Oh thanks. I asked about this on the other thread.
RJJ |
01.11.06 - 7:40 pm | #
I agree... I think it was an act... I've haven't heard Feinstein on the tv yet, but there are reports that say she is saying "a filibuster is unlikely". Is this a tactic or for real?
OldCoastie |
01.11.06 - 7:40 pm | #
Do you really think even one freeper WASN'T fooled by this?? Having the collective IQ of a houseplant, this is exactly the thing to get their shorts in a wad.
mikefromtexas |
01.11.06 - 7:41 pm | #
Crocodile tears
"An ancient legend holds that crocodiles weep. There were various explanations for this practice: some said that they wept in order to lure men in order to eat them; some said that they wept in remorse for their victims. A medieval version makes the remarkable claim that crocodiles wept with frustration, since after devouring a man's body, his head was too bony to make a good snack".
"While none of these legends are remotely true, the belief was widespread, and gave rise to the expression crocodile tears, meaning 'a hypocritical show of sorrow; insincere tears."
Ceci |
01.11.06 - 7:46 pm | #
When was the charade? I'm at a post-break Leahy section.
tryggth |
Homepage |
01.11.06 - 7:47 pm | #
I think Lindsay came up with this little stunt as a possibility during the "coaching" session. Just as a possible ploy, only to be run if necessary.
Well, it looked necessary today. I wonder what the signal was. Maybe it was just for her to start the show upon the eventual mention of the word "bigot," no other signal needed.
This is how the republic dies. Our job has become much harder. If Alito gets in, the tide of the inevitable backlash -- and it WILL come -- will now have to include impeaching justices to get our Constitution back whole and intact.
Mrs. K8 |
01.11.06 - 7:48 pm | #
damn, damn, damn... he's in. that little bit of fake drama is all it's going to take to deflect anything else the dems can do or say. DAMN!!!
smiley |
01.11.06 - 7:49 pm | #
IQ of a houseplant?
My ficas Brucie is offended.
alan |
01.11.06 - 7:50 pm | #
running off in tears seemed like a put up job to me. but i wonder why the addition of the 'migraine' info? it kind of dilutes the impact of the loyal wife crumbling at having to witness her husband's persecution.
i hadn't paid much attention to the family component until Mrs. Sam's dramatic exit. Roberts had his whole family there for his hearings too. is this just a Supreme Court thing?
can you imagine showing up for the biggest job interview of your life and bringing your whole family along. just shows how the media has affected/infected every aspect of our political life. not that i'm not saying anything new... but still.
isis2 |
01.11.06 - 7:52 pm | #
Don't you people understand real emotion? Have you no compassion? Just because the poor woman positions herself in front of the TV cameras and pouts, "Boo, hoo, hoo, you not nice man," doesn't mean she isn't feeling, deep down inside, that her husband isn't really a bigot. I mean, he married her, didn't he?
purvis ames |
01.11.06 - 7:53 pm | #
It's hard to believe they're this hideously fucking cynically craven. This is America's ongoing problem as well - what reasonable person could imagine such utter cynicism and cravenness.
Nice graphic, but I would have used Garbo as Marguerite Gauthier. :)
Sharkbabe |
01.11.06 - 7:53 pm | #
isis2 - You forget that the rethugs are the party of family values - hafta have a family around.
OhioBlue |
01.11.06 - 7:54 pm | #
Hey! Down below, at the end of the last thread, clare boothe lucid posted a very interesting angle at 7:43 pm.
I'd be interested in knowing what everybody thinks about it.
I'd also love to learn how to link to a comment in a prior thread. I think it has something to do with clicking on the # sign at the end of the comment, but I don't know what happens after (or before?) that.
Mrs. K8 |
01.11.06 - 7:54 pm | #
Democrats need to hang a sign outside the Judiciary Committee door from now on:
"Hearings being held on whether judicial nominee has the stones to stand up to the most repressive Executive branch in history.
Crybaby bedwetters who easily get the vapors over legitimate ethics questions strongly encouraged to remain outside."
Michael Scott |
Homepage |
01.11.06 - 7:55 pm | #
I am so pissed about this bad acting job. Tomorrow, King George 43 and his ilk will be chastising the committee for not being "dignified" and the lapdog media will be all over how out of line, yada yada yada.
I wonder how many people actually bought into this created drama. I got an email from a friend who was upset that they made his wife cry but it ended with "I don't trust him" , citing Roe and CAP.
Can't wait to see what TDS makes of "big girls do cry".
Suzanne |
01.11.06 - 7:55 pm | #
Mrs. K8,
Graham's a slime ball, he teared up too. Her knew where her button was and pushed it.
Cozumel |
Homepage |
01.11.06 - 7:56 pm | #
cry me a river, mrs. borkolito
mayan |
01.11.06 - 7:57 pm | #
CAP spells bigot in bold CAP letters. Don't need to say bigot out loud if get the CAP info out.
And the wife cannot cry every day.
If Democrats do not lose nerve, assuming they have any to begin with, no one will remember this a week from now.
Ms. Hamsher should also remember how quickly cheap melodrama fades away in the memory. We all know the movie that held us in our seats, and gave us the willies in the last scene, but by the time we got home, couldn't remember exactly what we were doing earlier that evening. Something with lots of other people in a dark room... wasn't an orgy or would remember something... what the heck was it...?
