I wish I could ask a few Questions:
Kennedy jump-starts dreary Alito proceedings
By Dana Milbank
Washington Post
WASHINGTON – It looked to be a second dreary day in the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court pick Samuel Alito, as the senators droned and the nominee dodged. Then, just before lunch, the old lion roared. Actually, it started as a growl. The gray-maned Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., read quotations published by a conservative Princeton group to which Alito belonged, protesting that blacks, Hispanics and women “don’t know their place” and suggesting medical experiments for gay Princeton students.
The nominee’s wife, Martha Ann Alito, sighed. Alito’s White House handler, former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats, started working his BlackBerry. The reporters began tapping on their keyboards. Kennedy took a sip of water, flashed a tight smile at Alito, then a broader smile in the direction of the photographers in the pit.
Thus did Democrats take their last stand against Alito. It had become clear that the committee, with unified GOP support, would clear the judge. Surveying the various lines of attack against Alito – his opposition to abortion, his support for a powerful president, his conflict-of-interest issues – Democrats concluded that their best hope was in Alito’s membership in a group opposed to gains by women and minorities. Clarence Thomas had Anita Hill. Alito would have the Concerned Alumni of Princeton.
Whatever the charge’s merits, it drew blood.
As several more Democrats joined Kennedy’s assault – Sen. Joseph Biden Jr., D-Del., donned a Princeton baseball cap for the occasion – Alito’s replies grew more frantic. “I disavow them. I deplore them. They represent things that I have always stood against and I can’t express too strongly,” he told Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. “If you don’t mind the suspicious nature that I have, it’s that you may be saying that because you want to get on the Supreme Court, that you’re disavowing this now because it doesn’t look too good,” said Graham, trying to help Alito. “I’m going to be very honest with you,” Graham continued. “Are you really a closet bigot?”
Alito’s ears turned scarlet. “I’m not any kind of bigot,” he said, emotionally. “I’m not.” Behind him, Martha Alito had had enough. She stood up, tissue in hand, and rushed to the back of the room, where Capitol Police whisked away the tearful woman. She didn’t return for an hour.
Comment: I just love confirmation hearings and don’t think for a moment his wife’s tearful out burst, wasn’t a staged event.
By Dana Milbank
Washington Post
WASHINGTON – It looked to be a second dreary day in the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court pick Samuel Alito, as the senators droned and the nominee dodged. Then, just before lunch, the old lion roared. Actually, it started as a growl. The gray-maned Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., read quotations published by a conservative Princeton group to which Alito belonged, protesting that blacks, Hispanics and women “don’t know their place” and suggesting medical experiments for gay Princeton students.
The nominee’s wife, Martha Ann Alito, sighed. Alito’s White House handler, former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats, started working his BlackBerry. The reporters began tapping on their keyboards. Kennedy took a sip of water, flashed a tight smile at Alito, then a broader smile in the direction of the photographers in the pit.
Thus did Democrats take their last stand against Alito. It had become clear that the committee, with unified GOP support, would clear the judge. Surveying the various lines of attack against Alito – his opposition to abortion, his support for a powerful president, his conflict-of-interest issues – Democrats concluded that their best hope was in Alito’s membership in a group opposed to gains by women and minorities. Clarence Thomas had Anita Hill. Alito would have the Concerned Alumni of Princeton.
Whatever the charge’s merits, it drew blood.
As several more Democrats joined Kennedy’s assault – Sen. Joseph Biden Jr., D-Del., donned a Princeton baseball cap for the occasion – Alito’s replies grew more frantic. “I disavow them. I deplore them. They represent things that I have always stood against and I can’t express too strongly,” he told Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. “If you don’t mind the suspicious nature that I have, it’s that you may be saying that because you want to get on the Supreme Court, that you’re disavowing this now because it doesn’t look too good,” said Graham, trying to help Alito. “I’m going to be very honest with you,” Graham continued. “Are you really a closet bigot?”
Alito’s ears turned scarlet. “I’m not any kind of bigot,” he said, emotionally. “I’m not.” Behind him, Martha Alito had had enough. She stood up, tissue in hand, and rushed to the back of the room, where Capitol Police whisked away the tearful woman. She didn’t return for an hour.
Comment: I just love confirmation hearings and don’t think for a moment his wife’s tearful out burst, wasn’t a staged event.
posted by John Q. Public esq. at 2:10 AM
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