Posted on 09/12/2006 8:43:43 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SIMI VALLEY
How does Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito describe the last year, when he endured a bruising confirmation fight in the Senate to land a seat on the nation's highest court?
"I sometimes feel as if I had an out of body experience," he said.
Speaking Tuesday to a capacity crowd at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Alito described the highs and lows that came with being plucked from the relative quiet of a seat on the federal bench in New Jersey and landing in the spotlight of Washington politics.
It was, he said, "certainly quite a change."
Hounded by a pack of reporters and photographers at the Capitol, he said he thought of himself as the character Quasimodo from the movie "The Hunchback of Notre Dame."
Like Quasimodo, who found sanctuary in a cathedral, Alito said he "breathed a sigh of relief" when he closed the door to a private office after the end of a long day of meetings with senators.
Even after his confirmation, Alito faced another challenge he joined the court in the middle of its term, which he said was "quite difficult. It was exhilarating, but it was exhausting."
Throughout the term he commuted to New Jersey on weekends, where his daughter was in high school, after working long hours in Washington. Making his last trip to Washington at the end of the term, he said he made three stops for coffee while driving on notoriously congested I-95. But the summer, he said, allowed him to catch up on his rest.
Alito, 56, joined the court after being confirmed by the Senate, 58-42, in January. During the Reagan administration, the Yale Law School graduate served as assistant to the U.S. solicitor general from 1981 to 1985 and deputy assistant to the U.S. attorney general from 1985 to 1987. Reagan later appointed him as U.S. attorney in New Jersey.
As is customary for high-profile speakers at the hilltop library, he entered the room with former first lady Nancy Reagan.
He recalled being inspired by a Reagan speech as a teenager, saying, "I can still remember the speech and I can still remember the impact that it made on my interests and on my thinking."
Alito said he recently reread many of Reagan's writings and letters, and said the late president's enduring lesson was to have faith in "the principles that have guided us since our founding, and that are reflected in our founding documents."
From the "headline taken out of context" files.
Will never forget his wife crying as he was humilated by all those a-hole Senators during the hearings.
Couldn't he just jump on the train like Joe Biden does?
:>)
My first post: Sam Alito makes me proud to be an American.
What??
We practically signed up on the same day!
And its your first post? Welcome to posting!
Ditto the proud to be an American thing.
Alito was never humiliated by the a-holes. They humiliated themselves. His wife cried when one Senator apologized for the mess the other Senators were making of themselves.
Perhaps he believes in psychics, gurus, and aliens, too?
Fortunately for Alito, he had a happy ending.
Alito said he recently reread many of Reagan's writings and letters, and said the late president's enduring lesson was to have faith in "the principles that have guided us since our founding, and that are reflected in our founding documents."This is not something you want to suggest around liberals.
This is one long nightmare. I can certainly understand his "out of body experience" comment. The left IS truly insane, and makes one wonder if this is real or not.
(Pinch) Nope. It's not a dream. But maybe there is hope. The looney left will all commit suicide when a bright comet streaks by the earth, and they all want to jump on the space ship hiding behind it, and America will be normal again. Birds will chirp, fishing will be jumping, deer will run into my rifle scope crosshairs, and not a word of protest will be heard anywhere in the land.
(I can dream, can't I)
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