Monday, January 30, 2006

Alito Filibuster Defeated

Interesting that every Dem believed to have an interest in running for the '08 Presidency voted "Nay," including DLC mopes Bayh, Biden, and Hillary. Maybe they've woken up to the fact that the base is not to be trifled with.

Conversely, Joementum continues to exhibit his facist sympathies, giving new meaning, perhaps, to that shop-worn political wail "Better Dead Than Red" -- as in Roe v. Wade be Daid! (Which, by the way, is no small favor to the Democrats. When the fanatics, state by state, start to impose their insane restrictions on suburbia -- and you know they will! -- it could be, as Tom Davis suggests, a political reversal of fortune for both parties. Praise Jesus!)

But isn't it curious that given the cloture vote's wide margin, that both Lieberman and Linc Chafee, the Republican from the most Democratic state in the Union, both voted to end debate when their "Nay"s could have provided them legitimate cover for their reelections respectively. My curiosity is of what might've happend had they did so, like whether a domino effect might have ensued: "Heyyy, now I gotta vote Nay, you bastard!"

And now both of them will vote against Alito tomorrow, an anticlimactic exercise in stupidity, and more so if they actually think that'll cover their wrinkly butts on election night. Like we're, what, imbeciles?

If there is a God... !!

So say goodbye to Roe v. Wade, which, by intellectual standards, was an abomination in judicial reasoning, not to mention the Exhibit-A example of the Court legislating from the bench, even if it had the best of intentions: giving a woman another option in a particularly lonely moment. But now that Roe's demise is certain -- and I do mean certain! -- it will be the progressive populi who must get up off their respective keisters and fight the fuck back!

My more immediate fears envision the impending further destruction of our environment, the government institutionalization of Christianity (or the kind envisioned by some serious assholes), and the continued lowering of standards as they pertain to, say, consumer awareness and protection; employee wages, safety and health coverage; or particularly, whether an individual has any recourse in the court when he or she is utterly screwed over by some corporate stooge.

For starters...

And speaking of worker safety, can you imagine what that old fossil Robert Byrd could possibly have been thinking? Here is a man whose state is still reeling from two recent mine disasters, which, I would argue, were made inevitable by Republicans' obsessive deregulation of industry. And what does Byrd do?? He announces his support for a man who is the ultimate corporate rubber stamp. And he did it precipitously, days in advance, almost guaranteeing the filibuster would never take off. Oh! And then there's Scalito's love for executive power: You know how Byrd loves to waive his tiny copy of the Constitution on the Senate floor whenever he expounds upon its rich Corinthean leather? I think it'd be mighty entertaining, the next time, were he to set it afire.

Ach! This is depressing. As depressing as when the "fab five" came down with their decisions in Bush v. Gore. You think maybe Sandy-Baby'd like her vote back on that one?

Four -- count 'em -- FOUR rubber stamps now for the most fanatical element in this country: Scalia, Thomas, Roberts, and now Alito. Take a drink whenever they don't vote unanimously on a decision, you'll stay cold sober.

Christ! This means Anthony Kennedy is now the swing. And he has a rusty hinge.

Brrrr...

