One could say that he isn't "ashamed," but because of the irrationallity of the Senate Democrats, he is forced to distance himself from any personal belief that could be construed as mainstream conservative. Ginsburg did not have to do this because the Republicans at the time didn't care about those beliefs - they wanted the strongest and most fair jurist Clinton could give them, and Ginsburg was the choice. Democrats don't share this quality - to them, it's the ideology that matters. It's the possible outcomes that could emerge that matter, not how those outcomes are reached or whether or not they are sound.
Alito isn't ashamed, but he's not stupid either: he wants to be confirmed, and so now he's forced to play this game. It'd be nice if we could have an honest and frank discussion of judicial issues from conservative/ liberal viewpoints and from the different philosophies of constitutional interpretation. But that won't happen because the process has become so politicized, and you can blame that virtually entirely on Senate Democrats and the process they began with Bork.
I certainly hope the Concerned Alumni of Princeton isn't mainstream conservative. I mean, if open misogyny and racism is mainstream conservatism, maybe we should all be ashamed of it.
Perhaps it isn't mainstream, but then again, CAP was at the time Alito joined squarely in favor of ROTC, something Alito did and Princeton had dropped. So maybe that was Alito's motivation? We'll probably never know. But are any of his other views really that far out of the conservative mainstream?
And besides, what difference does it make? What should matter is where on the spectrum his judicial philosophy resides. And I think that there he is certainly in the mainstream.
I just know that my future nomination for Supreme Court Justice is toast, as my membership in the Dartmouth Review will surely come back to haunt me...
I guess you may have a point. Rehnquist was apparently racist (and anti-Semitic) as hell personally, but most liberal-leaning scholars of the judiciary think he was an impartial and capable justice. I guess I wish two things—that Alito would own up to what made him join CAP (networking, perhaps?) and the Dem senators would be smart or informed enough to actually have an interesting debate on how or whether that would affect his adjudicating and his legal philosophy. Don't these people have staffs?
Also, I think I've expressed my opinions about "borking." I delete every fucking email I get from liberal interest groups that starts off "In Samuel Alito's America..." In Moveon.org's America, my email inbox would be flooded long past capacity, those bastards.
One could say that he isn't "ashamed," but because of the irrationallity of the Senate Democrats, he is forced to distance himself from any personal belief that could be construed as mainstream conservative. Ginsburg did not have to do this because the Republicans at the time didn't care about those beliefs - they wanted the strongest and most fair jurist Clinton could give them, and Ginsburg was the choice. Democrats don't share this quality - to them, it's the ideology that matters. It's the possible outcomes that could emerge that matter, not how those outcomes are reached or whether or not they are sound.
ReplyDeleteAlito isn't ashamed, but he's not stupid either: he wants to be confirmed, and so now he's forced to play this game. It'd be nice if we could have an honest and frank discussion of judicial issues from conservative/ liberal viewpoints and from the different philosophies of constitutional interpretation. But that won't happen because the process has become so politicized, and you can blame that virtually entirely on Senate Democrats and the process they began with Bork.
I certainly hope the Concerned Alumni of Princeton isn't mainstream conservative. I mean, if open misogyny and racism is mainstream conservatism, maybe we should all be ashamed of it.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it isn't mainstream, but then again, CAP was at the time Alito joined squarely in favor of ROTC, something Alito did and Princeton had dropped. So maybe that was Alito's motivation? We'll probably never know. But are any of his other views really that far out of the conservative mainstream?
ReplyDeleteAnd besides, what difference does it make? What should matter is where on the spectrum his judicial philosophy resides. And I think that there he is certainly in the mainstream.
I just know that my future nomination for Supreme Court Justice is toast, as my membership in the Dartmouth Review will surely come back to haunt me...
I guess you may have a point. Rehnquist was apparently racist (and anti-Semitic) as hell personally, but most liberal-leaning scholars of the judiciary think he was an impartial and capable justice. I guess I wish two things—that Alito would own up to what made him join CAP (networking, perhaps?) and the Dem senators would be smart or informed enough to actually have an interesting debate on how or whether that would affect his adjudicating and his legal philosophy. Don't these people have staffs?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think I've expressed my opinions about "borking." I delete every fucking email I get from liberal interest groups that starts off "In Samuel Alito's America..." In Moveon.org's America, my email inbox would be flooded long past capacity, those bastards.
ReplyDeleteWhat evidence is there that Rehnquist was either racist or anti-Semitic?
ReplyDelete