Rarely I have seen a worse and more disingenuous twisting of words than those coming from the Washington Times reporter and headline writer. It is very clear that he did NOT express a personal disagreement with abortion.
To report that he "wrote that 'the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion' in a 1985 document obtained by The Washington Times." and that he "'personally believe[s] very strongly' in this legal position," is technically true, but overall misleading and false.
Only by twisting and spinning and taking the words grossly out of context can one come to the conclusion promoted by the reporter, that Alito himself believes that abortion is not a right, and that he believes this personally and strongly.
Not only were such remarks made in an attempt to ingratiate himself to a known pro-lifer and opponent of Roe (also known as ass-kissing), in context, you can see that Alito did not say what the reporter suggests he said. What he actually said was "I am particularly proud of my contributions in recent cases in which the government has argued in the Supreme Court that racial and ethnic quotas should not be allowed and that the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion." That is, he did not say that he, Sam Alito, believes that the Constitution does not protect abortion. Instead, he said that the government has argued that the Constitution does not protect abortion. There is a world of difference between the two.
Similarly, the reporter makes a false impression in selectively taking the "personally believe very strongly" quote and connecting it to the passing abortion comment. He merely says that it was an honor and source of personal satisfaction to help to advance legal positions in which he personally believe very strongly. Nowhere in that statement does he himself connect his strong personal beliefs with abortion, or even what "the government has argued" about abortion.
Indeed, in later comments, Alito clarifies what he, himself believes are his strong beliefs, "'I believe very strongly in limited government, federalism, free enterprise, the supremacy of the elected branches of government, the need for a strong defense and effective law enforcement, and the legitimacy of a government role in protecting traditional values . . . In the field of law, I disagree strenuously with the usurpation by the judiciary of decision-making authority that should be exercised by the branches of government responsible to the electorate,' he added."
Abortion is nowhere to be found in this lengthy list of issues of which he himself says he strongly believed in. Moreover, he later says, "In college, I developed a deep interest in constitutional law, motivated in large part by disagreement with Warren Court decisions, particularly in the areas of criminal procedure, the Establishment Clause, and reapportionment."
This too is a telling quote by
As I was saying . . .
This too is a telling quote by the by glaring absence of abortion in that list. The NUMBER ONE Supreme Court case to be handed down when he was in law school was none other than Roe v. Wade!!! And yet, the issue of abortion is not listed here. The only mention of abortion is in the context of the government's position on abortion, not Alito's own personal position.
http://www.washtimes.com/nationa...15136-
2101r.htm
Bender,
I am sure I won't convince you. You are amazing ... and I may just promote you to High Potentate of the Perfect Church ...
I mean, how many Originalists can you stand on the head of a pin?
Are you kidding me?
You parse words worse than Kerry and Clinton. I guess it depends on what one means by "very proud". Geez.
Your micro-analysis of the words in the story is an example that certain matters ... such as pessimismin your case ... are indeed articles of faith with some people and not subject to analysis in light of the evidence.
Meant to say "pessimism" ... of course, Bend, ol' pal.
Seriously, it is good to see you're out there, so I can say with a straight face that some people don't see Alito like he clearly is.
Keep up the good work.
I am Impress bender,, the more I hear from the left about Alito the more I am convinced he IS the Right candidate.
Hey Mark,
Guess who else we just found out is a National Review subscriber?
The new CJ. Ooops. I think the new Chief is going to end up being a real thorn in liberal sides over the years. It will probably take time to build, but watch.
I also saw some of the same things coming with CJ Roberts. How? Well, I read some of his stuff, in particular the now-famous "french fry" case. In it, I could tell pretty clearly that he would come down right on most of the big questions of the day, if not all. Problem is ... a lot of folks don't understand or bother to read what the judges have actually written in opinions.
Then, you got poor pessimists like Bender whose parsing of words to make his case would make El Gran Clintissimo himself blush.
"Rarely I have seen a worse and more disingenuous twisting of words than those coming from the Washington Times reporter and headline writer."
After going back and looking at this comment, I am beginning to think that Bender is either a troll or is from some galaxy that doesn't include the NY Times or CBS News.
Bender ... Did you hear what Mary Mapes and Dan Rather did last year? I mean ... they not only twisted the words in certain documents, they created them. Get a grip.
DC
And now Mapes is requiring or better yet demanding that whatever she writes of has printed it is up to the reader to disprove her. Talk about your common, everyday, run of the mill schlep. They really do believe that we were born yesterday.
This is the clap-trap the left wants us to believe ? I don't think so. It is no wonder they can't win anything, especially elections.
But the kicker is Harry reid is demanding an exit strategy for getting out of Iraq,,, Hey Harry how 'bout we win it first then they all can come home.
Mark,
The best way to experience Mapes, Reid, et al. is to view them as they really are ... comedy.
And with all the new media voices, the comedy is in stereo. Better exposure. More laughs. More conservatism.
Bender's proposition seems to be that Alito has depersonalized his comments about the Constitution (and Roe); removed himself and views The Law as if he is a third party. This is a complaint?
Maybe Bender thinks that plumbers should fix only their own plumbing too, or that mechanics should refuse to fix Hondas because they, themselves, own Toyotas.
What's the point? Subjectivity is the thing we DO NOT WANT on the The Court. This is naval gazing.
Rhod,
Agreed. My view of Judge Alito and his opinions ... and this doesn't mean I will think he'll get it all right, either ... is that he approaches his work with integrity.
This is what we need. If we get one or two more like him, then you could really see a shift at the Court.
At this very moment the trenches are being dug. This fight is gonna be ugly and personal and it's been expected. Conservative ulcers will fester while Liberal heads pop. RINOs will show their true colors and Alito will be likened to Charles Manson. Pull on your helmet and your high-water boots, kids... it's gonna be a sloppy ride.
"Pull on your helmet and your high-water boots, kids...it's gonna be a sloppy ride".
Well, said Don Goomba...and agreed, DC.
The beauty of it all is that the '06 elections loom. Red State Demo Senators up for reelection will be under enormous pressure to not go the way of Ted Kennedy. Ben Nelson and others will fall in line. Watch Byrd, too. I bet he and Landrieu vote for Alito.
RINOs up for reelection will be under huge pressure from the Republican Party to support Alito. McCain will fall in line, too, even tho he is not up. Why? He wants to be president and he knows how important this is to the base. All of those Republican tassle-loaferites who think they are prez material will fall in line and fight for Alito.
Meanwhile, the Demo base will be on fire and demanding a suicide charge. Many will follow, and the ones wanting to be president (i.e., Bayh) will be temporarily insane. The far-left fringe groups that own the Demo Party will demand Alito's head. Hillary Clinton is in a jam, b/c she will want voters to forget in '08 that she is a flaming liberal. This will be hard to do when she votes against Alito.
The Demo base will get scalps, all right. Demo scalps. Are you starting to see the beauty of nominating a conservative to the SC?
Wait ... it gets better.
In the end ... the fight will energize the base of both parties.
And as we have recently seen, the Republican base is larger. We got the nominee, the facts, the numbers.
Bring it on.
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