Sen. Obama Criticizes Filibuster Tactic

ABCNEWS.GO.COM ^ | 01/29/06 | Hope Yen

[pjsbro]

WASHINGTON Jan 29, 2006 — To more effectively oppose Supreme Court nominees in the future, Democrats need to convince the public "their values are at stake" rather than use stalling tactics to try to thwart the president, said a senator who opposes Samuel Alito's confirmation.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., predicted on Sunday that an effort to try to block a final vote on Alito would fail on Monday. That would clear the way for Senate approval Tuesday of the federal appeals court judge picked to succeed the retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Democrats fear he would shift the court rightward on abortion rights, affirmative action, the death penalty and other issues. "We need to recognize, because Judge Alito will be confirmed, that, if we're going to oppose a nominee that we've got to persuade the American people that, in fact, their values are at stake," Obama said.

"There is an over-reliance on the part of Democrats for procedural maneuvers," he told ABC's "This Week."

Sens. John Kerry and Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts are urging fellow Democrats to support a filibuster, citing in part Alito's conservative record on abortion and deference to executive power.

Alito's supporters must produce 60 votes to cut off a filibuster; an Associated Press tally shows at least 62.

The AP tally also shows that at least 53 Republicans and three Democrats intend to vote to confirm Alito; that is well over the required majority.

President Bush said Saturday in his weekly radio address that senators should have an up-or-down on a nominee "who understands that the role of a judge is to strictly interpret the law."

Obama cast Alito as a judge "who is contrary to core American values, not just liberal values."

But Obama joined some Democrats, including Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Charles Schumer of New York, in expressing his unhappiness with the filibuster bid.

"There's one way to guarantee that the judges who are appointed to the Supreme Court are judges that reflect our values. And that's to win elections," Obama said.

[pjsbro]

My less pessimistic view is that many Democrats will very soon begin to move to the right. You can see this change already if you listen to some of Democratic strategists, for example on cable TV.

THe bottom line is that the Democratic Party ran out of ideas a long time ago and in order to win elections they will need to start appealing to normal people again, that is, those folks who represent the sane middle class in this country.

I think the looney left will increasingly become marginalized in the electoral process to the point of becoming a fringe third party.

Kennedy, Kerry, Klinton, and their ilk will no longer be relevant in this new order.

[Fido969]

G major in open G tuning sounds real cool too.

Bad to the Bone.

[Fido969]

The liberals who were children in the 60s are now of age politically, having worked their way through the system.

Now they find the liberal ideas they have held dear all that time out of favor. So they will lie and disguise those anyway they can, in order to obtain power. But make no mistake as to what their agenda really is.

[Dr. Scarpetta]

IMO Judge Alito should not have answered so many questions. They're putting him through hell because he tried be honest.

[Malesherbes]

The voters of Illinois are reminded once more of Obama's brilliance when he figures out - after all the media have reported it -that a fillibuster won't work.

[Barnacle]

My less pessimistic view is that many Democrats will very soon begin to move to the right. You can see this change already if you listen to some of Democratic strategists, for example on cable TV.

You are indeed more optimistic than I.

Move to the right? You mean like Hilary saying that she is for a strong military?

No. Their agenda will remain the same. Only their lies will change. Their only hope is to fool people into electing them so that they can pursue their elitist socialist goals.

A more likely scenario I see is the Democrat Party becoming the third party as a Conservative party emerges to replace what the Republicans once stood for.

[Barnacle]

The voters of Illinois are reminded once more of Obama's brilliance...

The voters of Illinois have very little to do with Obama being elected. Chicago determined that. Illinois is in the most pathetic state of its history.

The Republicans are no cure for our problems either.

[Barnacle]

Fido,

See post #47.

Great minds think alike. ?;^T

Best regards,
Barnacle

[Dengar01]

Obama seemed like a great guy when I met him. Compared to Turbin Durbin he is a saint, lol. As far as this state goes, it's so screwed up that I can't distinguish between the GOP and the Rats because of all the corruption.

[El Conservador]

Rafter work???

Are you still stuck on stick-framing???

You stone-ager!!! :P

[Muleteam1]

This is a building which was built in the Stone-Ages and which we had for some time. I'm just trying to minimally put it back together in order to sell the property. If it was in a town that was even slightly growing, I would prbably replace the whole building and do something with it myself. I have two other smaller commercial buildings on the same west Texas property. Not worth a lot but worth trying to reinvest its value where there's some growth.

