imagine why anyone would object to family leave - I'd be interested in reading his rationale for that one

I would also be interested in seeing the full

Absent the judicial history of an opinion, it can be easy to mischaracterize a judicial ruling.

For example, if the question before the court is "Does the state constitution require family leave?" While the legal answer may be no, it can be simply characterized as "being against" family leave.

The same mischaracterization can happen when a judge articulates one side of a balancing test.
 
at this point, while i am saddened that the SCOTUS looks more and more like a country club, i don't think Alito is an unreasonable pick. i might disagree with him; i might fear what he could do to the rights of women; i might fear how much he will acquiesce to executive power and allow George Bush and Dick Cheney to continue to torture people; however, i don't think he's an unreasonable pick for an unabashadly big government, high spending social conservative like W to have picked. the Miers nomination was silly. a political brain fart. this man is emminently "qualified," and at the end of the day, i am less concerned about what his rulings are and more about how those rulings came to be.

i am both excited for and fear the culture war "armageddon" that's being predicted. i feel as if the Left (for lack of a better word) has always been on the right side of history when it comes to social issues, and that there are elements on the Right (for lack of a better word) that really want to pull the country back to a 19th century economic model and a 13th century social worldview.

with a 55 to 44 Republican advantage in Congress, it doesn't look good for the Left, even if they win the support of the public -- and it seems likely that they will, a strong majority of Americans support abortion rights, affirmative action in some capacity, and are increasingly warming to the idea of gays and lesbians as actual human beings. these are the sexy issues, though. we should be more concerned, i think, with how Alito will measure up on First Amendment rights, federalism, the extent of the powers of the executive branch in "wartime" (which, as bush has said, will last pretty much for ever in our vague, vauge, vauge War on Terror), etc.

to the Left, i say, while you are right, you've got to start winning elections.

fight back. stand up for something.
 
Good to see that Bush got a second chance, and that he nominated a qualified judge this time. :up: It had me worried to death to see Chuck Schumer celebrating over Miers' nomination, whereas in Miguel Estrada's case (nom. for United States Circuit Court of Appeals), he pulled his old tricks with his Catholic bashing and succeeded in striking him down. Ted Kennedy? Outrageous as well. Robert Bork was a believer in judicial restraint. Yet, we got this gem of falsehoods from Ted: "Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police would break down citizens' doors in midnight raids, children would not be taught about evolution." I expect more character assassinations to come from these two rowdy senators. The right is smart to pick a fight with the hard left pack of senators that will blow it out of proportion over one issue (abortion). The publicity that will result will not be good for the left. It's about time the conservatives made some noise about Ginsburg, who swam through the senate without a scratch.

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Irvine511 said:
i don't think Alito is an unreasonable pick.... the Miers nomination was silly. a political brain fart. this man is emminently "qualified," and at the end of the day, i am less concerned about what his rulings are and more about how those rulings came to be.
I agree. It was cronyism, she's Bush's personal lawyer. No experience as a judge.

Irvine511 said:
i might disagree with him; i might fear what he could do to the rights of women;
Is this ALL about abortion, or are we leaving the "women's rights" smokescreen behind?

Irvine511 said:
i am both excited for and fear the culture war "armageddon" that's being predicted. i feel as if the Left (for lack of a better word) has always been on the right side of history when it comes to social issues, and that there are elements on the Right (for lack of a better word) that really want to pull the country back to a 19th century economic model and a 13th century social worldview.
I argue that the capitalist system has evolved for the better since the 19th century, and that the war on fiscal policy has strenghthened conservatives overall (minus Bush's excessive discretionary spending), and "moderate" liberals like Clinton. As far as "13th century social worldview", I could really use some examples.

Irvine511 said:
to the Left, i say... stand up for something.
And make that something other than judicial filibusters.
 
[q]Backers of Supreme Court nominee Sam Alito tout his 30-year paper trail as a judge and government lawyer -- lots for senators to work with deciding whether to confirm him. But our Post colleague Juliet Eilperin discovered a crucial missing piece in the Alito record: his undergraduate thesis.

Eilperin tasked Princeton University senior Alyson Zureick with tracking down the paper, a requirement for all graduating students. (Yeah, we know, we're glad we're not Supreme Court nominees either. . .) Alito's topic was Italy's Constitutional Court. But when Zureick went to the campus library . . . it was nowhere to be found! Proof of the right-wing conspiracy? Or the left-wing one? University archivist Daniel J. Linke said a mid-1980s survey found nearly 300 theses missing, "Alito's among them, unfortunately." The 55-year-old Alito graduated in 1972.

His thesis adviser, professor emeritus Walter Murphy, put out a statement praising his former student and whacking the president who hopes to put him on the nation's highest court: "I confess surprise that a man so dreadfully intellectually and morally challenged as George W. Bush would want a person as intellectually gifted, independent and morally principled as Sam Alito on the bench." Oh, those Princeton Tigers! Never a kind word about Yalies!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/02/AR2005110200263.html

[/q]
 
A lot of hard-core liberals that have dealt with him professionally have all said very positive things about him. I have to wonder whether the "Scalito" moniker was more to trick the Religious Right into liking him than into scaring the Left.

