Today's Vote

This morning the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on sending Sam Alito's nomination to the Senate floor. It will be a party line vote, with 8 Democrats voting against, 10 Republicans voting for the nomination. No vote could better illustrate a major difference in the political thoughts of conservatives versus liberals.

Advise and consent to the Executive branch is the responsibility of the Senate concerning judicial nominations. Nowhere does it say the nominee must think as either side thinks. The judicial philosophy of a nominee is reflected by the President nominating him or her. What could be more basic of common sense - a conservative president will nominate a conservative judge to the Supreme Court, given the opportunity. The same goes to liberal presidents and nominees. President Bush said he would nominate conservatives to the bench and, as is his character, he has kept this word on this campaign promise.

In previous days, when the political atmosphere was not so toxic, nominees were voted into judgeships based on qualifications and personal integrity. This is how it should be. When Charles Schumer, D-NY, came onto the Judicial Committee as a freshman Senator after years in the House of Representatives, he made it his mission to pressure the other members on his side of the aisle to make personal philosophy the main consideration. Shame on him for turning the committee into a bunch of political hacks.

Judge Alito has been more forthcoming about answering the committee's questions than any recent nominee to the Supreme Court. To state that he didn't answer the questions is nonsense. It just means the committee member didn't like the answer.

To say that Justice Sandra Day O'Connor must be replaced with another moderate judge is silly. Since when was this the standard? Ruth Bader Ginsburg replaced Byron White and the two could not have been further apart in philosophy. Status quo is not a requirement for the Supreme Court, unless maybe you are a part of the minority party feeling a little pain.

Elections have consequences.

Women will die if Sam Alito is on the Supreme Court. This is a rallying cry from the abortion lobby. This has been the cry since Souter was nominated and for each justice nominated by a Republican president since. I am a pro-choice conservative and I find it utterly unbelievable that one political party in this country is so beholden to one special interest group that they have been rendered submissive in hopes of votes for re-election. It is the same old tired argument proven wrong again and again. No Democrat in today's political atmosphere on the judicial committee will vote for Alito, even though 3 did vote in committee for John Roberts, for fear of angering the far left.

So far, only one Democrat, Ben Nelson D-Neb, has stated publicly that he will vote for Judge Alito in the Senate floor vote. During the Roberts Senate floor vote, 22 Democrats voted to place him on the Supreme Court. I don't think anywhere near that number will be honest enough to vote for Alito. Says a lot about today's liberals.

With liberals out of power in Washington, D.C., the judicial system is all they have left. They claim they are the watchdogs of separation of power among the three branches of government yet insist the judicial branch legislate from the bench.


"Joy is the feeling of grinning on the inside". - Dr.Melba Colgrove