Democrats suffer broken backs; Alito hearings blamed
by JohnHuang2
"The system's kind of broken," says Sen. Joe Biden. The "system" of "kind of" confirmation hearings. But Biden says Biden's not the reason the "system's kind of broken." Or, at least he's not the reason anymore. In fact, stung by criticism of being too long-winded during the John Roberts hearings, Biden whittled each question down this time to only over 20 minutes.
Appearing on NBC's "Today" show last Thursday, Biden complained that "nominees now, Democrat and Republican nominees, come before the United States Congress and resolve not to let the people know what they think about important issues." Biden's tired of nominees showing up donning white baseball caps with "PRINCETON" emblazoned in front, preening for the TV cameras. And yammering endlessly about their grandfather named Finnegan and their daughter at the University of Pennsylvania. The system is totally kinda broken!
Biden's kinda "solution"? Ditch the hearings and "just go to the Senate floor and debate the nominee's statements . . ." Make sure the 'nominee's statements' were the nominee's -- not "borrowed" language, to be sure. But that's it. "Rather than this game."
"We oughta just go straight to the Senate (floor for debate). That's a much better way to do it," Biden told NEWSWEEK.
And to show he really means it, Biden and fellow Judiciary Committee Democrats are keeping Alito's nomination from going to the Senate floor for debate. For at least one week. The press calls this 'Democrats exercising their right to a customary one-week delay .' I call it 'Democrats selecting the date they get defeated.'
Democrats delayed Bush's vote certification, delayed Cabinet appointments, delayed Judges, delayed White House pizza deliveries. So a petty one-week delay on Alito was a bit of a shock.
Specter and Leahy had struck a 'deal' back in November. Specter pushed for hearings in early January. Leahy pushed for hearings in early January, 2009. But January, 2006 it would be, with a vote in Committee on the 17th and an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor days later. Now Dems renege on the deal. One GOP Senator called it a 'breach of trust.' Libbies burn the flag, kill the unborn, appease terrorists, commit treason, shorten sentences for rapists and murderers -- BUT RENEGE ON THEIR WORD?!?
The way the process usually works is that the President announces his nomination. If the President is a Republican, and the nominee is a Republican, the nomination is "controversial." "Controversial" because Ted Kennedy calls the nominee a racist, sexist, homophobic four-legged, two-headed, flame-spewing, green-slimy-scaled monster chowing down on left-handed gay Native-American abortion doctors protesting pRESIDENT Bu$hitler's Dieboldical police state.
Given its heavy media coverage, the hearings are the first and only real chance the racist, sexist, homophobe has to clear his name. But if you're a bed-wetting losercratic clown like Joe Biden, and "Dumbya's" nominees keep handing your butt to you on live TV, scrapping the hearings and going straight for a filibuster on the Senate floor is what you want.
Rather than Judge Alito being the "freak" appointment, the only freak appointments were senators sitting on the Democrat side of the committee.
Seeing how well these hearings have gone for libbies, the Bidenocrats essentially are telling their shriveling base of morons that senators are too incompetent to judge a nominee's competence. Let the press advise and consent.
Instead of taking on the nominee in hearings, Democrats are reverting to basics: Cut and run.
During a full week of "confirmation" hearings, Judge Alito fielded more than 700 penetrating speeches and pontifications from senators. Subjects included extremely hot button issues such as application of H.R. 1646's provisions in sections 408, 616, 621, 633 and 1343 under professor John Yoo's theory of the "unitary executive" (a really tantalizing topic around the water cooler!), under which the President would actually be in charge of the government's Executive Branch -- just because Article II of the Constitution says so; Bush's scandalous decision to allow the NSA to spy on innocent al-Qaeda-Americans; Vanguard; Alito's membership in CAP (Concerned Alumni of Princeton); Vanguard; a job application Alito filled out only over 21 years ago; Vanguard. It was enough to make you leave the hearing room in tears. Of laughter.
Of all the pre-schoolery in last week's Leahy-Kennedy-Biden-Schumer-Durbin laugh-a-thon, the libbie paranoia surrounding Alito's membership in Princeton's now-defunct CAP group got the prize. Are you now, or have you ever been a member of Concerned Alumni of Princeton?, the concerned senators asked, donning their Alumni-foil hats. Never know -- with Alito in the room, NSA-satellite-beamed alien rays, and all that.
Democrats never laid a glove on him. Instead, Alito laid a glum on Democrats. Glum Democrats Can't See Halting Bush on Courts read a New York Times headline. Libbies are so glum, all they can do is watch Brokeback Mountain to keep from leaping from their apartment ledge. Or listen to Al Gore "ROAR" speeches as a sleep aid.
For a whole week, we kept hearing Democrats say how 'troubled' they were, believing this would sink Alito because it's against the law to trouble an endangered species! Despite this, Alito's a shoo-in, and Democrats, walking the planks of the Democrat platform, are still stuck-on-stupid.
Anyway, that's...
My two cents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
