Roberts, Yes – ALITO, NO

CONTACT CONGRESS – THERE IS STILL TIME

Hillary, Diane and Barbara voted no (the
other one did too). So did Joe, Edward, Barak, Harry… and the vote goes
on. But John G. Roberts has just been confirmed. In my humble opinion,
we got a conservative for a conservative. It also seems that a man
so obviously able, some say one of the most brilliant of his generation, deserves
to be confirmed.

Frankly, you have to be a senator to understand what
it's like to vote on something so enormous as a Supreme Court Justice, chief
justice, who will likely be in his chair for over 30 years. For me,
the vote I would have cast would have been yay. He was the perfect
candidate for the president. He will likely be a perfect mate for his constituency,
because he's as conservative as they come. That's what happens when Democrats
lose elections, especially ones we should have won. … …

… … But for me, exchanging Rehnquist for Roberts
is a win for everyone, which gives you a view into what I thought of the former
chief justice, with all due respect.

But the next nominee, now that's a whole different
story.

John
G. Roberts

This is a first, quoting one of my own posts, with feeling. It's
not out of ego, but to make a point.

In my humble opinion, John G. Roberts should have been a unanimous
vote in the Senate, or as close to it as you can come. That's right, I disagreed
with John Kerry, Senator Boxer, with whom I disagree a lot, however much I might
respect her, Hillary, Feinstein, and just about every liberal blogger on Roberts.
He impressed me totally, wholly and completely, though I don't agree with him
on a thing politically.

But Samuel Alito is no John Roberts, and it has nothing to do
with his views on choice for me. Sorry, but if we don't have privacy, it seems
to me that choice isn't going to be our first problem.

We're talking about a Supreme Court justice who will support the
president in adding
signing statements that make legislation null and void. This means that with one stroke of the pen, President Bush slapped John McCain's torture amendment away like a nat. That's the power of the unitary executive, to which Alito subscribes, but it's the antithesis of what the Founders had in mind.

Judge Alito is a justice who would allow the presidency to expand even further,
encouraging more secrecy and less transparency for the people, all in the name
of “national security.” This is Dick Cheney's type of judge, someone who will acquiesce to the president's executive authority every time. Leaving President Bush and every president beyond his tenure with
more power than Congress, whose oversight will dwindle even further, with a
judiciary that was hand picked because of ideology, not the rule of law.

If you think that illegal NSA domestic spying is bad, it's just
the first rip in what will become the shredding of the Constitution if Judge
Alito is confirmed.

Sounds dramatic, doesn't it? Well, when you take a democratic republic, exchange a conservative-moderate like Justice O'Connor with a rabidly ideological judge like Alito, it's about as dramatic a shift as you can make.

So it comes down to this: Chief Justice John G. Roberts, yes, but associate justice Samuel
Alito, absolutely, positively NO.

Alito Endorses the Unitary Executive
Alito
Fails the Presidential Power Test
Alito
Defended (illegal domestic) Wiretaps