Don't blame Mrs. Alito -- Blame the cynical handlers

[Armstead]

I am not among those who criticize Mrs. Alito's emotional display yesterday. It was simply a human response to a very stressful situation.

But why was she therein the first place? That's the real annoying part. It seems so cynical to use a nominee's family as a prop to make him look more sympathetic and remind us that he is a "good American family man."

If she wanted to be there to support her husband, tht's fine. But placing her right over his shoulder in camera range everyday is just anotehr example of political "stagecraft" design to distract from the real issues. She's not the nominee. He is. I'm sure she won't be sitting over his shoulder while he proceeds to dismantle our rights once he is nominated.

A small point, but typical of how low we have sunk.

[Proud_Lefty]

1. Sorry. The whole thing seemed staged

It's a way to get support of the American people to attack these Dems who have the audacity to really question Alito. Did you hear them O'Donnell asking Hatch this morning if they were going to demand an apology from the democrats? Enough already with their self-serving drama! If she can't handle it, GO HOME! Alito should too.

[rucky]

7. But the crying happened while a Republican was PRAISING him!

but nobody mentions that here, on the teevee, or probably on the Senate floor, so chalk another one up to the GOP.

[Proud_Lefty]

48. Good point

Did anyone hear the dems come out and use the harsh words Graham did?

[Walt Starr]

2. She was a willing participant to the faked crying event

I'm even certain that they had a code word for her bullshit act. Probably as soon as Graham said "bigot" that was the cue for her to break down.

It was bullshit.

[EFerrari]

3. I blame her. It would be very difficult for those handlers

to get me to sit there like a door stop until it was time for me to squeeze out a few tears and rush off stage.

I would have told them to go Cheney themselves. :)

[KittyWampus]

4. Apparently Republicans thing it's okay to STAGE A FAKE BREAKDOWN

to manipulate the American public.

Fucking typical the only emotional reactions they show is bogus.

Remember the fake outrage over Kerry mentioning Cheney's gay daughter?

[stepnw1f]

5. How Low... Give me a Break

You know what's low... her fake emotional out burst to score points with the public. That was low.

[mondo joe]

6. What? Is she not an adult. Don't ask me to be so patronizing.

Please.

[Cooley Hurd]

8. I recommend to anyone who doesn't believe it was staged to read this:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/1/11/212155/847

<snip>
This cry, in my opinion, is staged. Yes, I believe it is planned. Notice Graham, now twenty-seven seconds into the segment on Yahoo, has "lost his quotes." And the wife begins to cry.

Alito's wife and those interrogating him know his wife is always captured in the frame the moment Alito occupies the entire screen of any television or computer. She is reliably above his left shoulder. And we also understand Kennedy's relentless persuit of Alito's affiliation with CAPs will be exploited by Republicans and others as an example of Democratic desperation and hostility. Also keep in mind that there was a break between the line of questioning including Kennedy and Biden and that which included Graham. And why the glance to her left? And why did Lindsey Graham pause? And why were the tears so sudden? And how can we justify them if in fact Graham was peppering the atmosphere with what many would call humor?

And even worse, why is this considered news? Why are news organizations discussing the tears of Alito's wife?

I believe this is staged, and I am asking for your opinion.
</snip>

If it WASN'T staged, I'll eat my hat, head and all!

[EFerrari]

9. It that was real, I'll join you.

Fava beans and a nice Chianti. lol

[Cooley Hurd]

25. If we had to rely on my brain for nourishment...

...we'd starve. :D:hi:

[rucky]

49. Yes it was staged, but you fell right into their trap.

Now they can say how callous we are, when all we had to do was express our concern about Lindsay Graham's inflammatory statements that were attributed do NOBODY. He made shit up that she thought was actually said by "some". That's why she cried, so how come we're not talking about THAT?

[Cooley Hurd]

50. Lindsey Graham's statement was PART of the farce...

...thereby, by proximity, we ARE talking about it.:thumbsup:

[ScreamingMeemie]

10. Thank you Armstead, and be prepared for irrational reasoning on

why it's somehow "okay" for us. :(

[EFerrari]

12. Irrational reasoning?

To hold an adult responsible for their behavior?

[ScreamingMeemie]

14. To somehow think that it matters...She isn't the one in the hot seat.

Focus on the man who deserves our anger. Write the media. Tell them to cut it out. Don't BE them.

[EFerrari]

18. Be them? I think we're talking at cross purposes.

This person was used to distract from Alito's record, just as being Latino was used to distract from Torquemada's record.