Same thing here. Doesn't mean anything unless the Democrats on the committee let it mean something.
anon |
01.11.06 - 7:58 pm | #
So who's Dudley Do Right? Arlen Ex-Spector-ate?
kaleidescope |
01.11.06 - 7:58 pm | #
Jane, you are right on the money.
Remember Lynn Cheney and the staged "John Kerry is a bad man" after Kerry said in the debate that the Cheney's love their gay daughter.
Martha Alito's tearful outburst was a bit over the top. It was a strange manipulative response. If somebody suggests that I'm something insulting (and I'm not) my natural inclination is anger, not tears.
I'm watching the replay of today, and to me it looked like the Senators are getting close to who Alito really is: A guy willing to sell out the less privileged in order to profit himself. He was willing to get to where he wanted to go at the expense of others. That's what the tears were about. Alito was newly married to Martha when he wrote that CV. She knows that he's willing to be anything those in power want him to be in order to get ahead.
Alito's being exposed for who he really is, and that ain't pretty.
Deb |
01.11.06 - 7:59 pm | #
Cozumel --
What particularly pisses me off about Graham is that he used to do a pretty convincing imitation of a Gooper with a conscience. Enough to sucker me in on occasion.
No more. Nothing is more infuriating than someone who once suckered you.
Mrs. K8 |
01.11.06 - 7:59 pm | #
When you have the facts, you pound away on the facts.
When you have the law, you pound away on the law.
When you have neither the facts or the law you pound away on the table.
Same old, same old. Roman defendants used to come to trial unshaven, unbarbered, so that those watching would know just how upsetting you were finding the whole process
Davis X. Machina |
Homepage |
01.11.06 - 8:00 pm | #
"More oil, MORE OIL, stat! Wax on, wax off!"
jurassicpork |
Homepage |
01.11.06 - 8:00 pm | #
pathetic: Ms B must have read that thespian classic THE ART OF COARSE ACTING
If the Dems want a reason to fight for the renaissance of a New Deal---for a business-based argument for a deeper and wider US social safety net---and likely a grip on power that'd make Clinton's look, er, slick...
here it is
ps been away all day / apologies if repeat post
canuckjourno |
01.11.06 - 8:02 pm | #
No Pearls Left Unclutched.
Davis X. Machina |
Homepage |
01.11.06 - 8:05 pm | #
am still leading the Freeper Name Contest - not too late to vote
hope Chris doesn't de certify the Diebold I sent him
clare boothe lucid |
01.11.06 - 8:06 pm | #
It is so hard to believe that everything has devolved into such a big game.
But, those wingers know how to have things both ways and an win too.
The conventional Republican wisdom is that of the strong and manly man. Rugged and armed, ready to do battle, to save hearth and home and of course keep the weeping wife from falling into the hands of the villains. No real man is feminized, he is ultra-man-ized. All swagger and tough talk with a nice bulbous cod-piece to ad that dash of virility.
But sure as shit, if those Democrats, lefties and liberals, weak and effeminate, ready to surrender, and very French and limp-dinked men and manly-butch women..if they ever stand-up for themselves, put up a fight, swing back, push-away, call bullshit,punch, bite or kick...Lo and behold, the macho Republicans wilt, and weep, and scream about being the real victims. They pout, and whine, and cry, and accuse the left of all of the things that they hate the left for. Stop attacking the poor women(Ann Coulter), stop it with your horrid racist lynchings(poor Clarence Thomas), stop saying George W. Bush is a liar..it is bad for the nation, for the troops, and it is a direct assault on God and Country.
Damned if we do, damned if we don't.
-Weeping for the nation
That sucking sound you hear is the last vestiges of our once great democracy swirling down the drain.
Entitled "The Crying Game", it includes this:
"Then Mrs. Alito suffered a case of the weepies that was so dramatically well-timed and patently maudlin that I was reminded of the classic stage direction in Private Eye (takes out onion, wipes away tear), and suddenly the proceedings turned into a soap opera with Fox News commentators arriving on cue to deplore the toll taken on innocent bystanders."
Suzanne |
01.11.06 - 8:07 pm | #
OhioBlue-- i did forget! oh my, how could i have possibly forgotten they are the party of family values. having a family around certainly does comes in handy. you never know when you might need your wife to cry you out of trouble.
isis2 |
01.11.06 - 8:08 pm | #
OK, c'mon, let's buck up, people. They have ever-more threadbare & obvious media theatrics, we have the truth. There's something about CAP that has them truly spooked - wasn't anybody else struck by Alito's little voluntary awkward monologue on the subject? And then Graham and the teary fleeing missus - on the same subject. Preemptive remedial strike much? I pray that these dems FULLY GRASP what's at stake here and are NOT in normal lay-down mode.
Sharkbabe |
01.11.06 - 8:08 pm | #
We need video to assess this.
My first impression on seeing partial clips is that to carry out pantomime like Jane purports requires too much smarts for politicians and too much compusure for an inexperienced performer like Alito's wife on her first appearance in the public spotlight. If I thought it was theater, I'd be looking for signs of agitation and fidgeting as her cue was approaching. She was mostly stoic throughout, so it'd stand out if she suddenly got all jelly.
