Obama on Alito during his confirmation.

[LexVegas]

"But when you look at his record - when it comes to his understanding of the Constitution, I have found that in almost every case, he consistently sides on behalf of the powerful against the powerless; on behalf of a strong government or corporation against upholding American's individual rights.

If there is a case involving an employer and an employee and the Supreme Court has not given clear direction, he'll rule in favor of the employer. If there's a claim between prosecutors and defendants, if the Supreme Court has not provided a clear rule of decision, then he'll rule in favor of the state. He's rejected countless claims of employer discrimination, even refusing to give some plaintiffs a hearing for their case. He's refused to hold corporations accountable numerous times for dumping toxic chemicals into water supplies, even against the decisions of the EPA. He's overturned a jury verdict that found a company liable for being a monopoly when it had over 90% of the market share at the time.

It's not just his decisions in these individual cases that give me pause - it's that decisions like these are the rule for Samuel Alito, not the exception."


Sound like he was right about this asshole.

[n2doc]

1. Yep. Too bad the DINO's voted for Scalito

At the conclusion of the confirmation hearings, January 12, the threat of a filibuster appeared to grow more remote as Durbin called a filibuster attempt "unlikely". Judiciary Committee member Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said, "I do not see a likelihood of a filibuster. This might be a man I disagree with, but it doesn't mean he shouldn't be on the court."[13] She changed her position on January 27, saying that she would vote no for cloture.[3] Fellow Judiciary Committee member Joe Biden (D-DE) said, "I think he is going to be confirmed." Other Democrats such as Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Ken Salazar (D-CO), Daniel Akaka (D-HI), and Byron Dorgan (D-ND), however, said they would not support a filibuster, though they all voted against confirmation.[14][15] In addition, Senators Mark Pryor (D-AR), Kent Conrad (D-ND), and Joe Biden (D-DE) indicated that they did not support a filibuster.[4][5] Later, however, Joe Biden announced on the 29th that he would vote no for cloture.

On January 26, while vacationing in Switzerland, Senator John Kerry (D-MA) called for a filibuster to block Alito's nomination.[16] Despite the support of his fellow Massachusetts Senator, Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY)[6][7][8] and Harry Reid (D-NV), the top Democrat in the Senate, other Democrats were afraid the measure would backfire and were cautious to support it. Just one day after Kerry's call for a filibuster, Reid further stated that the Democrats did not have the votes needed to sustain a filibuster to block the confirmation of Alito. "We're going to have a vote Tuesday morning," Reid said. "Everyone knows there are not enough votes to support a filibuster."[17][18]

The Democratic Senators from Massachusetts, John Kerry and Ted Kennedy, attempted to gain support for a filibuster of the nominee, however they gained little support even within their own party. The Senate voted for cloture on the nomination 72-25. Three senators didn't vote, including Democrat Tom Harkin and Republican John Ensign, who had been injured in a car accident earlier that day. All of the members of the Gang of Fourteen voted for cloture with the majority.

Senators who voted for a filibuster[9]

Evan Bayh (D-IN)
Joe Biden (D-DE)
Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)
Mark Dayton (D-MN)
Chris Dodd (D-CT)
Dick Durbin (D-IL)
Russ Feingold (D-WI)
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Jim Jeffords (I-VT)
Ted Kennedy (D-MA)
John Kerry (D-MA)
Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Carl Levin (D-MI)
Bob Menendez (D-NJ)
Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)
Patty Murray (D-WA)
Barack Obama (D-IL)
Jack Reed (D-RI)
Harry Reid (D-NV)
Paul Sarbanes (D-MD)
Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
Ron Wyden (D-OR)

Full Senate
The Senate voted 58-42 on Tuesday, January 31, to confirm Alito as the 110th Justice of the Supreme Court. All but one of the 55 Senate Republicans voted to confirm Alito, as well as four Democrats: Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE), Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV), Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD), and Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND). Forty-two Senators voted against Alito's confirmation (40 Democrats, Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), and Jim Jeffords (I-VT)).[10]

from wikipedia

[corkhead]

3. Those feckless so called Democrats were afraid to hurt the feelings of the

Fascist Republican party

[yurbud]

13. it took a brazillion screaming Democrats calling, writing, and emailing them to even get them to

pretend they "might" filibuster Alito.

Meanwhile, Republicans would filibuster a birthday card to their own mother's if Obama proposed it.

[dsc]

22. then why weren't Sotomayor and Kagan filibustered

[Maedhros]

26. That is an interesting question. [n/t]

[dreamnightwind]

33. Perhaps because they were more conservative than the justices they replaced?

Don't know, just speculating.

[yurbud]

43. they might have thought Obama was doing Bush's trick with Harriet Myers

sacrificing "moderates" republicans would shoot down, then nominating someone further left instead as Bush did to the right when he put up Scalito after Myers withdrew.

