In what promises to be a no-holds-barred speech, Minority Leader Harry Reid will take to the Senate floor today to
"open fire" on George Bush, his nominee to the Supreme Court, Samuel Alito...and yes, the Religious wingnuttery is in Harry's crosshairs too:
In fact, the President did consult about the Alito nomination -- but not with me or Senator Leahy. According to press reports, the White House consulted widely with conservative activists to make sure the President would not disappoint them with his selection. Conservative web sites received word of the Alito nomination before any Senate Democrat was informed.
As Senator Reid correctly points out, consultation is not merely a courtesy:
The constitutional design commands a partnership in this endeavor, not mere notification to the co-equal branch of government.
Consultation is not Reid's only concern...
Senator Reid will also address the issue of court diversity (or, more to the point, the lack thereof). And while the benefits and importance of diversity cannot be overlooked, the issue of Samuel Alito's personal and legal beliefs and the influence of the Religious right will be the primary focus of Senator Reid's concerns. And he will point to the nomination and subsequent withdrawal of Harriet Miers for the SCOTUS with devastating effectiveness:
Harriet Miers received a raw deal from her critics...Let's not sugarcoat the truth: the nomination of Harriet Miers was derailed by the overwhelming opposition of right wing activists.
Earlier this year we heard Senator after Senator and conservative commentators across the airwaves declare that every judicial nominee is entitled to an up or down vote. I have one question for those Senators and commentators: When exactly will Harriet Miers receive her up or down vote?
The White House made a half-hearted effort to argue that the Miers nomination was withdrawn in the face of an impasse over what documents would be provided to the Senate. That is a pretext, a laughable cover story.
Harriet Miers was forced to withdraw by conservative activists who want to change the legal landscape of America. They decided she was inadequately radical or insufficiently aggressive for their purposes, so they gave her the boot.
Insufficiently radical...Senator Reid clearly and concisely nails it! He will follow with the state of today's GOP, and borrowing a page from their own playbook, Reid will read a quote from a Republican Senator, decrying the influence the extreme rightwing holds over the Republican Party:
I am very concerned about the ascendancy of the political right, particularly in the Republican Party. It's very obvious that nobody can do enough to please them... think [the Republican Party has] been taken over by people I feel uncomfortable with and a lot of Republicans feel uncomfortable with...They want a political judge. They want a judicial activist.
Reid will follow with a laundry list of past decisions by Alito that outlines, "precisely why the Senate needs to take a long hard look at the Alito nomination." His stance(s) against abortion, civil rights, disability rights and sexual discrimination are cited as areas deserving of "close scrutiny" by the Senate. And Reid will concede Alito's personal likability and judicial experience, but...
...there is nothing disrespectful about an open and fair-minded review of a nominee's approach to the Constitution and his commitment to core American values like equality, privacy and fairness.
Indeed. Core values we can all live with.