It's just as easy to put her tears off to suddenly acute stress, to denseness, to pique at her husband being 'picked on' and to feelings of entitlement challenged. Each of these are reprehensible in themselves if overindulged. And she was indulging, all the way up the aisle and out the door.
djangone |
01.11.06 - 8:09 pm | #
repost from last thread, new thread came up while writing. Deadlast, if you see this, pls respond. Very interested in where you were going.
Bush claims his authority from God, as he has expressed on numerous occasions, a fact which puts anointing the seats in the Senate with sacred oil in proper context. Because the Constitution separates church from state, and is expressly designed to check and balance the presidency, it obstructs what Bush and the far Christian right want to do; thus they are natural enemies of the Constitution. There is no more key issue, and almost everyone seems to be missing it at the root level.
On a previous thread, deadlast wished that Leahy had asked Alito the following questions:
'“Does there exist any Executive Action, that you [Alito] can imagine, under some possible or extreme context cannot ever, in some circumstance, be reviewed by the Supreme Court of the United States? If so, is that enshrined in the constitution?”
(snip)
Also, is there something so secret, so poisonous to democracy that the Executive would and should shield from the Judiciary? Is that authority enshrined in the Constitution?'
Very well formulated questions, and of course the answers should clearly be 'No.' But they're questions that daren't be answered; remember who's driving the Administration--those who long for authoritarian theocracy, and who believe God has anointed them to this place and time. (I know. I was an insider in one of the world's most far-right Christian churches until 14 years ago. I've had dinner in Orrin Hatch's house, and they really believe this.)
Deadlast's post, if I understand it correctly, makes the point that the Constitution writers intentionally set out to break the authority chain which British royalty claimed from almighty God under the Divine Right of Kings.
Furthermore, the founders consciously referred back to the Magna Carta for the legal precedent on which to further separate the authority of church and state and grant rights to individuals. The Founders broke the governmental contract with god and the church and set up the conditions for diversity. In their system, a Muslim could be elected President, as well as (far more pertinently in their time) a Jew.
Thanks for the insight, Deadlast--if we're ignoring the issue of where Bush's authority is coming from, we're ignoring the biggest bull elephant in the room. Bush is claiming monarchical powers, and if the authority is not coming from the Constitution, it must be coming from...Jesus, as has been earnestly claimed. I'm fairly certain that Jesus would "tell" his servant George not to give up his office until God's work is done or Armageddon occurs.
(Deadlast, if you see this feel free to expand. Not sure I fully understood your comments.)
MarcLord |
01.11.06 - 8:13 pm | #
No Pearls Left Unclutched.
Davis X. Machina | Homepage | 01.11.06 - 8:05 pm | #
-------------
brilliant!
isis2 |
01.11.06 - 8:13 pm | #
posted wrong again, repost:
Anon: Bravo!
comments are great tonight, we are all tired from watching goopertv, let's see it through. I was pretty disgusted with Republicans before these hearings, but these performances, esp. now Specter who I had thought was at least somewhat honest and direct (you know, not an Abramoff Republican) are almost causing me physical pain in thier cynicism and dishonesty. I support Kennedy and call bullshit on the Mary Jo references, that's really scraping, imo. He's passionate, he's angry and , in my experience, he cares.
As always, watertiger is livebloggin, too, in her own way. Comments section on obvious fashion faux pas are priceless and will relieve your neck tightness.
Alito might not be a serious bigot anyway. He is probably more of a insecure authoritarian who fears competition for the candy. He might be very nice and open minded when it comes to individual minorities, and women and poor people. But the idea of them, as a group, getting away with getting in the club, that is a little frightening to him -he don't know those people, and they have nothing to give him that he can use to protect himself and set himself up ($$). Hence, he always gotsta hedge against them, find the technicality that disqualifies them, sniff around for something fishy happening if they suddenly start showing up among the better people. They are scary... and they are competition for a non-rich climber on the make.
I'd bet on insecure authoritarian, who gets caught up in bigotry.
Makes no difference. Get the CAP stuff out, especially how he USED it opportunistically in the 80s (when there was no d*mn excuse for it). Don't need to call him a bigot or any other mean thing. Might be a sad lapse of judgement, and it is just too bad he can't just fess up and repudiate it and clear it all up (along with a bunch of other stuff, like breaking is word in previous hearings).
RE CAP and bigotry and principles: People can put one and one together.
anon |
01.11.06 - 8:14 pm | #
GSD --
You're damned straight. That's the name of that tune, all right.
The reaction of Dems now should be:
"Oh yeah? I'll give you something to cry about!"
Mrs. K8 |
01.11.06 - 8:14 pm | #
I like Wolcott's idea of Mrs. Crylito exchanging a monogrammed crying towel with Mrs. Justice Thomas. The rest of us can just have barf bags.
OhioBlue |
01.11.06 - 8:15 pm | #
Also forgot to mention if anyone cares to speculate as to what the "compassionate conservative" response would have been towards Theresa Heinz Kerry if she had teared-up after her husband was called a coward, traitor, baby killer and a war criminal.
Somehow, I get the feeling there might have been some chuckling by the bloated, Oxycontin junkie and his amen chorus at FAUX News.
These people are shameless!
zzbottom |
01.11.06 - 8:17 pm | #
If I remember correctly Laura B killed someone with her car, was at fault, yet no one throws it up in her face. Mrs. Crylito needs a muzzle.
