Typical Of The Democrats: Operatives Target Alito
It's just after three a.m. I can't sleep. For some odd reason, the mattress just doesn't fell too good tonight. Oh well. I'm used to the minimal sleep.
I was checking out the news sites, and picked this up from Drudge. We knew that Specter made a mistake when he postponed the Alito hearings until January. The Democrat operatives for the Allaince for Justice are preparing to launch a series of ads attacking Alito on issues other abortion.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/5724655.html
WASHINGTON - Seeking to move beyond the focus on abortion rights, a coalition of liberal groups opposing the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Samuel Alito is preparing a national TV advertising campaign accusing him of threatening rights through other areas, including police searches and employment discrimination.
The effort to turn the subject away from abortion -- which has dominated the discussion among supporters and detractors of the Alito nomination -- comes as Democrats are trying to dispel their party's image as too absolutist on the issue.
People involved in the liberal groups' effort said, however, that the advertising strategy reflected more specific poll results showing that Alito could be more vulnerable to attacks on other aspects of his record. A poll commissioned by the Alliance for Justice, one of the groups leading the coalition, highlighted elements of the judge's record unrelated to abortion that could have greater resonance with moderate voters.
One issue the poll raised was his support as a Reagan administration lawyer of an employer's right to fire someone who had AIDS. Another issue was a judicial opinion he wrote supporting a police strip-search of a drug dealer's female partner and her 10-year-old daughter. Others included his judicial votes against employment discrimination suits and an opinion overturning part of the Family and Medical Leave Act.
The Left is grasping at straws if this is the best they can come up with. We on the Right can come up with far more regarding their nominees than they can on ours. Scalia, Thomas, Roberts, Alito--they all disavow the inclusion of foreign law into the interpretation of the Constitution. Breyer, Ginsburg, Stevens, and Souter are all advocates of it. I do understand that Souter and Stevens were nominated by Republican presidents, but Alito isn't like either of those two. The president went back after the Miers wreck, and chose a nominee that the base was behind long before he had announced Miers.
In the discussions I had, and from the blog sites covering the issue, Alito was on everyone's "top ten" shortlists. He held good company with the likes of Luttig, Brown, Garza, Owen, and Estrada. The man is anything but extreme. I am aware of the FML Act case ( I can't recall it's name at the moment), but I do remember that opinion. It dealt with something not specifically cited or implied within the legislation. To decide otherwise would be an act of judicial activism. This shows the true colors of the liberal elite, and the operatives involved with them. They want jurists opposite Alito. They want another O'Connor, or Souter, or Stevens. They want an activist.
Alito's not that person. But the "Strib" (Minneapolis Star-Tribune) isn't done with the above. No, there's more.
The advertising strategy also reflects some of the difficulty of pinning down Alito's position on abortion rights, some said. Last summer an abortion-rights group withdrew a commercial opposing the nomination of Chief Justice John Roberts amid criticism that the advertising misconstrued his defense of clinic protesters as support for a clinic bomber.
People involved in the effort said the coalition was planning to spend several million dollars to broadcast commercials, perhaps beginning late this week, on national cable networks and in the home states of potentially pivotal senators.
The people involved in the liberal effort spoke on condition of anonymity because their coalition had not completed or announced its plans.
Steve Schmidt, a spokesman for the White House, accused the groups of planning "millions of dollars' worth of wildly inaccurate advertisements that border on character assassination."
The targeting of "pivotal" senators makes sense. They're trying to strong-arm candidates into doing their bidding, to gain campaign funding and endorsements, and such a position--at this moment in time--could very well be a death knell for them. Mr. Schmidt is correct that much of these attacks are going to be attacks directly against this man's impeccable character. But, this is typical of the liberals. When they can't deal with the candidate on his merits, they resort to what Thomas appropriately called "the art of the smear." They're going to impugn his character, his faith, his nature--all of it--just to accomplish they're selfish desires. What they cannot win, they will cheat to achieve.
Sean Rushton, executive director of the Committee for Justice, an organization formed to support President Bush's nominees, said the liberal groups' strategy reflected recognition that their opposition to abortion restrictions would alienate mainstream voters.
Rushton said the ad campaign would end up helping Alito by enabling conservatives to mount their own campaign attacking the liberal groups for their stands on gay rights and other issues in addition to abortion. When Alito testifies, the conservative groups' commercials "will just paint the accusers as the shrill and extreme ones," Rushton said.
And they will have only themselves to blame. Judge Alito couldn't be stopped by a Mack truck right now. Rather than gathering information on him for the next month, or so, and then launching their campaign, they've opted to move now. And I'm guessing the reason is they don't have a lot on him as it is. What they do have is based on pure speculation and a manipulation of the facts they're using. When these cases start popping up out there, take the time to read them and understand them. Alito is not an idiot, and does an excellent job of asssessing the Constitutional merits of a complaint, and in deciding whether the complaint is valid. I know it sounds cold, but judges should not be swayed by emotion. They are swayed by the proper interpretation of the laws.
Alito will do just that. This is why groups like the Alliance for Justice are launching their campaigns now. Best to get the ball rolling, so the media have their talking points for their attacks, and those opposed to him on ideological grounds will have their points, as well. But whether they're in the meida, or on Capitol Hill, they will soon realize that, like roberts, they don't have a leg to stand on, and the GOP will only be too happy to take the second one out for them if they want to provoke the fight over Alito.
Mistress Pundit
It's just after three a.m. I can't sleep. For some odd reason, the mattress just doesn't fell too good tonight. Oh well. I'm used to the minimal sleep.