Muleteam1

[pjsbro]

Move to the right? You mean like Hilary saying that she is for a strong military?

Yes, that is one example.

Their only hope is to fool people into electing them so that they can pursue their elitist socialist goals.

People are beginning to see that socialism is the wrong way, and eventually the Dems will abandon that notion. Many already have, although there are still many remaining old leftists who form the moonbat wing. Eventually nature will take its course and demographics will force the party into a less leftist position to appeal again to normal people.

[Barnacle]

People are beginning to see that socialism is the wrong way, and eventually the Dems will abandon that notion.

Interesting prediction. But, for all their posturing, I don't think they will fundamentally change, except to get worse. They can't win elections without appealing to the looney-tunes and the looney-tunes do not present a unified enough front be affective.

In short, the Democratic Party has sealed its fate. It was inevitable. That's just what happens when you run a fraud. Just like a Ponzi scheme, there comes a point when the game collapses. For the Democratic Party, that point began on September 11, 2001. I predict that it will continue to disintegrate for the next ten years as more and more of them crowd into the "Big Tent" of the Republican Party. But, as they do, they will bring so many of their Socialist trappings with them, that Conservatives will not be able to stand the stench and will form a Conservative Party headed by the likes of Pat Buchanan.

I think the Republicans realization of this scenario is the reason they so rabidly attacked Buchanan and eventually led to his withdrawal from the party.

Within 20 years, the real political races will be run between the Republican and Conservative Parties. The Democrat party will be about as significant a force as the Green Party.

[Barnacle]

Obama seemed like a great guy when I met him.

I am not surprised to hear you say that. And, that's the thing that frightens me most about him.

[Otho]

He gets to have it both ways. Per today's Washington Times, he (and Joe Biden) will vote against cloture -- to continue filibustering.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20060130-123151-5630r.htm

[KeyLargo]

Freepers should always refer to Obama by his given Muslim name:

Barack HUSSEIN Obama

---

Barack Obama
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Barack Obama
Office: Junior Senator, Illinois
Political party: Democratic
Term of office: January 2005–Present
Preceded by: Peter Fitzgerald
Succeeded by: Incumbent (2011)
Born: August 4, 1961
Honolulu, Hawaii
Died:
Spouse: Michelle Obama

Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. (born August 4, 1961) is a U.S. Senator from Illinois. He is the first African-American man from the Democratic Party ever to be elected to the United States Senate. He received international media coverage for his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, delivered while he was still an Illinois state senator.

Obama won the open Senate seat while on leave from the University of Chicago Law School. He is the only African-American currently serving in the U.S. Senate, the fifth in U.S. history and the third since Reconstruction. Obama won the election in a landslide, with 70% of the vote to Alan Keyes' 27%. He is junior senator to Richard Durbin, with whom he is reported to have an excellent professional and personal relationship.

Obama is married to Michelle Obama, a Chicago native. They have two daughters: Malia Ann (born 1999) and Natasha (born 2001).

Early life

Barack Obama was born at the Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii to Harvard-educated economist Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., a native of Kenya, and S. Ann Dunham, of Wichita, Kansas. At the time of Obama's birth, both his parents were students at the East-West Center at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Barack initially was given the religion of his father which was Islam but eventually decided to embrace the Christian faith.

Of his years in Hawaii, Obama has written, "The irony is that my decision to work in politics, and to pursue such a career in a big Mainland city, in some sense grows out of my Hawaiian upbringing, and the ideal that Hawaii still represents in my mind."

When Obama was two years old, his parents divorced. His father eventually returned to Kenya, and he saw his son only once more before his death in 1982. Ann Obama married another East-West Center student from Indonesia. In his early childhood while growing up with his mother, Barack used the name 'Barry'. The family then moved to Jakarta,
where Obama's half-sister Maya was born (Obama has other half-siblings from his father's other marriages). When Obama was ten he returned to Hawaii under the care of his grandparents, and later his mother, for the better educational opportunities. He was enrolled in the fifth grade at Punahou School, where he graduated with honors in 1979.

[thepatriot1]

There's one way to guarantee that the judges who are appointed to the Supreme Court are judges that reflect our values. And that's to win elections

The smartest words I've heard from a Democrat in a long time.

[Dengar01]

Yeah, that's the thing. He is a great speaker and extremely personable.