OhioBlue |
01.11.06 - 8:18 pm | #
Mrs. Crylito
hahahahaha
I really really enjoy every one of you brilliant people
Sharkbabe |
01.11.06 - 8:18 pm | #
I suspect Mrs. Alito's tears were genuine. Sammy is a fascist, but he's her fascist, and she simply couldn't stand to see her fascist called a bigot.
axelgrease |
01.11.06 - 8:19 pm | #
My first thought was, "If I had a big manly man husband who I thought was the smartest man on earth, I would surely believe he could handle himself during the confirmation hearings"... I know I wouldn't be crying!
I now have to write Senator Feinstein daily. Today I my comment was surely Alito went over his membership in CAP during his murder boards... So, when he says, "I don't remember" wouldn't that be a great big lie? And wouldn't lying in this instance just be plain ol' perjury?
OldCoastie |
01.11.06 - 8:19 pm | #
Why, GSD, they wouldn've said THK was doing it to be MANIPULATIVE.
They always project their own tactics on others.
Mrs. K8 |
01.11.06 - 8:19 pm | #
I'm not too sure about this. I'd think it would be better for them if they picked a Dem cue for her to cry. Then they could break out the violins and have a "Dems are mean" pity party. I'm not dismissing the theory, because they picked a theme that the Dems were alluding to, and hammed it up in the leadup to the crying jag. I'd be interested to see the leadup to it, as djangone suggests.
I am (as Alito would) keeping an open mind about this...
Primordial Ooze |
01.11.06 - 8:20 pm | #
Bush is claiming monarchical powers, and if the authority is not coming from the Constitution, it must be coming from...Jesus,
Anyone still reading The Federalist Papers needs to chuck that shit and invest in some Bossuet instead.
Davis X. Machina |
Homepage |
01.11.06 - 8:21 pm | #
Ashley was marvelous. So was Miss Scarlet.
ken melvin |
01.11.06 - 8:21 pm | #
clare boothe lucid,
Two questions...
1) I went there but couldn't figure out how to vote. Do I have to register first?
2) What are you doing going off the reservation? Just kidding ; )
Cozumel |
Homepage |
01.11.06 - 8:21 pm | #
I'd think it would be better for them if they picked a Dem cue for her to cry.
If the story arc needs there to be a Dem cue, a Dem cue there will be.
Facts don't matter. The creative side is running this show.
Davis X. Machina |
Homepage |
01.11.06 - 8:22 pm | #
I think there are a lot of people like Alito in the country. Lots of ethnic white people from working class backgrounds who first person to go to college or something to climb out of family rut.
They have individual friends who are black/hispanic/gay/athiest/whatever, who they treat like gold.
But when the mass rears its ugly head, watch out! They get scared. They talk as if Things Are Getting Out of Hand. Strange young men will show up and take the daughter away, drugged out strange chicks and dudes from Someplace Else will start killing neighborhood cats and dogs and making BBQ. Taxes will be raised and the funds will by routed mysteriously to fund this kind of thing.
Suddenly this person seems like a wild eyed racist, let alone a bigot.
With my background, I should have turned out this way. If I had any sense, maybe I would have. But I didn't. I like mass quantities of people crashing the better people's parties. Gives me kind of kick, somehow. I don't know exactly where I went wrong.
anon |
01.11.06 - 8:23 pm | #
Mrs. K8,
Of course. The left must answer for their past writings and conduct damn it. Lani Guinier, you had radical views 30 yearsago? Please get into the bonfire.
Sam Alito? 30 years ago you wanted Lani Guinier burned in a bonfire? Move along, you were young and wild and free, how can we hold your feet to the fire, that would be downright un-Christian.
Look, Alito is an opportunist right-wing prick bigot liar et al. Like duh. If the dems don't do everything possible to keep him off the USSC at this crucial juncture in the cheney fascistocracy solidification(TM) - well, then just another heartbreak, another numbing depressive horror - and we go on fighting. We, the people.
Sharkbabe |
01.11.06 - 8:28 pm | #
I'd also love to learn how to link to a comment in a prior thread. I think it has something to do with clicking on the # sign at the end of the comment, but I don't know what happens after (or before?) that. Mrs. K8 | 01.11.06 - 7:54 pm
Mrs. K8- you right click on the # sign (and choose open in new window so that the current Haloscan window also stays open) and your comment will show up at the top of the new window. You then copy and paste the url that appears (it is the link to your previous comment) into the HS window where you want the link to appear. After you've pasted, you can make sure that the link is there by clicking HS preview, and right clicking (open link in new window). HTH
-
Valley Girl |
01.11.06 - 8:28 pm | #
Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller, a central figure in the U.S. detainee-abuse scandal, this week invoked his right not to incriminate himself in court-martial proceedings against two soldiers accused of using dogs to intimidate captives at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, according to lawyers involved in the case.
brian |
01.11.06 - 8:30 pm | #
you're so right, jane. these people are right out of cheap burlesque. lindsay closet corn-holer graham with his sugary southern elocution is just another shameless member of the bush robber baron pissboy club.
I think there are a lot of people like Alito in the country. Lots of ethnic white people from working class backgrounds who first person to go to college or something to climb out of family rut.