I'll be interested to know the results of his Senate hearings, although anyone appointed by Bush has a habit of making those incredibly worthless.

Melon
 
does anyone really believe it when anyone says they won't have an agenda or be an activist? don't they all say that?


Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson Praises Alito

By JESSE J. HOLLAND, Associated Press WriterWed Nov 2

A centrist Democratic senator complimented Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito Wednesday as a jurist who won't "hammer away and chisel away" existing law.

While Sen. Ben Nelson did not endorse President Bush's latest nominee for the high court, he did say he was impressed by what he heard from Alito during his introductory visit.

The Nebraska Democrat, who was Alito's first senatorial host Wednesday, told reporters that he got assurances that Alito would not be "judicial activist" or "take an agenda to the bench" if confirmed to succeed Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who is retiring.

"He assured me that he wants to go to the bench without a political agenda," said Nelson, one of the founding members of the centrist "Gang of 14" senators who earlier this year worked out a compact aimed at avoiding judicial filibusters except in the direst of circumstances.

Some liberals, pointing to Alito's rulings as a federal appellate court judge on abortion, gun control, the death penalty and other issues have already raised the threat of a filibuster — an attempt to deny the 55-year-old lawyer a yes-or-no vote by the full Senate. Republicans hold 55 seats in the Senate, and while confirmation requires a simple majority, it takes 60 votes to break a filibuster.

Nelson, one of the 14 centrist senators that Democrats would need to sustain a filibuster, said that Alito "wants to decide each case as it comes before him."

Without the group's seven Republicans, Democrats would not be able to prevent Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., from abolishing judicial filibusters and confirming judges with a simple majority vote.
 
The Republican-controlled Senate will begin hearings Jan. 9 on Judge Samuel Alito's appointment to the Supreme Court, spurning President Bush's call for a final confirmation vote before year's end.

"It simply wasn't possible to accommodate the schedule that the White House wanted," Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said late Thursday.
 
this might be something for a whole other thread, but Dan Savage has an interesting proposal, and all you heteros out there might be quite interested in it:



[q]The Right to Privacy—Stick It In!
Posted by DAN SAVAGE at 12:59 PM | permalink | read/post comments

Estelle Griswold is a name that anyone who cares about women's rights, access to birth control, freedom of expression (read: looking at porn in your own home), and gay rights should familiarize themselves with. In a decision in 1965, the Supreme Court overturned Estelle's conviction on charges that she—horrors!—made birth control available to married couples. At the time Connecticut—Connecticut!—had a law agin’ that sort of nonsense, as the state believed it was its job to discourage straight people from havng recreational sex. (Believe it or not, the having of recreational sex used to be a controversial topic. Sex, as many believed and few practiced, was strictly for procreation.)

The Supreme Court struck down that idiotic law, stating that it violated the “right to privacy.” Much flows from Griswold, including 2003’s Lawrence v. Texas, which found that even homos had a right to privacy, and that consensual, private homosexual sex can’t be criminalized. (That was the end of sodomy laws in the U.S.) You can read all about Griswold here.

Problematically, a right to privacy is not explicitly mentioned anywhere in the U.S. Constitution. The majority argued that the right was among the “unenumerated” rights implied by something called the “penumbrus,” which sounds like something that a sodomy law would prevent you from touching with your tongue.

Here we are, decades after Griswold, and social conservatives and liberals are constantly arguing about whether or not the right to privacy, which is a popular right (naturally enough), and one to which most Americans believe they're entitled, is actually a right to which Americans are entitled, constitutionally-speaking. Liberals love it because the RTP underpins our constitutional right to have access to birth control, abortion services, gay sex, porn. Social conservatives hate it for that very reason.

The debate raged when John Roberts was being confirmed (read about here, here, here, and here), and it is raging again as Sam Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court makes its way through the Senate (you can read all about it here, here, here, and here). Is the RTP in there? Or isn’t it?

I find myself wondering why we don’t just put it in there? If the Republicans can propose a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, can’t the Dems propose a “Right to Privacy” amendment? Since the RTP is popular (unlike the anti-gay marriage amendment), the Dems should put it out there and let the Republicans run around the country explainging why they're against a right to privacy—not a winning position. Then, once it passes, we’ll be spared the debate over whether or not the RTP is in there every time a conservative is nominated to the Supreme Court.

The Right to Privacy Amendment—c’mon, Harry Reid, Barbara Boxer, Ted Kennedy, Patty Murray, Barak Obama! Propose it!

http://www.thestranger.com/blog/archives/2005/10/30-05.php#a002173
[/q]
 
MrsSpringsteen said:
does anyone really believe it when anyone says they won't have an agenda or be an activist? don't they all say that?

