That Fucking Alito

[desmiller]

Daily Kos sent me this in my email:



" , in a phenomenally inappropriately political statement, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito agreed with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that it's no big deal to prevent President Obama from filling the vacant seat left by Antonin Scalia's death.

It’s not surprising that Justice Alito, a conservative justice appointed by President George W. Bush, agrees with obstructionist conservatives. It is appalling however, for a sitting justice to insert himself into a political process.

The American public deserves a Supreme Court above partisan politics. We must have confidence that our highest court and ultimate arbiter of justice is not swayed by political ideology or undue influence.

Sign the petition: Stay in your lane, Alito. The sitting president chooses the justices. The Senate confirms. So keep your politicking to yourself.

Keep fighting,
Monique Teal, Daily Kos"

[pintobean]

1. Dupe

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027635546

[desmiller]

4. My bad. didn't know.

[malaise]

2. This should be major news

but election money means it's all elections all the time.

He is fugging out of order and must be called on it.

[hifiguy]

3. It's appalling, but I suppose Soapy Sam is grouchy

because he's now stuck with being Uncle Ruckus' ventriloquist/brain since Scalia is no longer available for that duty.

[Paladin]

5. Careful---there seems to be an Alito fan club forming on other threads.

I wouldn't have thought it would happen at DU, but Alito sure seems to have his defenders, here.

[former9thward]

7. To want accurate quotes is now a fan club?

If you are going to attack Alito why not attack him for things he has actually said instead of making thing up?

[Judi Lynn]

12. You can be sure they're not Democrats. My god, that's hideous. The trolls are thick here. n/t

[hifiguy]

14. There are a lot of bridges on the intertubes missing their trolls these days.

That much is certain.

Time to spread some of this around:

[Waldorf]

15. There is no Alito fan club. There is nothing wrong with what he said.

From the quotes from this thread.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027635546

"We will deal with it," Alito told an audience at Georgetown Law, pointing out that there is nothing in the Constitution that specifies the size of the court..."

His quote is correct. They will deal with having one less justice until a new one joins them. Justices have had to recuse themselves from cases so they have worked with 8 on the bench.


Asked specifically for his opinion on what kind of candidate should be sought as a replacement, Alito demurred.

"We don't choose our colleagues. The presidents choose the justices and the judges and the Senate confirms them," Alito said, adding, "I have enough trouble with the questions that I have to decide."

Now what is wrong with that quote? It also is correct. Presidents choose the replacements and Senate confirms or denies.

[former9thward]

6. The OP does not quote Alito.

I don't wonder why. Alito did not say what he OP has him saying. What he said (in response to a question) is that the court can function with only eight Justices. That is not political, that is a fact. The court has functioned for long periods with only 8 and sometimes 7 Justices without major problems.

[mwrguy]

8. He should join a hunting club

[Octafish]

9. Know your BFEE: Alito is just another word for Mussolini

From a decade back, when Alito was gettin' his button:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x266685

[onenote]

10. I'm no fan of Alito but he said what any of the SCOTUS justices would've said

when asked if/how the Court will deal with the vacancy created by Scalia's death, which is that the Court will deal with it.

That's an undeniably true and neutral statement. By statute, a quorum of the Supreme Court is 6. And while its undoubtedly better to have an odd number of justices, that hasn't always been the case. Indeed, when the first Congress set up the Supreme Court, they deemed that it would have six justices.

[dmrifle]

11. Dump Alito

I think it's time in America to end the lifetime appointment for Judges, Including on the Supreme Court. Make them stand for re-election at regular intervals. Four years for court judges, six years for appellate judges and ten years for the supreme s. Anyone with me?

[Judi Lynn]

13. He should be relieved of "duty" for butting into something which is clearly not his business.

That would be the appropriate response to his power play.

[center]

Mrs. Alito sobbing when she didn't like the tone of
the questions asked of her husband during his hearing.[/center]

[merrily]

16. "The American public deserves a Supreme Court above partisan politics." Sure, but we haven't had

one in as long as I can remember and we probably never will. If we had a SCOTUS above partisan politics, FDR would never have had to threaten to enlarge the court and, even more telling, his threat would not have changed the way the Justices had been deciding cases so drastically. If we had a SCOTUS above partisan politics, we would not have 5-4 decisions on every important issue, except when Kennedy goes rogue and makes it 4-5.

The issue here is not a Court that is above politics but a selection mechanism that works the same way whether the President is a Democrat or a Republican.

And yes, Alito needs a nice, warm cup of STFU.

[desmiller]

17. "And yes, Alito needs a nice, warm cup of STFU."

with marshmallows.

[merrily]

18. You're more generous than I am!

[spanone]

19. he's following the trend that started in 2000

[Barack_America]

20. Took up the mantle of Scalia, did he?