archived: 22 - 28 Jan, 2006 Back Next
JUNKIE
“Backwards John, Backwards”
Like tens of thousands of fellow Democrats, TPJ received the following email communiqué (emphasis added) from Sen. John Kerry, asking Democrats to support the Democrats fighting Alito’s confirmation in the US Senate.
I've studied Judge Alito's legal record. I met with him one-on-one. After all this, I am left with one simple conclusion: if Judge Alito becomes Supreme Court Justice Alito, he will move the Court backwards.
I will vote against Judge Alito's confirmation, and I hope a majority of Senators choose to join us on the Senate floor, voting and speaking out against him. I know we face tough odds, but this is an important fight.
The bottom line is Judge Alito cannot be trusted on the Supreme Court. We can't trust him to stand up to government abuse of power. We can't trust him to ensure all citizens enjoy equal protection under the law. We can't trust him to protect our right to privacy. We can't trust him to defend mainstream American values.
To muster enough Senators to defeat Judge Alito, the American people have to make it clear that they are against his nomination. That's where you come in. By speaking out, you will help us convince other Senators to join our fight.
Stand with us today against Judge Alito
If you want to understand why Americans don't want Judge Alito on the Supreme Court, just take a look at his record. It paints a disturbing picture.
When it comes to standing up to the abuse of executive power and protecting our right to privacy, he barely has a record. Judge Alito refused to hold the government accountable for excessive force when an unarmed boy was shot and killed, or when an innocent 10 year old girl was strip-searched.
In a speech in 2000, Judge Alito even endorsed a theory suggesting that independent agencies like the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which holds companies responsible for making products safe for kids, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, which stands up to corporate abusers like Enron, are unconstitutional infringements on the President's power.
With this record, how can we expect Alito to stand up to the President when he breaks the law to eavesdrop on American citizens or authorizes the torture of detainees?
Judge Alito's record on civil rights is no better. He saw no legitimate question of discrimination in allowing an all-white jury to sentence a black man to death for killing a white man. His own colleagues have criticized him for ignoring employees' rights to be free from job discrimination. Judge Alito's clear bias is to keep victims of discrimination out of the court system - and to rule in favor of corporate interests.
Judge Alito's record on privacy rights is worst of all. In 1985, Judge Alito actually wrote a memo outlining a strategy to undermine Roe v. Wade by slowly chipping away at its protections. That same year, Judge Alito wrote in a job application that he did not believe in the constitutionality of the right to privacy. Judge Alito's views on privacy rights are not ambiguous; they are openly hostile.
Stand with us today against Judge Alito
Your voice is essential in this fight.
We have no reason to be hesitant in fighting to keep Samuel Alito off the Supreme Court. None of our fears are based on inference, speculation or assumption. His record speaks for itself -- and it speaks on behalf of extreme ideology and powerful corporations -- not the rights guaranteed by our Constitution.
To join this fight, please sign our letter. When I go down to the Senate floor to speak out against Judge Alito, I'll enter your name in opposition to Alito into the Congressional Record as well. And
I'll show my Senate colleagues that as far as the American people are concerned, this is not some inside the beltway conversation; this is a landmark struggle for the future of our nation.
Please join us in this fight for our most cherished rights and freedoms.
Sen. Kerry has it backwards. The question is whether Senate Democrats will show rank and file Democrats that they will stand with us. Sen. Kerry is essentially saying that he will cast what “inside the beltway” Democrats call a “strategic vote” against Alito’s nomination. Carefully note that Sen. Kerry does not even mention the word “filibuster.” Only a successful filibuster offers any chance of stopping Alito’s confirmation.
TPJ again asks that readers consider Junkie Editor Michael Carmichael’s analysis of Alito’s nomination in his section of TPJ and write or call the Democrat members of the gang of fourteen.
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SID WAXMAN
“Gore”
This is excerpted from a Reuters article about Al Gore's address to The American Constitution Society and The Liberty Coalition. In it he called for an independent counsel to investigate whether President George W. Bush broke the law in authorizing domestic eavesdropping without court approval. [Y]ou might appreciate the RNC's Ad Hominem* argument in response (nothing yet from the White House).
"Al Gore's incessant need to insert himself in the headline of the day is almost as glaring as his lack of understanding of the threats facing America," Tracey Schmitt, spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, said in a statement.
"Tracey Schmitt's incessant need to insert herself in the headline of the day is almost as glaring as her lack of understanding of the threats facing America," Sid Waxman, spokesman for himself, said in a statement. He continued, "Once again, there are those in this country who would have us give up the rule of law in the name of national security, thereby declaring to our enemies 'You've won. We give up our core values.' ".
You probably saw the first paragraph, but I'm sure you haven't seen the second.
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*[A]n Ad Hominem argument is an attack on your opponent rather than statement stating propositions in favor of your position. I'm sure you recognize this as being their prime modus operandi. The Republican innovation is to have a third party deliver the attack rather than their principal player.
Last Update: 03/23/2006