[mopinko]

53. ^^^^^ always projecting.

[yurbud]

14. they were afraid of hurting the feelings of the EMPLOYERS of the Republicans

who they are hoping will hire them too.

[yurbud]

15. this is another reason why every corporate Dem needs a progressive primary challenger

[riqster]

31. Yup. It's what primaries are for.

[karynnj]

20. Chuck Schumer a few years ago said he regretted profoundly not leading a filibuster against Alito

What he forgot was that he did not have to lead one, all he had to do was to put his force behind Kerry and Kennedy. Instead, people alligned with him, mocked Kerry for "leading from the Alps". He was attending Davos and speaking on foreign relations. He returned early to give an incredibly compelling speech on the floor of the Senate -- followed by another the day of the vote.

Both Kerry and Kennedy actually enlisted support here and on Daily Kos - the first time I saw major politicians do so.

[MurrayDelph]

25. I lived in California at the time

at wrote to Feinstein asking her to vote no on the confirmation (and again later when she voted yes).

Her basic answer each time was "Back off, Sonny! I'm a Senator and know more than you do."

I'm glad to now live in a state with two real Democratic Senators.

[rpannier]

46. The info in the OP says she voted for the filibuster

and only four Democrats voted for him and she wasn't one of them

[PMcDee]

51. I still live in California

and I wrote a letter to Senator Feinstein at the time thanking her for her vote in favor of the filibuster and her NO vote on Alito's confirmation.

[billhicks76]

50. Today Obama Would Vote For Him

So would Hillary. A lot has changed.

[redqueen]

2. kick

[saidsimplesimon]

4. LexVegas, "sounds like he was right"?, not so

Mr. Obama's words have proven true.

What does it take to impeach a Supreme? My pet project is Justice Thomas. We could put him in the hot seat for his indiscretions, let him try to defend his recorded comments, actions and biased decisions which disqualify him for this high office. Just a thought for 2015

[warrant46]

6. Well Biden helped Long Dong Silver

Climb the mountain.. (just saying)

[saidsimplesimon]

9. Who said I was a Clinton/Biden dem? quell surprise

[warrant46]

55. Not me

I never said you were ------the Nomination was a disgrace

http://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/16/us/thomas-confirmation-senate-confirms-thomas-52-48-ending-week-bitter-battle-time.html

I was pointing out that Biden who chaired the Judiciary committee allowed this pervert to move on to the DEMOCRATICALLY controlled Senate who anointed this scum.

[iamthebandfanman]

8. takes 2/3rd

of the senate.

so yeah.. that wont be happening anytime soon.

[saidsimplesimon]

10. think my bandfan, it's not the outcome it's the scandal. (grin)

[Cosmocat]

23. If there was a "liberal" SC justice who was the exact polar opposite of Thomas

Someone who is so brazenly partisan and so brazenly lazy and off put by actually having to do his job ...

If not in actuality, there would be WIDESPREAD talk in this country of impeaching him ...

[fasttense]

36. Thomas has violated the law and got away with it while acting as a Supreme

"Thomas routinely checked a box titled "none" on his annual financial disclosure forms, indicating that his wife had received no income. But in reality, the letter states, she earned nearly $700,000 from the Heritage Foundation from 2003 to 2007 alone.He failed for decades to report."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/29/democratic-lawmakers-call-for-investiation-into-clarence-thomas-finances_n_987934.html

He violated the law, lied about it and pretended he didn't understand the form. He should be prosecuted and impeached.

[indepat]

5. That such an asshole is considered for nomination, much less confirmed, speaks volumes as to the

character of those individuals.

[Kablooie]

7. Yep. He's a Republican dreamboat.

[hawaii73]

11. Voting Should be Tipoff...

All one has to do is look at how the voting went by the Senate. With no Republican objecting to his nomination it should be an indication of what kind of Justice he would be. I am sick of the whole Supreme Court thing. I lean liberal, but people like Alito, Thomas, Scalia and Roberts are never ever going to side with the little guy. I've said it before and I'll say it again, when you have Clarence Thomas' wife working hand-in-hand with groups trying to get rid of Pres. Obama's healthcare plan, you know he'd never vote in favor of anything and would do all he could at every chance to undermine it. The SCOTUS if a joke!

[Cosmocat]

24. Its bad

and it has become the failsafe last resort that republicans have been trying to make it since the late 80s/early 90s ...

[1StrongBlackMan]

12. And, sadly, ...

Now that he is on the SCOTUS, he is proving that even when the SCOTUS has given clear direction through precedent, Alito is proving that

stare decisis

no longer applies.

[Moostache]

16. SCOTUS appointments should be limited to 12 years from their first day on the bench.

12 years would put them beyond the usual electoral politics of the House and the Presidency and would cover 2 Senatorial terms as well. The founders did not envision an activist, ideologue bench rewriting the law as they see politically palpable; they intended the exact opposite of what we have perverted the SCOTUS into...

