Posted on 01/24/2006 5:44:51 AM PST by ken5050
Good morning, to all you political junkies. Today, at 9:30 am EST, the Senate Judiciary Committee meets to vote on the nomination of Samuel Alito be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. If you're around, make a fresh pot of coffee, and join us for the show.....
A few observations, and questions for our discussion today:
It is expected that the vote will be along straight party lines, 10-8, and the nomination will thus be reported favorably to the full Senate.
It is possible that we may learn a few things from the comments of the Democrat senators today. The level of their vitriol will be an indication of how ugly the full Senate debate will be. If indeed, they do decide to filabuster, then you will see the groundwork, the roadmap, for that decision laid out in today's comments..
The Dems have created a problem for themselves. Responding to the excessive pressure from their base, they have rigidly enforced caucus discipline. Thus the final may well be less than 60 votes to confirm. This will then cause the lunatic/left fringe to go ballistic; they will say that a filabuster would have succeeded, and they will attack the Dem leadership for NOT mounting a filabuster....
Majority leader Frist has said that the debate will begin tomorrow, Wednesday, in the Senate, and he hopes to conclude the final vote late Friday. He has said that the Senate will stay on the nomination until the vote is concluded.
There has been some chatter that the Dems will attempt some procedural delaying tactics to try and put off the vote for a few weeks more. (Cboldt, if you're around here today..this means we need you to explain..) I don't quite understand what they are contemplating, but perhaps some here can clarify for us..
As a point of interest,the Senate meets today at 10am, on C-span 2. It will be worthwhile, IMHO, to monitor the leader's time, to see what both Frist and Reid have to say..Frist will explain his schedule for the debate, and vote, and Reid's response will provide the first indication of what, if anything, the Dems are up to.
There are several red-state Democrat senators who have yet to announce how they will vote on Alito. Anyone have any info. Another Dem senator who will have a BIG problem with his vote, IMHO, is Menendez..just sworn in to replace Corzine from NJ. Menendez is a doctrinaire lib, but Alito is from NJ, and Menendez is trailing his GOP opponent; Tom Keane, Jr.. badly in all the early polls..so, it's not easy for him.
Another Dem who will have problems will be in Missouri, where the polls show a tight race for Talent. DNC chair Dean, in the state to campaign for her last week, said that if she was in the senate, it would be another vote against Alito. That's the last time that Dean will be seen in Mo this year.. You can bet on it..
And let's not forget Chafee..who is really between a rock and a hard place. If he votes against Alito, he'll lose the GOP primary. We may then lose the Senate seat,but I for one, am willing to bear that price. We have to bring these RINOs to account. And speaking of RINOS, anyone heard how Maine's "Pigeon sisters" plan to vote on the nomination.
Last item to ponder. Anyone else besides me notice that the Gang of 14 has NOT had a meeting to "discuss the nomination?" Very curious..not sure what it means. Indeed, you can't even find a current reference tot he Gang on any search, whereas during the Roberts nomination they were very prominent. Methinks, FWIW, that a few Dem members of the Gang, like Sheets and Pryor, are really feeling pressure from both sides...
FYI..As we did during the Roberts hearings, I'll be starting a LIVE THREAD each day, about an hour before the senate convenes. I'll post it in BREAKING NEWS each day..so it will be easy to find. The Roberts threads were among the most enjoyable, and informative, we've had on FR, and I look forward to the week's debate, and discussions...
FYI...party time..it ain't "24" or "American Idol"..but it's the BEST daytime TV going...
One of our Republicans had BETTER use just a minute of his 15 minutes to humiliate Kennedy and tell him that the Prospect magazine article was satire.
Finding my seat!
BTTT
It's not "24", but if Biden starts another rant I'm calling Jack Bauer.
Live thread ping...
There has been some chatter that the Dems will attempt some procedural delaying tactics to try and put off the vote for a few weeks more.
They want at the very least to deprive the President of being able to declare victory in the State of the Union address. Further delays would get their hopes up of a) mobilizing more liberal contributions and b) potentially making this a 2006 election issue (how Alito would make grandma eat dogfood in the convent)
Excellent point. The GOP strategery during the hearings was very successful Every GOP senator first refuted every insane Dem comment by the previous speaker, before asking his own questions.. They should use the same tactic this time out..
FOFL!!!
Let the games begin.
Dancing Jack Roberts is getting this party started early this morning!
I'm trying to remember....Did the SCOTUS justices all, or some, attend the last few SOTUs?..I'd love to see Roberts and Alito come down the aisle..( wait, that sounds wrong...LOL)
Gut-feeling says they filibuster...
Thanks for the ping!
Well I put on my waders and did my civic duty, slogged through DUmmyland to see what's floating in their punch yesterday. They are all worked up because someone called John Kerry's office and was told the senator would support a filibuster. This morphed into, the senator would "lead" a filibuster. The thread on this subject was almost hallucinogenic, but the consensus is that there will be a filibuster or an attempt at one, because such characters as John Kerry are openly supportive of it.
For reasons of schadenfreude I'll return to that section of sewage later today and also after the full senate votes. Would bring back pictures if I could, but think Hieronymus Bosch.
I must have missed the "toad" stuff.. First I've heard of it..can you briefly explain, or provide a link?..Thanks..
Just for the entertainment value, I hope the democRATs can't keep their mouths shut.
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