Below is my letter to Senators Kohl and Feingold. It succinctly shows my thoughts on the Alito nomination and what I think it means for the democrats and the country.
Senator Kohl,
Another thought. Before the Iraq war, the democrats had a chance to stand together against a war that I knew was clearly wrong even from the beginning. Many democrats, fearing the political consequences, voted for the resolution. Imagine if every democrat had voted against the resolution. They would seem prophetic now and would have likely already won the presidency, if not one house of congress. However, because so many democrats were complicit in this war, they could not effectively oppose the president. Kerry is the poster boy for this problem.
We now approach another test with the Alito confirmation. If the democrats do not stand together and oppose this nominee, who clearly is way out of the mainstream, they will again provide political cover to the republicans. When, in all likelihood, Roe v. Wade gets overturned, or Bush is granted carte blanche executive powers, the democrats will again not be able to make the republicans pay a political price for their poor stewardship of government. Please oppose and push for a filibuster of Judge Alito. You will probably lose this battle, but it will set up the democrats to win the war later on.
I have not decided what I will do as far as supporting the democrats if they roll over on this.