I hear you on all of that. I just don't believe there will be any serious issues with this confirmation. I'm not concerned in the least, and I REALLY want Alito to be confirmed.
Ed Whelan (NRO Bench Memos) is taking Kohl's reference of aggressive charges against Alito that he's being pressured to vote against.
http://bench.nationalreview.com/archives/086404.asp
Also, this one was funny
http://bench.nationalreview.com/archives/086399.asp