I remember the Supreme Court becoming a tit-for-tat circus around the time of the Bork nomination attempt and ever since then it has seemed to become more and more politicized every year.

[calimary]

17. Welcome to DU, LexVegas!

Glad you're here! Interesting finding. Sounds like he WAS right about this asshole. Good find! Thanks for posting here - especially for the benefit of some out there who tend to want to jump down President Obama's throat every hour on the hour and kick his ass from here to next week because he's less than absolutely perfect.

[lark]

18. Anyone who paid the least bit of attention know Alito was a total corporate shill.

A pox on the head of any so-called Dem who voted to confim his nomination.

[Bickle]

19. People, do something productive

Sniff out his criminal behavior, his taking if bribes, I'm sure he's got pile of them just like Scalia and Thimas

impeach, arrest, try, lots of jail time

No future nominees who are not liberal atheists. And definitely no more Catholics. Here's a hint. Those beholden to a foreign power they delusionaliy believe decides if they will be tormented for.all of eternity should not be making choices that said man in. A dress has opinions on

[JDPriestly]

29. You can't impeach and end the tenure of an elected official by Congress unless you have

control of the House and the Senate.
Let's get Democrats into the House and Senate.

The birth rate in the US is 1.8 per woman. That means that most American women use some form of birth control, and there should be no exceptions to requiring that insurance companies insure every American for birth control.

After all, every American is insured for vaginal, uterine, breast and ovarian cancer as well as prostrate cancer. Insurance covers erectile dysfunction. Why shouldn't it cover birth control?

What is so wrong about birth control? Women having sex because they want to? Why is that wrong? We need to talk about this because you can hardly watch TV without sexual innuendo.

What world does this Hobby Lobby guy live in? Certainly isn't the same world I live in.

[Puglover]

21. Even without listening to this oily asshole

you can see the snake in his eyes. Alito has always given me the shudders.

[Scurrilous]

27. K & R

[JDPriestly]

28. K&R.

[William769]

30. kick & recommended.

[DFW]

32. I didn't see this at the time, but Obama had Alito pegged from the start. So did Cheney and Rove

I don't think any of them had any illusions, but Alito was EXACTLY what Cheney and Rove wanted, and was everything Obama was against.

Note, after all, who it was at the SOTU speech mouthing "That's not true" when Obama made a comment about a SCOTUS decision. Of course what Obama said WAS true, but Alito says and does what his benefactors want and rules as his benefactors wish.

Woe betide you if you are wrongly accused of anything as an individual, or have a legitimate complaint against the state or a powerful wealthy entity. For while Samuel Alito has never met a corporation he didn't like, he has rarely met an individual that he did like.

[Goblinmonger]

34. Well we had to keep to powder dry for....

something or other. I can't remember. I'm sure it was pretty damn important to not block this jackhole's appointment.

[supercats]

35. How Can We Legally "Retire" Him?

He needs to be removed "somehow"...

[Strat0]

37. If Boehner's suit reaches the SCOTUS

somehow I doubt Obama will appear as prescient in the next paragraph of this speech.

When it comes to how checks and balances in our system are supposed to operate - the balance of power between the Executive Branch, Congress, and the Judiciary, Judge Alito consistently sides with the notion that a President should not be constrained by either Congressional acts or the check of the Judiciary. He believes in the overarching power of the President to engage in whatever the President deems to be appropriate policy. As a consequence of this, I'm extraordinarily worried about how Judge Alito might approach issues like wiretapping, monitoring of emails, or other privacy concerns that we've seen surface over the last several months.

[Enthusiast]

38. Obama had that asshole nailed.

[red dog 1]

39. K&R...Thanks for posting

President Obama should speak out like this more often.

IMO. Alito and Clarence Thomas should both be impeached!

[emsimon33]

40. Welcome, LexVegas! Timely post! Thank you.

[freshwest]

41. Of course he was... And more brains in his little finger that the lot of them.

[TacoD]

42. Senator Obama ruled. (nt)

[OKNancy]

44. Senator Clinton agreed

Alito would "roll back decades of progress and roll over when confronted with an administration too willing to flaunt the rules and looking for a rubber stamp."

[Cha]

45. Thank you for this history, LexVegas! I read that awhile ago.. Welcome to DU

[Uncle Joe]

47. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, LexVegas.

[EEO]

48. He has his number.

[Drunken Irishman]

49. Obama is a smart guy and is often way more right than not.

See Iraq. See Alito. See Syria.

If only we could have a hundred Obamas in the Senate...

[davidpdx]

52. President Obama and Justice Alito

There is no love loss between those two. I'd pay big buck to be a fly on the wall listening to the two of them talk.

[lame54]

54. But his wife cried - what can you do