So our junior Senator has decided that Samuel Alito absolutely must be filibustered – and has issued the call from his office in Washington, DC his home base of Boston a cushy economic summit in Switzerland (hey, it could have been worse – he could have been at his family’s estate in France). Not only that, he’s decided to post his position on Daily Kos, perhaps as part of his newfound realization that the base of his party is somewhat left of center.
It’s hard to say what Kerry is up to here. At this point, it’s far too late to rally the troops for a filibuster – and Kerry surely knows that. A quixotic gesture to the left? An effort to seize the spotlight away from likely presidential rival Hillary Clinton? I really don’t know.
But the way it’s being received is pretty ugly. Check out the NY Times:
Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts could not attend the Senate debate on the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. on Thursday. He was in Davos, Switzerland, hobnobbing with international business and political leaders at the World Economic Forum. But late Thursday afternoon, Mr. Kerry began calling fellow Democratic senators in a quixotic, last-minute effort for a filibuster to stop the nomination. Democrats cringed and Republicans jeered at the awkwardness of his gesture, which almost no one in the Senate expects to succeed….
Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic leader, sounded almost apologetic about Mr. Kerry’s move. “No one can complain on this matter that there hasn’t been sufficient time to talk about Judge Alito, pro and con,” Mr. Reid said on the Senate floor. “I hope that this matter will be resolved without too much more talking.”
Ouch.
I don’t know what Kerry’s motivation is, but I’m glad he’s doing it. Just because you think Alito will be confirmed despite it, is no excuse not to try to block him. Democrats have been saying for so long, “elect Democrats to protect the Supreme Court”. Well, this is it, exactly the kind of judge many of us have been supporting Democrats in order to keep off the court. Worse, in some ways, because he’s also the sort of judge who would enable Bush’s dreams of executive power.
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Redstate, a prominent conservative blog, published an analysis of why Democrats should try to filibuster Alito and why it would be to their strategic benefit even if it failed (actually, especially if it failed).
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My feeling, aside from Redstate’s essay, is that Democrats need to try their best to make clear what the conflict here is, and to highlight it in the news. If, after that happens, Alito is confirmed, at least people will have paid some attention, and those who oppose Alito will understand why we need more Democrats in the Senate. If the Democrats just let it slide, a lot of us will feel betrayed, and justifiably so. Alito is no Roberts. He is extremely extremely dangerous to the health and safety of this country. If the Democratic party isn’t going to try to stop him, we don’t need a Democratic party.
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I called Kerry and Kennedy about this last week, earlier this week, and again this morning. I was very happy to hear, this morning, that Kerry was going to try to organize a filibuster. I also called Reid’s office, both last week and again today after speaking to the guy at Kerry’s.
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And then, I called several other Democratic Senators as well, from states where I’ve campaigned for Democrats in the past few years.
Kerry needs to learn how to count to 40, and to a lesser extent, so do to voters.
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DailyKos had great point yesterday when you look at the numbers. Right now the Dems have 44, with approx 10 from Red States.
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It is ok to be mad about that, but the talk about not supporting the Democratic party because they don’t filibuster Alito misses a bigger, more realistic point.
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Alito is Bush’s choice, not the Dems. The filibuster talk is a waste of time and will only make the Dems look worse, since it is an empty threat.
Sadly, the reaction of the NYTimes should be no surprise to us at this point. They are back to their old same paper, sleeping on the NSA story and letting Miller parrotting RW talking points.
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They just forget that yesterday, their editorial called senators to filibuster Alito even if they did not have the numbers to win. They also forget that Kerry and Kennedy’s effort to have a filibuster (and Durbin, Boxer, …) is not new. Their was an article in the same NYTimes yesterday explaining that Kennedy and Kerry had called their colleagues to filibuster (and that the same people who are always afraid to put a good fight were once again afraid). So what is the surprise, and what is the big deal in the fact that Kerry was at Davos. There are such things as phones, these days, and planes to come back when you are needed.
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Obviously, there are a number of Democratic Senators (among those who oppose Alito) that do not want to fight for it. Too bad. We should be supportive of our senators when they fight for us.
John Kerry never ceases to amaze me. I’m just waiting to find out he wasn’t in Davos, but he was actually in Paris, eating a croissant, getting his hair coiffed, and speaking with the locals.
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Reality has to set in at some point. Dems shouldn’t filibuster Alito. They should all vote against him, yes, but not for the filibuster. As much as it pains me to say, he made it through the process (largely) unscathed. Any attempt, to filibuster at this point, makes those who support it look petty.
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Elections have consequences, and when a democrat wins in 2008, I want to shove someone down there throat that they scream to the high heavens about. And I don’t want to worry, “what if Tom Coburn goes John Kerry on me?”
As an FYI, regarding the economic summit: John Kerry was there on Senate business along with several other U.S. Senators. He’s ah…doing his job. You would think he was reclining on the beach in the Bahamas for Pete’s sake! And he’s already back in the states to lead the fight against Alito. For someone who isn’t even on the Judiciary Committee, his actions are very impressive.
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As for the snide remarks and Republican talking points being spewed at Senator Kerry, there is someone who answers that far better than I can:
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From Learning to Lose Well by Digby:
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I hope some of the comments I’m reading around the blogosphere aren’t reflections of of a knee jerk cynicism on the part of Democrats who have fallen in love with their assessment that they are superior to their elected leaders. This is a very dangerous state of mind.
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John Kerry stepped up today. Apparently, that isn’t enough for some. He is still a “loser” in their eyes and is to be shunned. He didn’t do it soon enough. Or he didn’t do it right. Or he is nothing but a political opportunist. I’m beginning to think that some Democrats have gotten attached to their vision of Democrats as losers so they won’t be emotionally shattered anymore. That’s understandable. It’s painful to get beaten. But, the rank and file need to step up too and be willing to lose and not hate ourselves or our leaders for it. How we lose on issues like this makes the difference for the future.
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Read the rest at: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2006_01_22_digbysblog_ar…
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Democratic Unity must stop being an oxymoron.
That’s a good point from FrenchGirl. The New York Times published an editorial calling on Senators to filibuster, or perhaps more accurately, excoriating the Senate for “rolling over and playing dead” by letting Alito get on the court. The editorial, titled Senators in Need of a Spine, closes with this:
Senate Democrats, who presented a united front against the nomination of Judge Alito in the Judiciary Committee, seem unwilling to risk the public criticism that might come with a filibuster â particularly since there is very little chance it would work. Judge Alito’s supporters would almost certainly be able to muster the 60 senators necessary to put the nomination to a final vote.
A filibuster is a radical tool. It’s easy to see why Democrats are frightened of it. But from our perspective, there are some things far more frightening. One of them is Samuel Alito on the Supreme Court.
I haven’t scrolled through the 600+ comments at the Daily Kos but it seems that most of those people agree with me — I’m glad he’s taking a stand. We can always find fault: should’ve done it earlier, should’ve found more support, whatever, but the truth of the matter is that no one has been leading the Dems and now Kerry has finally stepped up to do something that is going to put him at the ire of everyone, but he’s standing up for his principles and ours.