Democrats Standing Up for the American People

This is going to get hilarious.

Reactions to the Alito Nomination

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV): "The nomination of Judge Alito requires an especially long, hard look by the Senate because of what happened last week to Harriet Miers. Conservative activists forced Miers to withdraw from consideration for this same Supreme Court seat because she was not radical enough for them. Now the Senate needs to find out if the man replacing Miers is too radical for the American people."

Translation: We will continue to speak for the American people. So what if those same people have not elected us to the White House since 1996 and have tossed us out of the majority in both houses of Congress. We know how they really feel.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee: "With turmoil engulfing the White House, with no way out of the disastrous and deadly occupation of Iraq, with a worsening federal debt, and with obscenely high profits that continue to pile up for the Administration’s Big Oil friends, catering to an extreme wing of one political party risks removing checks and balances for the majority of Americans. It is unfortunate that the President felt he was in such a weak position that he had to bend to a narrow but vocal faction of his political base. The Supreme Court is the ultimate check and balance in our system that protects the fundamental rights of all Americans."

Translation: Though this has nothing to do with Iraq, the debt, Joe Wilson or Big Oil, I couldn’t help but use the occasion to opine on all of them. The extreme wing of the Republican Party now consists of at least 51 Senators, as that, at a minimum, is how many are going to vote to confirm this nominee absent a filibuster. So the extreme and the majority are now synonymous and we must filibuster because only our minority really speaks for the majority of Americans. The Supreme Court and the filibuster are the only tools we have left to usurp the opinion of the majority, and we risk losing both of them at once.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee: "It is sad that the president felt he had to pick a nominee likely to divide America instead of choosing a nominee in the mold of Sandra Day O'Connor, who would unify us. This controversial nominee, who would make the court less diverse and far more conservative, will get very careful scrutiny from the Senate and from the American people."

Translation: It’s just not fair, and besides, he’s a white guy! Oh wait, so am I. Am I? He can’t possibly speak for the American people like we do. Do I sound like Daschle?

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee: "Rather than selecting a nominee for the good of the nation and the court, President Bush has picked a nominee whom he hopes will stop the massive hemorrhaging of support on his right wing. This is a nomination based on weakness, not strength."

Translation: Damned it all! Hiccup. @$&##!

More bad news for Dems:

Key Republican backs Alito, warns Democrats

Sen. Mike DeWine, who met with President Bush’s latest high court choice earlier Tuesday, warned Democrats he would side with GOP leaders to eliminate the judicial filibuster if the minority party uses it against the New Jersey judge.

“It’s hard for me to envision that anyone would think about filibustering this nominee,” said DeWine, an Ohio Republican who sided with 13 other Republicans and Democrats earlier this year to end a Senate stalemate over judicial filibusters.

I feel a filibuster buster coming on. The next two months should be exciting.

.