I agree completely, it's all bullshit. It's only an activist court if they're ruling in favor of things a certain side doesn't support.

interesting point Melon, I'd certainly like it if they were only using the Scalito thing to appease the far Right. :wink: The guy is at least well qualified, unlike Lady Palpatine, and I guess you can never really know how they'll turn out...
 
palpatine.jpg
miers.jpg
 
well, "revenge of the sith" was a nicely subtle anti-Bush film.

"if you're not with me, you're my enemy."

"only a Sith thinks in absolutes."

"this is how liberty dies -- to thunderous applause."
 
MrsSpringsteen said:
does anyone really believe it when anyone says they won't have an agenda or be an activist? don't they all say that?

Only to the extent that you can believe anything said by a politician.
 
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051103/NEWS06/511030477/1012

Three decades before the Supreme Court decriminalized homosexual sex, Alito declared on behalf of his group of fellow Princeton students that "no private sexual act between consenting adults should be forbidden." Alito also called for an end to discrimination against homosexuals in hiring.


As a federal appellate judge, Alito has built a scant record on gay-rights issues and a mixed one, at best, on privacy matters generally, in the view of civil liberties advocates who are still examining his opinions.
 
MrsSpringsteen said:
But judges aren't politicians, are they? Not appointed ones at least

That is the ideal. But the majority of judges in the US are selected as part of a political process.

It is also the prime reason why Roberts refused to answer so many questions. As a politician, a judge can buy votes by answering questions to satisfy the various constituencies represented by a committee.
 
MrsSpringsteen said:
does anyone really believe it when anyone says they won't have an agenda or be an activist?
Apparently, you're an "activist" if you understand that Roe V Wade is not in the Constitution.

Of course, we could argue that bad-girl Ruth Ginsburg is an activist...
- She wants to make it mandatory for women to register for the draft.
- She wants the age of consent lowered to 12 years of age.
- She supports legalized prostitution.

And yet, some swear on their life that Clinton was a "moderate."

If that were the case, than ACLU is Centerville.
 
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WASHINGTON — President Bush (search) said Friday that he is disappointed he won't get a new Supreme Court justice for Christmas as he wanted.
What the #%@& is wrong with the world???
we have ruined his Christmas, I am heart-broken.
 
I never really liked this Alito guy.


And this court is going in the wrong direction.

It is cases that don't seem to get major headlines that may be more worrisome.


Supreme Court shoots down lawsuit over religious charity

Jun 25, 2007, 17:03 GMT

Washington - The US Supreme Court ruled Monday that citizens cannot challenge in court US President George W Bush's plan to help religious charity groups receive federal financing.

Bush launched the faith-based initiative shortly after taking office in 2001 to assist religious organizations performing community services to combat poverty, drug addition or other social ills.

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which filed the lawsuit, cannot sue the White House or other government officials to stop them from encouraging religious groups to apply for federal grants.

The majority opinion determined that the Freedom From Religion Foundation's argument that federal agencies could use the money to pay for the building of churches and the distribution of religious symbols was unfounded.

'None of these things has happened,' Justice Samuel Alito wrote.
 
Conservatives go 4-4 today at the Supreme Court

Let's stay with our baseball theme today.

Legal and political conservatives hit for the cycle Monday morning when they "won" four long-awaited rulings from the United States Supreme Court. The Justices further chipped away at the wall that separates church and state, took some of the steam out of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, neutered federal regulators in environmental cases to the benefit of developers and slammed a high school kid who had the temerity to put up a silly sign near his high school.

Each of these decisions help establish the true conservative bona fides of this Court. It is more conservative than it was last term, when Sandra Day O'Connor sat in one some of the cases. And was more conservative last term than the term before that, before Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Sam Alito joined the Gang of Nine. In fact, the Court now is is so entrenched on the ground of the legal right that, aside from the global warming case decided earlier this year, it is hard to point to a single major ruling this term that could or would give succor to legal liberals or even jurisprudential moderates.

I'm not talking about the technical cases that make up the bulk of the Court's workload-- in those cases there was plenty of unanimity. I'm talking about the hot-button cases that get people talking. Whether it was the Court's dramatic limitations on the rights of employees to seek legal remedies for past employment discrimination-- part of a larger trend of pro-business rulings from the Justices-- or the about-face on the Congressional effort to ban a type of abortion, court conservatives were consistently able to muster up five votes-- thanks to the most important swingman since Benny Goodman, Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Indeed, so strong is the conservative bent to the court right now that even when its right-facing Justices did not agree on the legal reasons or rationale for their rulings-- which was the case in the religion case noted above-- they are able to agree to promote government sponsorship of religion and to block taxpayer efforts to prevent it. In other words, there is room for dissent even among the Court's working majority-- a bad sign for liberal judges, lawyers and litigants in the months and years to come.

People can and do and will disagree about the "correctness" of these rulings-- but no one should have any doubt now that President George W. Bush's campaign promise-- to take the Supreme Court to the right-- has been fulfilled. That question is no longer open to argument and you need only to take a few minutes to read today's rulings to understand why.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/benchconference/2007/06/post_36.html
 
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