11 January 2006 (# 37)
Perhaps it is impossible for anyone ever associated with George W. Bush to be anything but unqualified and a liar because George W. Bush has been unqualified for everything he’s ever done and is a prolific liar.
But, one would have thought that in the early moments of the vast Abramoff scandal that a person purporting to be qualified to be appointed for life to the Supreme Court of the United States would tell the truth, even if it hurt.
Not Alito.
And, that’s just plain clueless.
Reason being that within moments of his ridiculous responses to questions about his membership in
Concerned Alumni of Princeton (CAP) folk ranging from Democratic Judiciary Committee staff to several bloggers bagged him:
Judge Alito touted his involvement with the Concerned Alumni of Princeton when applying for a political job with the Reagan Justice Department. Now that he is being considered for the Supreme Court, he is distancing himself from Concerned Alumni of Princeton. • In a statement promoting his conservative credentials attached to a November 18, 1985 application for a promotion within the Justice Department, Judge Alito said he was "a member of the Concerned Alumni of Princeton University, a conservative alumni group," including it as one of only two group memberships mentioned in the statement.
- Application to be Appointed Deputy Assistant Attorney General, November 18, 1985 (WH-118-WH-121).
Princeton ended the ROTC program on campus around the end of 1969, or the beginning of 1970. The University brought it back, although with the status of an extracurricular activity without credit, two years later, in 1972. (See, Harvard Crimson, "Princeton Students Protest Return of ROTC," 1/13/1972; "A Survey of ROTC's Status in the Ivies," 9/28/1973)
While there may have been disagreement with the ROTC change in 1972, when Judge Alito graduated and when CAP was formed, it certainly was settled by 1985, when Judge Alito noted his membership in the organization as part of his job application. Judge Alito failed to mention his involvement in CAP:
• In his 1990 Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire for his Circuit Court nomination, Judge Alito did not mention the group at all.
• In his 2005 questionnaire responses to the Judiciary Committee, Judge Alito referred to the organization only as "a group of Princeton alumni" and wrote: "A document I recently reviewed reflects that I was a member of the group in the 1980s. Apart from that document, I have no recollection of being a member, of attending meetings, or otherwise participating in the activities of the group. The group has no current officers from whom more information may be obtained."
- Questionnaire Responses to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, at 7.
Why would he lie about his association with CAP? Well, it probably has something to do with the fact that it’s a racist, sexist organization.
The Concerned Alumni of Princeton University was founded the same year Samuel Alito graduated from Princeton, 1972, and was well-known for favoring restrictions on the admission of minorities and women to the University.
• Former Senator Bill Bradley quit the alumni advisory board of CAP's magazine, Prospect, after the second issue was published, saying the magazine was "filled with innuendo and unsupported allegations about the University."
• Senator Bill Frist was critical of CAP: In 1975, a group of alumni including Frist concluded that Concerned Alumni had "presented a distorted narrow and hostile view of the university that cannot help but have misinformed and even alarmed many alumni" and "undoubtedly generated adverse national publicity." (Washington Post, 11/26/05)
• In the February 1985 issue of Prospect, editorial chairman David Condit '73 published an open letter to Princeton alumni in which he lamented that Princeton is no longer the university you knew it to be" in large part because, the Princeton Chaplain has said that there was nothing inherently wrong with homosexuality; admissions rates for African-Americans and Hispanics were increasing , while those of (white) alumni children were falling; and Princeton's president at the time urged the all male eating clubs to admit female students. A few months later, in November 1985, Alito cited his membership on his job application.
Link:
http://democrats.senate.gov/judiciarycommitteesupremecourt/correcting-6.cfm Chris Bowers, live blogging from the hearings has this to report:
Well, yes, he is lying, but I wanted to ask other people the same question. So, during the lunch break, I went down to the press area with Tim Tagaris, armed with only a single question:
"Do you believe Judge Alito is telling the truth about his association with Concerned Alumni for Princeton?" I managed to ask the question to the Presidents of three major advocacy organizations, and also to Senator Durbin. Here were the responses:
• Ralph Neas of People for the American Way said that Alito's response to this line of questioning was "not credible." Mr. Neas added that he personally remembered the 1980's pretty well, including what organizations he was involved with at the time.
• Nan Aron of the Alliance for Justice said that it is "hard to know what to believe" and she asked "how do you forget" being a member of an organization for eight or nine years. I had a simple response to this question that generated laughs among the people around me: "because he's lying."
• Debra Ness of the National Partnership for Women and Families said "no." She told me that Alito not remembering his association with such an organization "stretches the imagination."
• Tim actually managed to get video of Senator Durbin's good response to my question. Check out the Kicking Ass for the video. Here is the transcript:
I couldn't understand his answer. That they removed ROTC was the reason he belonged to this organization? I mean, it totally did not follow. I mean the only the thing you can argue is that somehow or another women and minorities were opposed to to ROTC. I mean, I can't, I don't understand it, and I'm going to ask him if I get chance. It just made no sense to me.
Alito is lying about his involvement with Concerned Alumni for Princeton, and the reason he is lying is because membership with such an organization demonstrates an embarrassing level of opposition to civil rights in this country that should disqualify someone from being a Supreme Court Justice. That he is unwilling to be truthful during his confirmation hearings further demonstrates just how unqualified he is.
Link: http://www.mydd.com/story/2006/1/10/143750/585Based on just these actions by Alito, today, the Senate Democrats must filibuster; indeed, force the “nuclear option,” and thereby demonstrate to all Americans that lying is no longer considered a viable trait inside the Beltway.
Then they can turn their attention to assisting their colleagues in the House assemble and file Articles of Impeachment against Liar- and Vice-Liar-in-Chief Bush and Cheney, respectively.
Thank you for your continued leadership,
Peace.
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