WASHINGTON - The Senate on Monday all but guaranteed Samuel Alito's confirmation as the nation's 110th Supreme Court justice, shutting down a last-minute attempt by liberals to block the conservative judge's nomination with a filibuster.
Republican and Democratic senators, on a 72-25 vote, agreed to end their debate, setting up a Tuesday morning vote on Alito's confirmation to replace retiring moderate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
With at least 57 votes committed to Alito — 53 Republicans and four Democrats — approval by majority vote in the 100-member Senate seemed assured.
A bloc of Democrats, led by Massachusetts Sens. Edward Kennedy and
John Kerry, unsuccessfully tried over the weekend and Monday to persuade other senators to use a vote-delaying filibuster to stop Alito, a 15-year veteran of the U.S. Appeals Court and a former lawyer for the Reagan administration.
"It is the only way we can stop a confirmation that we feel certain will cause irreversible damage to our country," said Kerry, the Democrats' 2004 presidential nominee.
O'Connor has been a swing vote on abortion rights, affirmative action, the death penalty and other contentious issues.
Alito's supporters needed 60 votes to block the filibuster, and they were joined by 13 Democrats who have announced they will vote against confirming his nomination.
Well, America--you've gotten what you asked for. You now have a wing-nut who will tip the balance on the Supreme Court, who will vote to give President Bush greater powers to domestically spy on you, rule in favor of big corporations over individual citizens, and turn civil liberties back to the 18th century. You can bet Alito is going to overturn Roe--the wing-nuts have gotten their Supreme Court now. We will soon watch as more of our civil liberties and protections are eroded away--heck, this court might just rule in favor of suspending the 2008 presidential elections and keep George Bush as president, if another terrorist attack occurs this October. You've wanted a fascist dictatorship, you are on the road to have one now.
How long will it be, before the American public wakes up from this nightmare? I can't say.
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