Do I want Samuel Alito to be our next Supreme Court Justice? Of course not. I am deeply troubled by his views on the the power of the executive branch especially in a time when someone like George W. Bush is president. Contrary to what Republicans are saying, Bush's abuse of the Unitary Executive doctrine is very serious. Certainly, having a Samuel Alito sitting on the court would seriously fracture our system of checks and blances for at least the remainder of Bush's term.
I am a "Democracy" Democrat meaning I support a government representative of the people. In our system, the people choose their representatives in an election, held every two to six years at the federal level. Of course, this system is far from perfect but that is beside the point. It is still the constitutional system we go by and should be defended from those who want to change it. This is the primary reason why I think a fillibuster of Alito would be unwarranted.
Let's face it. 2004 was an UNBELIEVABLE oppertunity to both take back the white house and make some significant gains in the senate. As for the Presidency, we narrowly lost a race that was winnable from day one.
When we went into Iraq, even Republicans were saying that Bush was risking his relection. Just in time for campaign season, Bush looked like he was in serious trouble. WMDs, the very premise of our justification for unilateral intervention, were nowhere to be found. Furthermore, the economy back home was in shambles. Our international debt increased to a point where China now owns us. And the list goes on and on...
So what did we do? We go out and nominate John Kerry, a bland, unimpressive junior Senator from Massachusettes who should have been at the very end of our bench. Aside from healthcare, Kerry couldn't articulate a cogent, convincing message for any of his policies. Still, he nearly managed to pull out a win.
I don't want to take up space writing about why John Kerry was a poor candidate because its been said many times before. I will say this, however: Almost any other candidate in our primary would have beaten Bush. And because of our inability to defeat a vulnerable President, we must deal with the consequences.
Sure alito is outside of the political and judicial mainstream of this country. But he is not outside of the mainstream of the President who nominated him. He is like your typical conservatie intellectual who gives speeches to the Federal Society about how better off we would be if the President had more power than he already has. Sure such a position has dangerous implication for our nation's future. And as a "Democracy" Demcorat, I think it is one of the biggest threats facing our Democracy. But who let this happen? Who is responsible for letting millions of working men and women vote for the Enron Haliburton ticket because the other guy just flat out sucked?
As for a filibuster, I think it has a place in the senate.
Alito, however, just isn't extreme enough to warrant one. As I have said many times, Alito's interpretation of the unitary executive doctrine is troubling at best. ALthough Bush has abused his executive authority, I do not think America will ever be faced with outright dictator. Many presidents in the past have made troubling expansions to their already broad scope of power, including my hero, FDR. Everytime, our democracy has survived. If Bush uses the probably new ideology of the supreme court to affirm a dictatorship, I have faith that the American people will enthusiastically vote out the Repbs regardless of how much corporate money filters into the campaign.