Shorter Alito:
"I busted my ass to get into this treehouse, and no one -- NO ONE -- is going to keep me from pulling up the ladder!"
Davis X. Machina |
Homepage |
01.11.06 - 8:34 pm | #
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!!!!!!!! Oh, wrong stage show... Well, same scripted result actually-- a captivated and breathless MSM gaggling over an obviously melodramtic antic designed to provide a "tender" moment to a cold fish of a jurist... If I were the next Dem Senator I'd have said "...well, Judge Alito we all deserve a good cry over what is about to transpire upon your confirmation..." or maybe, "Gee Judge Alito do you know whether she's crying for you, herself or her the prospect of what's about to happen to her country..."
tjschill |
01.11.06 - 8:34 pm | #
No wonder Alito comes across so disengaged.
Interesting that they are not harping on the fact that it was Graham's questioning that made her cry. WIth some clips of his snarky jibes at Alito yesterday too.
Oh well.
Could someone remind me - lieing under oath - isn't that what got Clinton impeached?
Don't we now have the prior, under oath promise re: recusal, which he broke after a couple of years;
and
the current, under oath statements about the Vanguard problem being a "different system" for pro se cases, which, after he and Hatch spent so much time going over it, he had to admit later to Feingold was malarky - that he didn't have Vanguard on his standing recusal list either and the pro se part had nothing to do with it.
In any event, I still haven't seen much discussion, Exec branch aside, of HOW Alito says the President (and they really needed to start mentioning his top execs too - esp the AG) is accountable to the law.
Just bc I think it is so bizarre, the "secret law" thing us something I wish they would bring up. (case of the guy who they didn't let fly bc they asked him to do something and he asked to see the law or regulation and they told him it was a 'secret law' so everyone when to court and they told the judge the guy couldn't fly bc he wouldn't comply with the secret law, so they judge also asks to see it, but they said - well, it's a secret)
The issues now with programs like the "New Improved" Headstart, where they can require teachers and even parental volunteers in the program (funded with fed funds) to belong to the particular church or denomination that administers the program
Mary |
01.11.06 - 8:37 pm | #
just one more, but it's good. C&L has a post up about Brian Williams spouting talking points on Imus, but he forgets half the story, maybe you saw it. Anyway, I just found this little nugget over at NRO:
BRIAN WILLIAMS, IF YOU'RE READING THIS... [John Podhoretz]
...I once saw you on the shuttle from New York to D.C. wearing sunglasses the whole way down. Unless you had two black eyes, it was really weird. Don't do it again.
Posted at 12:01 PM
Don't do it again, Comrade.
zennurse |
01.11.06 - 8:37 pm | #
Although CNN heavily overplayed the Kodak Moment--Anderson Cooper called it "the iconic moment of the hearings so far"--Candy Crowly interestingly pointed out that the crying act began not when ScAlito was being attacked, but when Graham was being nice to him. Graham did ask ScAlito rhetorically whether he was a bigot--obviously he did not think so--but he also spent his time telling ScAlito what a great guy a lot of people think he is. Tears of joy?
neurophius |
01.11.06 - 8:37 pm | #
How likely is it that there is an as yet undiscovered a body of Alito's informal writings with respect to issues such as CAP (editorials for CAP's newsletters or whatever) that more clearly evidence his extremism and bigotrism?
Blub |
01.11.06 - 8:39 pm | #
When Lindsey told Mrs. Sammy during prep that the single-word waterworks cue was "BIGOT" he figured a Democrat would say it, and they were off to the races.
-
No Dem called Sammy a bigot, so that's why Graham went to Plan B. And why it looked so contrived: she knew her cue, and he looked so tragic triggering her tears. Guilty parties play-acting at our polity.
TeddySanFran |
01.11.06 - 8:43 pm | #
Mrs. K8 - on linking to specific posts - I just figured this out the other night: click on the little red # and it opens the post in question in its own window - at the top will be the url for that window which you can copy and paste just like any other link.
Candy Crowley just said us sisters can all relate to Mrs Alito - ha!
siun |
01.11.06 - 8:44 pm | #
Wow.. did I write that? Bigotrism? Bigotry :)
Blub |
01.11.06 - 8:45 pm | #
"My first impression on seeing partial clips is that to carry out pantomime like Jane purports requires too much smarts for politicians and too much compusure for an inexperienced performer like Alito's wife" djangone 8:09 PM
nonsense, it comes with the double X chromosome package.
But don't think about that too much.
RJJ |
01.11.06 - 8:45 pm | #
neurophius,
"Although CNN heavily overplayed the Kodak Moment--Anderson Cooper called it "the iconic moment of the hearings so far"--"
Anderson Copper also made a big deal of Alito saying he had an "open mind" about Roe. That's only in the context that he would have an "open mind" in each case that comes before him. He left out that part (disclaimer), along with the rest of the Corporate Media that has made a big deal about that quote.
Cozumel |
Homepage |
01.11.06 - 8:46 pm | #
Bottom line, so what. Is this guy going to be confirmed or not? All this theater, whether it is good or bad begs the question of whether he gets confirmed. The answer is yes. Then the progressives are the ones who will be crying the real tears. This gets more depressing by the day to see how irrelevant the Democrats have become. It is already too late folks. So fucking what!
jere |
01.11.06 - 8:47 pm | #
"What particularly pisses me off about Graham is that he used to do a pretty convincing imitation of a Gooper with a conscience."
