Appologies for yet another Alito diary, but there's an aspect of this that I haven't read yet on other threads.
Alito and the rest of the neocons want to eviscerate the powers of Congress to regulate trade (Alito's stance on the commerce clause re EPA regulation of 'navigable waterways'), and limit the powers of the Executive (refusing to allow in the hearings that Congress could limit the use of torture by the Executive), while simultaneously appropriating legislative powers to the Executive by lending credence to signing statements and weakening the concept of equal protection under the law (Alito's take on discrimination cases, making them harder to get heard and thin on remedy). Now I don't have time to provide links to all these issues, but if you've been paying attention, you know them; if not, Google is your friend.
The point is, that this group wants to fundamentally change the nature and power structure of our government. More in extended....
They want to break the system of checks and ballances. And they want to do it in secret. Note that Alito would not admit to any of these issues in questioning. So if they want to break our government and make Congress nothing more than a rubber stamp for the Administration, the least we can do is make them break it in public, in full view, by a frontal assault. See if they have the will to enact the nuclear option or if, like a bully under the watchful eyes of the entire school, they back down this time, and wait in the shadows for later.
As another poster pointed out, a filibuster would allow the Democrats to take control of the debate for at least a cycle, giving our leaders a narrow window in which to make their case against Alito. At least a moment, a chance, to show the people what they're fighting for.
From the Rude One: "How about this for a Democratic strategy now and in the debate after - act like the general public is f!@#%n' sick of the Republicans and how they've led the nation. Act like Americans are begging for someone to stop the crazy train we're on. 'Cause if you can't pull the emergency brake, then you need to get thrown onto the tracks."
Now, to top this possibly redundant Alito diary off, I'm going to post and run. Will try to check back in an hour or two.