Alphabetical by Senator Name
Akaka (D-HI), Yea
Alexander (R-TN), Yea
Allard (R-CO), Yea
Allen (R-VA), Yea
Baucus (D-MT), Yea
Bayh (D-IN), Nay
Bennett (R-UT), Yea
Biden (D-DE), Nay
Bingaman (D-NM), Yea
Bond (R-MO), Yea
Boxer (D-CA), Nay
Brownback (R-KS), Yea
Bunning (R-KY), Yea
Burns (R-MT), Yea
Burr (R-NC), Yea
Byrd (D-WV), Yea
Cantwell (D-WA), Yea
Carper (D-DE), Yea
Chafee (R-RI), Yea
Chambliss (R-GA), Yea
Clinton (D-NY), Nay
Coburn (R-OK), Yea
Cochran (R-MS), Yea
Coleman (R-MN), Yea
Collins (R-ME), Yea
Conrad (D-ND), Yea
Cornyn (R-TX), Yea
Craig (R-ID), Yea
Crapo (R-ID), Yea
Dayton (D-MN), Nay
DeMint (R-SC), Yea
DeWine (R-OH), Yea
Dodd (D-CT), Nay
Dole (R-NC), Yea
Domenici (R-NM), Yea
Dorgan (D-ND), Yea
Durbin (D-IL), Nay
Ensign (R-NV), Not Voting
Enzi (R-WY), Yea
Feingold (D-WI), Nay
Feinstein (D-CA), Nay
Frist (R-TN), Yea
Graham (R-SC), Yea
Grassley (R-IA), Yea
Gregg (R-NH), Yea
Hagel (R-NE), Not Voting
Harkin (D-IA), Not Voting
Hatch (R-UT), Yea
Hutchison (R-TX), Yea
Inhofe (R-OK), Yea
Inouye (D-HI), Yea
Isakson (R-GA), Yea
Jeffords (I-VT), Nay
Johnson (D-SD), Yea
Kennedy (D-MA), Nay
Kerry (D-MA), Nay
Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Kyl (R-AZ), Yea
Landrieu (D-LA), Yea
Lautenberg (D-NJ), Nay
Leahy (D-VT), Nay
Levin (D-MI), Nay
Lieberman (D-CT), Yea
Lincoln (D-AR), Yea
Lott (R-MS), Yea
Lugar (R-IN), Yea
Martinez (R-FL), Yea
McCain (R-AZ), Yea
McConnell (R-KY), Yea
Menendez (D-NJ), Nay
Mikulski (D-MD), Nay
Murkowski (R-AK), Yea
Murray (D-WA), Nay
Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Obama (D-IL), Nay
Pryor (D-AR), Yea
Reed (D-RI), Nay
Reid (D-NV), Nay
Roberts (R-KS), Yea
Rockefeller (D-WV), Yea
Salazar (D-CO), Yea
Santorum (R-PA), Yea
Sarbanes (D-MD), Nay
Schumer (D-NY), Nay
Sessions (R-AL), Yea
Shelby (R-AL), Yea
Smith (R-OR), Yea
Snowe (R-ME), Yea
Specter (R-PA), Yea
Stabenow (D-MI), Nay
Stevens (R-AK), Yea
Sununu (R-NH), Yea
Talent (R-MO), Yea
Thomas (R-WY), Yea
Thune (R-SD), Yea
Vitter (R-LA), Yea
Voinovich (R-OH), Yea
Warner (R-VA), Yea
Wyden (D-OR), Nay

4 comments:

Naahm Deplume said...

Face, I told you why the centrist Dems voted Yes for cloture. The politicization of the process cuts two ways. What do you think would happen if Ginsberg (sp?) or Breyer, both with solidly liberal creds, were up for nomination in 2010? Think another ACLU lawyer would surive that (as Ruthie did)?They would go down on the party line vote if the votes were there. And I don't want any liberal bleating on that score -- you wanna opppose cons on purely political grounds, you must suffer your libs being opposed for the same reason. And don't expect political payback to resonate wtih the independents and moderates -- they understand that the Dems are going to take one on the chin if the next administration gets to appoint a replacement to Stevens. Lieb and the other centrists understand that, and understand that the qualification should be damn good judges being elevated. No one denies that Alito is a well-qualified judge, only that he (and only in the made-up minds of the left) harbors biases that are un-american (whatever that means). If we can suffer the activism of Breyer, Ginsburg and Kennedy (raising international customs to the level of precedent), then we can suffer the "activism" of true judicial restraint.

Fact is, by trashing Alito and attempting the filibuster, the Dems have all but killed their chance to appoint a true liberal when it is there turn, unless they control the Senate. Thanks, Teddy and John.

Naahm Deplume said...

BTW, sorry for the typos in my last post. Vision thing not working well lately. Also, I never cite or spell check blog entries for typos. No time or interest.

[For those ivory tower types who want call my intellectual wattage into question because of them, I will put all of my university degrees against yours any day.]

Naahm Deplume said...

As for post-Roe, post-spying, maybe we can finally get some movement on a Constitutional right to privacy that is grounded in something more than "penumbras" and "emanations." WE NEED AN AMENDMENT, DAMMIT!

Barking Up Trees said...

naahmy... don't get me wrong, m'man, u know i love u like a brother, and it tickles me as you reveal an ever more progressive side in your flares via rejoinder, but aren't you also the same guy who never has time to write on his own blog... ??
keep 'em comin'... i'm lmao...