Oh, really? As I recall, Graham came to national attention as one of the House prosecutors in the Clinton Senate impeachment trial...
neurophius |
01.11.06 - 8:50 pm | #
Formalist at DailyKos analyzes the video (c-span and yahoo sources)here.
Brian |
01.11.06 - 8:50 pm | #
I sent in a serious response already. So, I'm not gonna send this one, but I am sorely tempted to suggest these: "Mr. Alito, why did your wife burst into tears during Sen. Graham's questioning? Was she coached by Sen. Graham to do this? Or coached by other parties? Why do you think that so many people are bashing the Dems on account of your wife's tears and recusal, when in fact it occurred during questions by your major supporter and go-to guy Sen. Graham? Would you allow your wife sit in on SCOTUS hearings, were you were confirmed, and might her emotional displays bias your decisions?"
-
Valley Girl |
01.11.06 - 8:54 pm | #
Somebody observed on some blog somewhere that Mrs. Alito was smiling when the questions were friendly and looking harsh when they were not. This is a perfectly reasonable response. But I was reminded of an anecdote about a behavioral psychology class doing this to a professor: smiling when he moved toward the interior of the room, and frowning when he moved toward the door. By the end of the class he was lecturing from the corner opposite the door.
Classic Rove. It's got his fingerprints on it, or it's his tutelage run downstream.
Attack on strengths -- remember this, people, you'll see it coming.
Kerry's a war hero > attack the veracity of his heroism
Bush went AWOL according to documentation > attack the authencity of the documents
Dean draws groupies with his intense focus > attack his intensity as "craziness"
Fitzgerald is focusing tightly and quietly on numerous administration folks > attack Fitz as partisan or as a prosecutor run amok
Joe Wilson's findings opposed the administration's line > attack Wilson's credibility as a partisan and uxorious
Got it? It's a pattern played over and over. There's NO denial, only an attack.
Alito's membership in CAP could be based in bigotry > attack the line of questioning as bigoted
And it's no accident, either, that the breakdown came during Graham's questioning -- he was the coach, after all. Don't look at just the allegedly crying wife; look at the lack of surprise by Alito in response to the question. And listen carefully to the callers to C-SPAN. They're reinforcing the attack meme.
It's in the CAP documents. Whatever it is in there. As I asked several times and Kennedy asked, how can a guy remember all kinds of stuff in great detail except this one thing?
And what's the chances that the same party who stole Kerry's FBI records from Gerald Nicosia last spring will get to the CAP records before Kennedy? It's no f*cking wonder Specter blew off Kennedy. It's no f*cking wonder Kennedy went through a formal chain of command in writing on this stuff, too.
God. This would make a decent plot if it wasn't the painful truth.
Rayne |
Homepage |
01.11.06 - 8:57 pm | #
"Somebody sat down last night and decided ol' Strip Search was coming off cold and vaguely sweaty and creepy."
could his initials possibly be K.R.?
michael72 |
01.11.06 - 8:59 pm | #
That's a significant off-topic entry, Brian. And it's A1 in tomorrow's Post...
If implicated, I betcha Miller claims "the buck stops here." He's a true believer.
On the Clock |
01.11.06 - 9:03 pm | #
I don't think Graham is creative enough to come up with this bit of stagecraft. My money's on Rove. So...where is Patrick Fitzgerald and what is he doing?
mgm |
01.11.06 - 9:05 pm | #
Hey Jane, Just read the Wolcott piece you linked in your update. Liked it, except the guy can't spell.
If Alito is confirmed, Mrs. Alito and Judge Clarence Thomas's wife can commisserate uh, commiserate?
You are right in more ways than one. The American break for freedom was freedom from taxation and religion (your god made you king?). This is why democracy was attractive -- it was so anti-theocratic.
The reason the Goopers hate liberals and call them French is because it actually is appropriate. The French revolution was a revolution of the people - not a revolution of the petit bourgoise, as was the American Model. See, we are all still arguing for the rights of the individual over business. That my friend is VERY French!!!
So now they try to portrait the French as libertines, as weak, as gay. Because being weak and gay are the worst things in the world one can be. Only because the label "commie motherfucker" doesn't play well these days with all the sucking up to China and all... Don't you think??
So, Sam is a bigotrist ? ;> grate blub
TeddySanFran |
01.11.06 - 9:26 pm | #
Well if the goopers staged the tearful exit- it was pretty well done- at least the results were great...
The other explanation is that Mrs. Alito is an emotional basketcase- and that the goopers are lucky that she didn't break out into maniacal laughter--actually- after having met her husband for a couple of days- I'll vote for "He has made her crazy as a loon".
rwcole |
01.11.06 - 9:31 pm | #
This is where Democrats fall down, though. We back off whenever the attack is launched.
Kerry never fights back against SwiftBoating.
Dean attempts humor instead of fighting.
Rather and Mapes exit in shame.
Wilson is an exception, but he doesn't have enough critical mass to hit them hard where it counts.
And Fitz just keeps plugging at his job.
This time we need to do something entirely different and go full out nuclear on them. We need to put a call out to every single Princeton document repository -- former students everywhere -- and ask them to help with CAP document population production. And we go postal (figuratively speaking) in the hearings.
