Bush kowtows to his base on latest Supreme Court pick

[thatcrazycajun]

Junior Bush, having gotten his behind spanked good and proper by the Republican Party's right-wing base for nominating the nonentity that was Harriet Miers for Sandra Day-O's seat on the Supreme Court, is trying again to placate them -- and apparently succeeding. The "movement" conservatives and the religious bluenoses eager to shove the high court to the right once and for all (especially on abortion) love his latest pick, federal appeals Judge Samuel Alito. Alito is claimed by those who know him not to be an ideologue in the Nino Scalia mold. His decisions, however, speak for themselves, most notably his dissent in favor of upholding the Pennsylvania abortion "husband-alert" law struck down by the Supremes in Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
Two big clues as to what we could expect from Mr. Justice Alito:
1) Reporters who know and have covered him over the years have nicknamed him "Scalito."
2) BusinessWeek reports that the "boardroom set" likes him because his rulings have been firmly on the side of big business and its management against workers, consumers and the environment.
Once again, given a choice between fair, impartial governing and pandering to his party's wingnuts, Junior picks the latter. God forbid the GOP should lose a few seats next year in midterm elections, no matter what it costs the non-rich-white-male-conservative majority long-term. Two words to Democratic Sens. Schumer and Leahy on the Judiciary Committee: Sic 'im!

Comments

[billroper]

My understanding about the Casey opinion is that Alito attempted to ground his opinion in the previous Supreme Court decision on abortion authorized by O'Connor. It's true that the Supreme Court later overturned their earlier precedent in the matter (when reviewing this case), but it doesn't necessarily follow that Alito is either pro-choice or pro-life based on this opinion. I have heard it suggested that he is pro-law. :)

[folkmew.livejournal.com]

Two words to Democratic Sens. Schumer and Leahy on the Judiciary Committee: Sic 'im!
Yeah. Well, from what I've seen of "our boy" Leahy he's a good guy and hard working so hopefully he'll give it his best.

Sigh...