Bush nominates Alito to Supreme Court

This is from CNN.Com:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Moving quickly to pick a Supreme Court nominee after his last selection withdrew her name, President Bush on Monday nominated Circuit Court Judge Samuel Alito -- a favorite of conservatives -- to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

"Judge Alito's reputation has only grown over the span of his service," Bush said from the White House, with Alito by his side. "He has participated in thousands of appeals and authored hundreds of opinions. This record reveals a thoughtful judge who considers the legal merits carefully and applies the law in a principled fashion."

Alito, a former U.S. attorney who has been a judge for 15 years, said while on the bench he has kept in mind what he called a "solemn responsibility."

The president went from nominating someone without any record (Miers) to nominating a hard-lined conservative with 15 years of judicial experience (Alito). A couple things stand out with this nomination. First is that the president went with the right-wingnuts of his party when selecting this guy. The right-wingnuts opposed Miers because they didn't know where she stood on abortion. This is a complete cave-in to the religious right.

The right-wingnuts and evangelicals will forgive Bush now. You can expect the Right-Wing Echo Machine to continue calling for an "up-or-down-vote" in the Senate for Alito--even though they were enviscorating Miers, who never had a chance to get to the Senate hearings or get an "up-or-down-vote."

The corporate business elites will love Alito. He's more than likely pro-business in his decisions, and will rule in business's favor on the Supreme Court.

For Alito's confirmation hearings, he'll probably use the same defense that Roberts used--the "I-can't-comment-on-that-case-because-it-may-come-up-
in-a-future-court-decision!" The big problem with this defense is that Alito has fifteen years worth of judicial rulings handed down that the Democrats can pick over. And they're already starting to. In Casey versus Planned Parenthood Alito dissented from the lower court's decision that struck down a Pennsylvania law requiring women to inform their husbands before getting abortions. The Supreme Court affirmed that decision. You can bet that if he's confirmed, he will overturn Roe versus Wade.

So how should the Democrats react to this new nominee? The Democrats cannot argue that Alito is not qualified--he certainly is. President Bush chose this individual for two reasons--first to placate his religious right-wingnuts and second, to revive his flagging presidency from the scandals of Miers, Scooter Libby, and the hurricanes' mess. The president is hoping that if he wins this fight, it will rejuvenate his own flagging poll numbers and give his radical right-wingnut agenda a shot in the arm. President Bush chose this nominee without the "advise and consent of the Senate." Senate Democrats should fight him on this with every weapon they have--including the filibuster. They should stall the confirmation hearings until 2006--don't give the president a quick up-or-down-vote! And if the president complains about the Democrat's stalling tactics, they should remind the president and the right-wingnuts that they never gave Mier's a chance for an up-or-down-vote. They should attack Alito for his decision in Casey, and any other decisions that shows Alito out of the mainstream. The Democrats need to attack Alito on his own record, using his own words, demanding explanations for his decisions. They should not allow Alito to get away with the Robert's defense. And if Alito tries to use the Robert's defense, then the Democrats should filibuster. The Democrats may lose this fight. Alito may be confirmed, forcing the Court further rightward. The key here is to expose the Republican Party, and President Bush with views and ideology that out of the mainstream of public opinion. The Democrats need to expose the president as subservient to the Religious Right ideology. And they should use this when the 2006 midterm elections start up.

The question is, do the Democrats have the guts to stand up and fight?