And we f*cking filibuster until we get all the documents AND until we get satisfaction.
We also go balls-to-the-wall on research on the Judiciary. I can tell you right now that Coburn received funds from a PAC that also received money from both the Aqua Caliente and the Saginaw Chippewa Tribes. Coburn and Specter both received monies from another PAC. And there's the Cornyn Casino scandal, too. The entire Republican side of the Judiciary is contaminated by the culture of corruption.
Dig for it, people. Make it a Flood-the-Zone effort.
Rayne |
Homepage |
01.11.06 - 9:42 pm | #
Whatever your opinion of Judge Alito, his wife isn't being appointed to the Supreme Court; she won't be collecting a government salary; her influence on Alito's jurisprudence is tertiary at best; and there's no indication that she asked to be put in this position.
No, I don't know if her tears were sincere or not. And neither do you. Judging someone who isn't an actor by the standards of actors is just flat-out unfair -- the standards of dramatic plausibility aren't the same as the uncomfortable and inchoate reactions of someone genuinely emotional. Would you prefer if instead of the "mad dash" she had sat there and bawled? If she did react emotionally, isn't she in a no-win situation with you?
This is, as far as I can figure, a woman who has never before been in the public spotlight. This isn't someone used to being stage-managed and surely this would be overwhelming to a lot of people -- no matter how his/her spouse was being described. Maybe she has the dramatic flair of Katherine Hepburn (or Tina Louise), or maybe she deserves the benefit of the doubt.
Dismissing Mrs. Alito so cavalierly and derisively is -- at least in tone -- like reading the Freepers whack on Cindy Sheehan. Even if you disagree with Sheehan (and I don't agree with much of what she's said), she deserves the courtesy of respect for her sincere motivations. So does Mrs. Alito.
And from a political standpoint, I don't see how the opposition to the Alito nomination gains anything from painting Mrs. Alito's reactions as insincere. It's bound to only result in sympathy for Alito and his family.
Now, having written all that, I do think that the Republican use of Mrs. Alito's emotionalism is cynical. The argument that "Those Democrats are mean for making the nice lady cry" is a crappy evasion of substantive issues. The questioning of Judge Alito should be tough and he should be challenged on the whole of his career. And if that makes his wife uncomfortable, well that's too bad for her but insignificant considering the stakes involved.
Cut Mrs. Alito some slack. The benefit of the doubt is cheap to give and she'll be sliding back into obscurity no matter if her husband sits on the SCOTUS or not. And don't give your opposition any more ammunition in their fight to paint Democrats as cruel.
John Pearley Huffman |
01.11.06 - 9:48 pm | #
Gee....These elite repubs are a bit dramatic and uh.....Quite thin skinned. I remember a couple of years ago when it was reported that Bush Sr was crying because of the groundswell of criticism toward the pResident (His son). It's not as if these folks have lost a loved one in their war in Iraq. Or have had their lives devastated by a hurricane. Or had been the victim from the subsequent governmental ineptitude following a major disaster. Nope,these folks cry at the mere thought of having to answer a few questions. Whether on cue or not,these folks are shameless.
Anonymous |
01.11.06 - 9:50 pm | #
Walcott ends his day with this dedication:
If Alito is confirmed, Mrs. Alito and Judge Clarence Thomas's wife can commisserate by exchanging monogrammed crying towels as their men folk roll back women's rights and civil liberties and go duck hunting weekends with Scalia.
P.S.: Jane Hamsher at Firedoglake heralds our new First Lady of the American Theater.
Bork Alito! Don't DeLay, do it today!
neokneme |
01.11.06 - 9:52 pm | #
I was moved too. The way Digby was moved.
What an appalling kabuki.
boilerman10 |
01.11.06 - 9:52 pm | #
To hell with sympathy for Mrs Alieto.....I'll reserve my sympathies for folks more deserving.
Anonymous |
01.11.06 - 9:53 pm | #
Cozumel,
I don't know how to vote on the doggone thing either and the teenager wont help me. . . embarrassing
As for being" off the reservation'
A short while back, began to feel a sense of community w/ this site and actually felt something resembling guilt when I went over to Gillard one morning,
who knew ?
am conviced someone, somewhere is making their bones and probably cheddar, on the sociology of blogs.
JPH elocutes the talking points of freeper's "Operation Tear/Jerk":
And from a political standpoint, I don't see how the opposition to the Alito nomination gains anything from painting Mrs. Alito's reactions as insincere. It's bound to only result in sympathy for Alito and his family.
The insincerity that is opposed here is that the corporate media chose to highlight Mrs. Alito's reaction for political gain. Painting the reaction as insincere unmasks the media's manipulation and highlights the mendacity of a political machine bent on suppressing an honest and open discussion.
My thought is if you can't take the heat stay out of the kitchen.
Did Mrs. Alito think Strip Search Sammy was going to be "greeted with flowers and dancing in the streets", surely she cannot be that dense. Whether it was a planned ploy or real, makes no difference, stay away if you don't want to hear the truth about your husband's political life.
aquarius |
01.11.06 - 10:19 pm | #
I guess I'm just gullible. I felt very bad for Alito's wife when she cried. It was convincing to me.
