First post.
The sentiments surrounding Alito and the failure to filibuster his nomination are understandable. But let's step back a moment, and put it into perspective.
This was the wrong issue for drawing a line in the sand. Sorry. No, I don't like Alito either. But the fact is, he tap danced his way through the process without major gaffes. There were no skeletons in the closet scary enough to send people screaming into the night. As a result, the chances of putting together a successful filibuster were almost nil.
Filibuster Alito? That was just throwing red meat to the ravenous party faithful.
The NEXT SCOTUS nominee will be the one that matters. That's just political reality. That's just counting votes.
Roberts, Alito, Scalia, Thomas = 4 votes. There are still 4 relatively liberal votes, with Kennedy as the swing. That's not a great position, having Kennedy as the swing, but it's not the end of the world. No, that comes with the next SCOTUS nomination. Hopefully, Bush will not have the chance to make another nomination. If Bush does have another opportunity, that will be the time to draw the line.
The timing was wrong as well. We cannot treat every issue as if it were political armageddon. We need to concentrate, plan on making just two or three issues the focus, and manipulate events to play into those issues going into the midterms.
Yeah, yeah, occasionally I threaten to join the Greens. But not yet. Let's play together. Let's play smart. And let's play to win.