Hosannah in the highest. He's RC- how horrid. Male- replacing Justice O'Connor. Tilting to the right- with prejudice. Ruled that a wife must notify her husband before an abortion-a violation of the Libs' Holy of Holies (thanks Donald R. McClarey for coining this phrase.) Should be wall-to-wall wailing and gnashing of teeth on the cable teevee shows I avoid because life is too short to waste on them. The fight that GWB hoped to avoid by nominating Ms. Miers. This time decided let it roll. Seems like a chap who can make them roll over and concede as Chief Justice Roberts. The nickname 'Scalito' doesn't hurt- used by all the right enemies. Let's get it on.
Gerard E. | 10.31.05 - 1:44 pm | #

Yee-ha!
Peggy | Homepage | 10.31.05 - 1:52 pm | #

Alito would be the fifth Catholic on the Supreme Court out of nine. That must be a record.

By the way, has anyone read the Weigel article on B16 in Newsweek this week (of all places!)? It is a great and positive piece, not surprising coming from George Weigel but a bit surprising that Newsweek found room for it. The large crowds Benedict has been attracting in Rome are a phenomenon that craves deeper syudy. Maybe it is a sign of a revival that Papa JPII laid the base for. And a tribute to Benedict's ability to teach clearly. I have read somewhere that the crowds at his audiences tend to listen more closely than observors had seen in the past.
Arnold | 10.31.05 - 1:54 pm | #

I am also pretty psyched to watch this play out--I enjoyed this quote from AP:

"Alito's mother shed some light. 'Of course, he's against abortion,' 90-year-old Rose Alito said of her son, a Catholic." Would that it were always that simple, huh?

As Kat Michelman (of NARAL fame) said: "Now, the gauntlet has been, I think, thrown down." Very true--on guard!
Dan Vitz | Homepage | 10.31.05 - 2:06 pm | #

Between a fight with his base and a fight with the Left, Bush chose the wiser course.
c matt | 10.31.05 - 3:16 pm | #

Not to give the evil party ideas, but the shrewdest move they could do is to make minimal (but some) waves with this pick, hope the issue of SCOTUS appointments dies down, focus on Iraq, and hope Stephens makes it to late January 2009. Besides, if Big Bidniz likes Alito (which they do), he's in.
c matt | 10.31.05 - 4:35 pm | #

I am also pretty psyched to watch this play out--I enjoyed this quote from AP:

This is the fight pretty much everyone on the right has been begging for. Now that it's here, we can't watch it "play out;" time to get our hands dirty. Letters to Senators and letters to newspapers at a minimum. Let's get ready to rumble, folks!
Stephen | Homepage | 10.31.05 - 4:53 pm | #

I'm thinking Miers was a stalking horse. Shout down one nominee = standard operation procedure. Shouting down two starts to make people look like the Princess Who Could Not Pleased.
Sonetka | 10.31.05 - 5:29 pm | #

I'm thinking Miers was a stalking horse. Shout down one nominee = standard operation procedure. Shouting down two starts to make people look like the Princess Who Could Not Pleased.

If the Dems had been the ones who shot down Miers, you would have a point. They didn't: we did. Good thing too, since she was unqualified and was at best someone who went with the crowd she was with and at worst a liberal. No, I think Miers was just one humongous screw-up by GWB and nothing more.
Publius | Homepage | 10.31.05 - 6:11 pm | #

OTOH, Miers got the base wound up.
Mary | 10.31.05 - 7:32 pm | #

Oh, they would have made mincemeat of her if they'd had a chance. In some ways the conservative reaction may have screwed things up because now the left can be all righteous and "YOU shot down Miers, now WE get to shoot down Alito." Stuff like that.

I'm just saying that after Roberts (and seeing his choice of Alito) it's hard to believe Bush is so absolutely clueless as to what makes a good Supreme Court nominee. Somehow I don't think he was so suddenly filled with knowledge of what makes a good nominee by the shriekings of a few hundred blogs.
Sonetka | 10.31.05 - 9:21 pm | #

Oh, they would have made mincemeat of her if they'd had a chance.

Maybe, but after the '93 speeches came out they may have grown to like her.

I'm just saying that after Roberts (and seeing his choice of Alito) it's hard to believe Bush is so absolutely clueless as to what makes a good Supreme Court nominee.

I think he knew, I just think he put other priorities (such as making non-controversial pick and cronyism) above quality and judicial philosophy.

Somehow I don't think he was so suddenly filled with knowledge of what makes a good nominee by the shriekings of a few hundred blogs.

Maybe not, but I think he might have been persuaded not to listen to Andy Card and to listen to better advisers (Rove or whomever). Besides, the screaming of the base and the conservative intellectuals changed the political calculus.
Publius | Homepage | 10.31.05 - 10:02 pm | #

At first glance, when I saw that Bush had nominated Judge Alito, I thought to myself "wasn't that the OJ judge?" But I guess that was Judge Ito. Having straightened that out in my head I am pleased with the pick!
sarah | 10.31.05 - 10:47 pm | #

The smartest thing D's could do here is go along with Alito. He's more conservative than they want, but he's obviously qualified and they're not going to be able to stop him. So they should make conciliatory comments in the media, confirm him without fuss, and thus let the media focus their headlines on all those R's who are headed to jail: Libby, DeLay, Abramoff, Rove(?), Frist(?). Better in the long run for the D party.

Do they have enough discipline to do it?
Joel | 11.01.05 - 4:03 pm | #

Well! The Senate D's are doing the best possible thing at this point: they're DEMANDING that the Senate Intelligence Committee issue its report regarding misuse of intelligence re Iraq by the 14th - and they got Sen. Roberts to agree!

They've apparently decided to ignore Alito for now, and keep other issues in the headlines. Kudos!

BTW, I just learned that Libby is the first sitting member of an administration to be indicted in 135 years. Restoring honor and dignity to the White House . . . .
Joel | 11.01.05 - 6:24 pm | #

"BTW, I just learned that Libby is the first sitting member of an administration to be indicted in 135 years. Restoring honor and dignity to the White House . . . ."

Yeah, and only a few years after the first President to be impeached, disbarred and to have admitted perjury while in office.
Donald R. McClarey | 11.02.05 - 12:49 pm | #