Cyn2 |
01.11.06 - 10:32 pm | #
I'm willing to allow the possibility that Mrs Alito cried extemporaneously (mainly because of her timing.. during Graham's presentation), but I can also picture some sleazeback Clusterfuck advisor saying, "Well, if anyone is especially mean to your husband, go ahead an cry a bit... it'll get more sympathy for your husbund."
Blub |
01.11.06 - 10:36 pm | #
Huffman -- as Matt so eloquently and efficiently said it, Boo-f*cking-hoo.
Harsh my *ss. It comes with the gawddamned territory. He's been a judge. They get far more serious threats on the bench than a bunch of Senatorial bloviating hot air. If she doesn't have the moxie to handle this, only the cosmos knows what meds she's used to get through the last couple of decades.
Apparently you don't remember Cornyn's comments from this past year:
"I don't know if there is a cause-and-effect connection but we have seen some recent episodes of courthouse violence in this country. Certainly nothing new, but we seem to have run through a spate of courthouse violence recently that's been on the news and I wonder whether there may be some connection between the perception in some quarters on some occasions where judges are making political decisions yet are unaccountable to the public, that it builds up and builds up and builds up to the point where some people engage in - engage in violence." [Senate Floor, 4/4/05][AMERICAblog via Sourcewatch.org]
Yeah. This Potemkin Village of a Confirmation Hearing is nothing. Just pure puffery, pomp and circumstance, no sharp objects around the gasbags. And no f*cking reason for tears.
She should be bawling her eyes out that somebody like Cornyn -- ethically compromised officer of the court that he's been -- actually thinks violence against judges is acceptable and to be expected.
Rayne |
Homepage |
01.11.06 - 10:36 pm | #
loving this image from Wolcott, thanks for the tip:
"you would have thought Alito had been subjected to a Stalinist show trial presided over by Randi Rhodes in a bad mood"
It's not as if Mrs Alito is ten yrs old and was being stripped searched. My God,the freepers act as if Mrs Alito had been thru the most horrible of experiences.
Anonymous |
01.11.06 - 10:38 pm | #
i may have missed a mention of this in earlier threads... sen. feingold's request of alito that he provide the committee with a list tomorrow morning of everyone who participated in his murder boards.
i thought it was an interesting request, especially in light of graham's tears-producing moment. i agree with mgm... there's a certain stench of rove to that moment.
i wonder what feingold will do with that particular list of names.
isis2 |
01.11.06 - 10:41 pm | #
Anonymous nailed it -- Mrs. A. must have remembered that poor defenseless 10yr old girl being strip-searched by the cops. Maybe not a Kodak moment, but certainly a Memorex moment. Hold that thought...
(Hey, Anonymous -- get a name-- you already have a soul!) How 'bout ...
In a recent C-SPAN interview, longtime friend Carter Phillips -- who said that Alito asked him to speak on his behalf -- allowed that Alito is "not the most comfortable one-on-one conversationalist in the world." And Alito supporter Levey of the Committee for Justice says the nominee comes across as "a little mousy." Those who are familiar with the murder boards (or rehearsals) that Alito has gone through to prepare for the hearings say the same thing
Rayne is right. Right as rain. Be nice, be polite to Ms. Alito. God will sort that out. Go after GOP, go after Alito.
Look at Fitz: appropriate, polite, respectful, considerate, to-the-point, hard working, sincere, careful, persistant, very persistant, very careful, double-checks, follows-up, relentlessly follow-up but politely, makes sure he undestrands the details, all the details, every little detail, checks everything you've said, relentlessly, like a machine, but no hard feelings, keeps on coming, bounces back, relentlessly, like a prosecution machine, because that is what he does, only thing he does, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, like an endless loop of sorrow and horror for anything dishonest and crooked. Relentless. But polite about it. Never rests. While you rest, while you eat, while you shit and while you sleep he is coming.... always comeing... nothing you can do.... to stop it.
Democrats should be that way with Alito.
anon |
01.12.06 - 12:01 am | #
Psst! Hey, Senatuh Graham! Try this one today: line up the Alito children and position some pleasant-looking, bespectacled, black gentleman next to them (why not use your friend Clarence Thomas?), then when Stripsearch Sammy gets up from his seat, have the kindly black gentleman say to the Alito children, "Stand up, children! YOUR FATHER IS PASSING BY!"
Oh... and, hey Lindsay... you should be chewin' on a piece of grass when you go all southern like that, y'hear?
No Exit |
01.12.06 - 5:46 am | #
Talk about crybabies!
You pukes take the cake.
Brace yourselves kiddies. Alito is in. Go ahead now - bunch those collective panties up and cry me a river!
GetAGrip! |
01.12.06 - 8:47 am | #
I'd cry to if I had to wear a jacket as ugly as the one she was wearing. What consultant thought that up? Here, wear this, it's so ugly no one will think we told you to wear it.
tom |
01.12.06 - 9:47 am | #
I'm willing to cut her a break. She may have been crying from the pain of a migraine.
However, maybe the Repubs should notice that she cried without anything more than a little harsh questioning of her husband. How would they have felt if their child had been strip-searched by Strip-Search-Sammie?
The Repubs seem a little self-absorbed and out of touch with 'the little people'. Of course, this is the boomer generation (mememememememe).
MarkH |
01.12.06 - 5:40 pm | #