I was checking out the news sites, and picked this up from Drudge. We knew that Specter made a mistake when he postponed the Alito hearings until January. The Democrat operatives for the Allaince for Justice are preparing to launch a series of ads attacking Alito on issues other abortion.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/5724655.html
WASHINGTON - Seeking to move beyond the focus on abortion rights, a coalition of liberal groups opposing the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Samuel Alito is preparing a national TV advertising campaign accusing him of threatening rights through other areas, including police searches and employment discrimination.
The effort to turn the subject away from abortion -- which has dominated the discussion among supporters and detractors of the Alito nomination -- comes as Democrats are trying to dispel their party's image as too absolutist on the issue.
People involved in the liberal groups' effort said, however, that the advertising strategy reflected more specific poll results showing that Alito could be more vulnerable to attacks on other aspects of his record. A poll commissioned by the Alliance for Justice, one of the groups leading the coalition, highlighted elements of the judge's record unrelated to abortion that could have greater resonance with moderate voters.
One issue the poll raised was his support as a Reagan administration lawyer of an employer's right to fire someone who had AIDS. Another issue was a judicial opinion he wrote supporting a police strip-search of a drug dealer's female partner and her 10-year-old daughter. Others included his judicial votes against employment discrimination suits and an opinion overturning part of the Family and Medical Leave Act.
The Left is grasping at straws if this is the best they can come up with. We on the Right can come up with far more regarding their nominees than they can on ours. Scalia, Thomas, Roberts, Alito--they all disavow the inclusion of foreign law into the interpretation of the Constitution. Breyer, Ginsburg, Stevens, and Souter are all advocates of it. I do understand that Souter and Stevens were nominated by Republican presidents, but Alito isn't like either of those two. The president went back after the Miers wreck, and chose a nominee that the base was behind long before he had announced Miers.
In the discussions I had, and from the blog sites covering the issue, Alito was on everyone's "top ten" shortlists. He held good company with the likes of Luttig, Brown, Garza, Owen, and Estrada. The man is anything but extreme. I am aware of the FML Act case ( I can't recall it's name at the moment), but I do remember that opinion. It dealt with something not specifically cited or implied within the legislation. To decide otherwise would be an act of judicial activism. This shows the true colors of the liberal elite, and the operatives involved with them. They want jurists opposite Alito. They want another O'Connor, or Souter, or Stevens. They want an activist.
Alito's not that person. But the "Strib" (Minneapolis Star-Tribune) isn't done with the above. No, there's more.
The advertising strategy also reflects some of the difficulty of pinning down Alito's position on abortion rights, some said. Last summer an abortion-rights group withdrew a commercial opposing the nomination of Chief Justice John Roberts amid criticism that the advertising misconstrued his defense of clinic protesters as support for a clinic bomber.
People involved in the effort said the coalition was planning to spend several million dollars to broadcast commercials, perhaps beginning late this week, on national cable networks and in the home states of potentially pivotal senators.
The people involved in the liberal effort spoke on condition of anonymity because their coalition had not completed or announced its plans.
Steve Schmidt, a spokesman for the White House, accused the groups of planning "millions of dollars' worth of wildly inaccurate advertisements that border on character assassination."
The targeting of "pivotal" senators makes sense. They're trying to strong-arm candidates into doing their bidding, to gain campaign funding and endorsements, and such a position--at this moment in time--could very well be a death knell for them. Mr. Schmidt is correct that much of these attacks are going to be attacks directly against this man's impeccable character. But, this is typical of the liberals. When they can't deal with the candidate on his merits, they resort to what Thomas appropriately called "the art of the smear." They're going to impugn his character, his faith, his nature--all of it--just to accomplish they're selfish desires. What they cannot win, they will cheat to achieve.
Sean Rushton, executive director of the Committee for Justice, an organization formed to support President Bush's nominees, said the liberal groups' strategy reflected recognition that their opposition to abortion restrictions would alienate mainstream voters.
Rushton said the ad campaign would end up helping Alito by enabling conservatives to mount their own campaign attacking the liberal groups for their stands on gay rights and other issues in addition to abortion. When Alito testifies, the conservative groups' commercials "will just paint the accusers as the shrill and extreme ones," Rushton said.
And they will have only themselves to blame. Judge Alito couldn't be stopped by a Mack truck right now. Rather than gathering information on him for the next month, or so, and then launching their campaign, they've opted to move now. And I'm guessing the reason is they don't have a lot on him as it is. What they do have is based on pure speculation and a manipulation of the facts they're using. When these cases start popping up out there, take the time to read them and understand them. Alito is not an idiot, and does an excellent job of asssessing the Constitutional merits of a complaint, and in deciding whether the complaint is valid. I know it sounds cold, but judges should not be swayed by emotion. They are swayed by the proper interpretation of the laws.
Alito will do just that. This is why groups like the Alliance for Justice are launching their campaigns now. Best to get the ball rolling, so the media have their talking points for their attacks, and those opposed to him on ideological grounds will have their points, as well. But whether they're in the meida, or on Capitol Hill, they will soon realize that, like roberts, they don't have a leg to stand on, and the GOP will only be too happy to take the second one out for them if they want to provoke the fight over Alito.
Mistress Pundit
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 4:50 AM
1 Comments:
Good blog. I fail to understand what the lib's hope to gain. I get the impression, because President Bush nominated him, Judge Alito is not qualified. How down right stupid. There's no question, the Judge is highly qualified. The FBI has vetted him on two prior occasions and he's clean. The Senate unanimously approved him on two prior occasion. Any group that opposes him should be taken to the wood shed and the appropriate punishment rendered. Rawriter
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