That matters.

[ScreamingMeemie]

20. Only if you let it. I saw her as an emotional wife. Nothing more. And

it took nothing away from the hearing...and I've emailed several media outlets this morning to express my outrage at their handling of the situation...not to call Mrs Alito a whore.

[EFerrari]

22. You must be watching a different drama. n/t

[ScreamingMeemie]

24. I must not care as much about every little thing, blow it out of

proportion, distract myself with nonsense type crap that makes us appear to be the hypocrites I'm beginning to think we are.


Do what I've been doing. Hide the threads that bother you and move along. We aren't going to see eye to eye on this, ever. Have a good day sfexpat.

[EFerrari]

38. I wonder why you think it appropriate to minimize the

concerns of others and to determine for them what is and what is not important?

[meganmonkey]

11. I can't believe the reactions here

I mean - I REALLY can't believe it. And I have been on DU long enough to have seen some crass, tacky shit.

And anyone who knows me knows that I, too, can be rather crass and tacky. So for me to say this means I am really shocked. And quite frankly I am offended - which almost NEVER happens to me.

I just can't believe it.

You are all making me fucking sick.

:puke:

(on edit: not directed at the OP - but at all the people on all the threads about this who are being completely inhuman and insensitive. I expected better from this place.)

[ScreamingMeemie]

13. megan, you're not alone. Definitely not alone.

It's a sad day when we dwell with them in the house of hypocrisy. :hug:

[meganmonkey]

16. Thanks

:hug:

I know there are more of us feeling this way, I just wish more would speak up.

[EFerrari]

15. Sorry, megan. I find it neither inhuman nor insensitive

to call baloney, baloney.

[Skidmore]

17. You know what, DU participated in it too.

Okay, they placed her as part of stagecraft. So what. Take the wind out of their sails. What did this board do? Go nuts. We must have had 30 threads about her and his sister going simultaneously yesterday critiquing everything from their hair and dress to the way they smiled or didn't smile. Everyone got all emotional and played right into their hands, as usual. Not EVERYTHING in the background is a smoking gun. Sometimes it is just a crying wife.

For gods' sake, grow up!

[ScreamingMeemie]

19. This should be posted as a thread. sometimes a crying wife

is just a crying wife.

[EFerrari]

21. Do you honestly, honestly believe that if there were any chance

this "crying wife" was genuinely upset and not scripted that she would be there TODAY?

Not a chance in the world.

Theater is in part how Bush stole the White House. It has worked very well for these criminals.

[ScreamingMeemie]

23. Yes, I do. And in the realm of things, her tears, or her stoicism matter

not one iota in the scheme of things. Sorry,

[EFerrari]

29. Her handlers wouldn't let her near the building

if there was a chance that she would do anything unscripted.

And as you have seen, the corporate media is playing it to the hilt.

"Are you going to demand that the Democrats apologize for making Mrs. Alito cry?" -- Nora O'Donnell.

Someone believes they matter an iota or two in the scheme of things. "Scheme" being the operative word.

[ScreamingMeemie]

34. Then write your media outlets.

It's really that simple.

[txindy]

40. We have and we will. We'll also continue to discuss it here.

This is our 'home'. We don't influence national debate here. Martha-Ann doesn't pop by for chats and won't be offended. We may talk about topics of our choice. So, yes, we can do many things at one time. Anyone who doesn't like the topic has thousands more from which to choose. It's really that simple.

[Cooley Hurd]

30. It does matter - there's a HUGE amount of anecdotal evidence...

...that indicate that this was stagecraft. Why did she cry when she did? And, why was she giggling mere SECONDS before it?

I believe it was VolcanoJen who pointed out (in a thread yesterday) that such tactics are used in courts of law every day. This is a ROOM full of lawyers.

It's by no means a stretch to speculate that this was merely a ploy to make the Senate Democrats look like big ol' meanies. The political mileage to be had from such a stunt would flip ten odometers...

[Skidmore]

26. Apparently it does work very well with this some on this board.

SOme of us need to quit being distracted by shiny objects and focus on the issues. Mrs. Alito is no consequence and would have remained background if the response to all of this had been some on the order of the process it tough and they go into it knowing it is. Let's talk to the judge.

BTW, have you ever had a family member be allowed to accompany you to a job interview?

[EFerrari]

31. My thread last night was rapid response to bs,

not discussing her unfortunate wardrobe, thanks.

And, while my family has never been to a job interview, my husband was very defintely checked out by management on more than one occasion.

