Alito has been nominated and we need immediate, TODAY action. We need to be contacting Senators to ensure they will not be fence riding on Alito! We need to be developing talking points so as to counter the rightwing parroting that has
already been developed and
already is dominating the dicussion! We absolutely cannot fall behind on this guy and let another Roberts situation unfold. We cannot afford to have defectors. We must let the likely suspects know this loud and clear. That means Salazar and Nelson and Lieberman. And no it's not too soon to put the pressure on them!
The rightwing parrot is already out there and fully functioning:
- Alito's unanimous appointment by a Democratic controlled congress.
- Alito is a justice in the mold of John Roberts.
- Alito is a "solid conservative."
- Alito, as a "solid conservative" will not be an "activist."
- Alito's opposition is only due to Planned Parenthood vs. Casey.
We must absolutely not let Alito's nomination get framed in terms of abortion yes/no. We must not allow the red-herring argument of "but you unanimously appointed him 15 years ago!" to dominate the discussion. We must shatter the "solid conservative" symbol lest it becomes the newest catch-phrase a la "compassionate conservative." We must cancel out any association with Justice Roberts.
We must continue to group him with Scalia. We must use words like "reactionary" and "hardliner". We must place Alito OUT of the mainstream. We must make great use of the recent NY Times piece about activist judges and conservatism. We must thrust aside the "unanimous Democratic support" label and replace it with the logic that 15 years of track record has proven Alito to be a judge outside of mainstream politics.
And we cannot allow our Democratic senators to deviate at all from party moorings. Let's get pressure, immediate pressure, on these Senators!
Ken Salazar
Email form: http://salazar.senate.gov/...
Denver office: (303) 455-7600
DC office: (202) 224-5852
Ben Nelson
Email form: http://bennelson.senate.gov/...
Lincoln office: (402) 441-4600
DC office: (202) 224-6551
Joe Lieberman
Email form: http://lieberman.senate.gov/...
Hartford office: (860) 549-8463
DC office: (202) 224-4041