Just Confirm Sam Alito

It is absolutely amazing that libs are so focused on their special interest groups, they cannot even pretend to understand the Constitution. In the Constitution, it clearly states that the president has the right to choose his nominee. No where in the document does it list that he or she must be within a certain judicial philosophy. That's not good enough for Senator Chuckie Schumer, but then again, he referred to the one who leaked the NSA spying to the New York Times as a "whistleblower."

This article says it all.

"A judge can't have any agenda, a judge can't have any preferred outcome in any particular case, and a judge certainly doesn't have a client ... the judge's sole obligation is to the rule of law," Alito said.

"Good judges are always open to changing their minds," he told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"There is nothing more important for our republic than the rule of law," Alito said. "No person, no matter how high or powerful, is above the law and no person in this country is beneath the law."

"I have reserved my own vote on this nomination until the hearing is concluded. As chairman, I am committed to conducting a full, fair and dignified hearing. Hearings for a Supreme Court nominee should not have a political tilt for Republicans or Democrats. They should, in substantive fact and in perception, be for all Americans," Specter said.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., told Alito that he has a triple burden to clear before he can be confirmed. That includes proving that he won't swing "the fulcrum of the court" to the right by replacing the moderate O'Connor and that he is more than just a darling of the conservatives.

"The same critics who called the president on the carpet for naming Harriet Miers have rolled out the red carpet for you, Judge Alito. We would be remiss if we did not explore why," Schumer said.

"Most importantly, though, your burden is high because of your record. Although I have not made up my mind, I have serious concerns about that record. ... You give the impression of being a meticulous legal navigator, but, in the end, you always seem to chart a rightward course."

Republicans have argued that the nominee cannot be forced to answer questions on issues that may come before him on the court; Democrats in the past have told more liberal judges like Ruth Bader Ginsburg that that same rule applies.

But Schumer argued that on issues such as abortion, which Alito has written about in the past, he cannot employ the so-called "Ginsburg rule" and refuse to answer some questions. Specter has said Alito has the right to be as brief as he wants in his answers.

Specter and Republican Sens. Orrin Hatch of Utah and Charles Grassley of Iowa bashed special-interest groups who they said are out of the "mainstream" and have been twisting and distorting the issues and cherry-picking certain decisions to characterize Alito's entire judicial philosophy in order to sway lawmakers one way or the other.

Bush said he wants the Senate to conduct the hearings in the "dignified way" he said Alito deserves.

"The Supreme Court is a dignified body; Sam is a dignified person. And my hope, of course, is that the Senate bring dignity to the process and give this man a fair hearing and an up or down vote on the Senate floor," he added.

Filling O'Connor's seat is a "pivotal appointment," since she was the fifth vote on 148 cases, said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., telling Alito, "you well could be a very key and decisive vote."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Alito's opinion on abortion rights shouldn't exclude him from getting an up-or-down vote. For example, Ginsburg, who was appointed to the high court by President Clinton, was openly pro-Roe and was confirmed by a vote of 96 to 3.

"If she came over in this atmosphere, she wouldn't get 96 votes," Graham said, adding that those in the "mainstream" include every Republican on the committee.

"We represent from the center line to the right ditch in our party and if all of us vote for you — you've got to be pretty mainstream … if every Republican member of the Judiciary Committee votes for you and you're not mainstream, it means we're not mainstream. It's a word that means anything you want it to mean," he said.

Graham said passionate feelings run on both sides of the issue.

Aside from abortion, the scope of the executive branch of power and campaign finance reform — two big issues coming before the court shortly after Alito's confirmation vote — will also be examined. Other issues include: First Amendment rights guaranteeing freedom of speech and religion; Fourth Amendment rights relating to unreasonable search and seizure, warrants and probable cause; and the death penalty.

The issue of presidential powers is even more glaring since a frenzy erupted around Bush's authorization of the National Security Agency to eavesdrop without a warrant on American citizens talking with possible terrorists overseas.

But Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., is skeptical of the president's agenda and Alito's purported deference toward it.

"In an era when the White House is abusing power, has authorized torture and is spying on American citizens, I find your support for an all-powerful executive branch and almost unlimited power for government agents to be deeply troubling," Kennedy said.

I think that it is safe to say that whenever Kennedy suggests something, it is a safe bet to do the exact opposite...such as not leaving a woman in a sinking car.