I agree, let's talk to the bigot. But, if Mrs. Scalito inserts herself into a public hearing, she has chosen to be part of the event.

[txindy]

28. Some folks are projecting their own emotions and stories onto her

No, she wasn't genuinely upset, imo. I'm also perfectly capable of criticizing that woman AND discussing substantive issues. Multi-tasking, it's not just for breakfast anymore.

You are so right about the theatre and its manipulation by these criminals. It's even working on people who should know better.

Good post. :toast:

[Cooley Hurd]

32. "...projecting their own emotions and stories onto her"

Sadly, I believe this to be correct... :(

[ScreamingMeemie]

33. No. She's the man's wife. That's all.

Yes, I posted my own experience, which is the experience of loving spouses the world over. It would be a twisted world any other way.

[txindy]

35. And the world isn't twisted? "Freedom is on the march" "Clean Air Act"

Everything this admin. says and does is the opposite of the truth. Our emotions may be true, but that certainly doesn't make theirs true. Not even close.

[DistressedAmerican]

27. I Do Not Think It Was Faked. But, If She Is Letting Herself Be Handled

then she is just as full of shit as the handlers themselves. They did not just kidnap her off of the street and start coaching.

[EFerrari]

36. If Hiliary Clinton had cried in public, they would be

crucifying her right now.

It's wierd for me to disagree with so many DUers I usually agree with. But my BS detector went off bigtime. And, she's there again today. No way would the GOP allow that after waiting for this moment for 40 years.

[txindy]

37. If Hillary or Theresa cried there'd be demands to know what they're hiding

Lots of BS detectors went off.

[EFerrari]

42. Remember when Teresa told that reporter to get

out of her face? lol

I wish I could vote FOR HER!

[Armstead]

39. Let's not "know" without knowing

I have a problem with this subject on several levels.

1) (And most important) Mrs. Alito doesn't really matter. It doesn't even really matter whether Judge Alito is a wonderful guy or a schmuck on a personal level. WHAT MATTERS ARE THE ISSUES AT STAKE. Abortion, workers' rights, the ability of communities to plan their destinies, civil rights and liberties, etc. etc. etc. His beliefs and how he would or would not try to impose them on the nation is all that really matters.

2)As with so many issues, so many DUers seem to "know" what "really happened" without knowing by jumping to conclusions. That's different from asking questions, or criticizing obvious facts like she was there as prop. But the attitude that she defnetly was faking it at the instructions of the BFFE is the kind of wldass and insensitive speculation that is as bad as the nonsense the other side engages in. ("We know Clinton was really a drug runner."...."We know Hillary killed Vince Foster.")

3)I don't think we should be mean spirited and petty, especially towards people who are peripherally involved in issues.

[EFerrari]

41. I don't find it mean spirited or petty to point out the

obvious and by now habitual machinations the GOP engages in.

It's also not "wild" or "insensitive" to notice the lengths they go to to win at any cost.

Pointing that out is not participation in their manipulations. It's simply observing the obvious.

/grammar

[Armstead]

44. My philsophy is to go with what I know....

I know it is manipulative to place the nominee's wife and kids directly behind him throughout the hearings.

I don't know that she was told to cry on cue. It's a possibility, especially considering how manipulative they are known to be. But unless there is some sort of proof, I prefer to leave that in the realm of speculation.

[EFerrari]

45. I honestly wish I could agree. And I hope the NAACP's

testimony against Alito gets as much attention as this drama did.

[Armstead]

46. I'll agree with you on that

My much bigger gripe is that the very real issues at stake seem to get short shrift in this whole process. Like the elections, it's all about the horserace and stagecraft.

I care much more about what Judge Alito would actully do on the bench than the tactics being used to get him there.

[EFerrari]

47. Definitely. Amy Goodman is interviewing someone from

the NAACP right now on Democracy Now!

[wishlist]

43. She and his sister were there so he wouldn't seem so anti-women's rights

His record is deplorable on rights of women and minorities. His 15 years of rulings fail to include defending civil or individual rights. He has made his views obvious by his membership in CAP and opinions against Roe VS Wade.

His Repub handlers know he is especially vulnerable on the issue of women's rights so they cynically placed the women behind him to boost his sorry image with women.

As a woman who has been grilled as a witness in government hearings myself I have no sympathy for her since she went along with the decision to be placed prominently behind him during these hearings. I also had no sympathy for the orchestrated 'outrage' expressed by Lynn Cheney over Kerry mentioning their lesbian daughter in the debate.