Falling elephants and the stupid things they do on their way down
My sophomore year in college, I lived next door to a girl named Tina who was the only Young Republican I knew. When the Republicans took over Congress in that year’s “Republican Wave” election, she was elated. She kept saying things like “We did it!” and “We’ve taken back what’s ours.” And even though I was fairly liberal, I thought it was a good thing, too. I believed that because we had a Democrat in the White House, it was good to have a balance by keeping the legislative branch a little more Conservative. It meant that it was harder to pass laws, but it also meant that most Americans were being represented at that high level.
So now we have a Conservative (passionate or otherwise) in the Big House, oh, I mean, White House and a Republican-run House and Senate. And every media outlet I’ve been paying attention to lately (which, I’ll admit, hasn’t been as many as usual since I’ve been a bit distracted with other things) has a poll showing that if the elections were today, we’d elect a Democrat president. And that we can all expect a “Democratic Wave” in the 2006 elections.
So what does Georgie do when it comes time to nominate a Supreme Court judge? He finds Mr. Conservative. A man whose college professors claim to know he was going to be a big right-winger. You know that old saying about how if you’re 20 and not a Democrat, you have no heart and if you’re 40 and not a Republican, you have no mind? Well, I fear people who were Republicans in college. I digress.
What I find most frustrating and fascinating about Bush’s nomination of Alito is how it demonstrates his seemingly insatiable desire to divide this country. Bush’s approval ratings are dismal. His cronies are being fucking INDICTED. We are still reeling from the SNAFU of Katrina. If given the opportunity, 60% of Americans would vote for a Democrat, ANY Democrat, over him. And yet, he still has the balls to nominate a man who he knows will drive the wedge between Red and Blue states even deeper.
And you know what? This guy will be confirmed. He’s qualified. He’s likely done nothing illegal or unethical enough to prevent it. We can go ahead and kiss civil rights, women’s rights, privacy, and all those other things we crazy, fucked-up commy liberals hold dear.
Bush claims to care about America and Americans, but I don’t see any evidence of that in his latest actions. If he did care, he’d have worked a little harder to find someone a little less polarizing.
November 1st, 2005 at 6:56 pm
The saddest part of this time in history is that we are “liberating” the Iraqi people so they can enjoy democracy and at the same time we are cutting back the most basic liberties we’ve always enjoyed as Americans. I blame Rush Limbaugh for the climate of discourtesy and insult we live in today. He and his cronies, including the Air America folks don’t really want a discussion. They just want to call each other names. I miss the discussion, the respect for another’s opinion. Our parents and grandparents knew that manners had a practiacal application.
November 3rd, 2005 at 5:43 pm
Voice of descent here. You should check the guy out a bit more. I heard one of his former appellate court colleagues on NPR. An openly left-hearted judge, this guy (can’t remember his name) credits Alito as a true intellectual, someone who makes decisions based on the constitution, and someone who has no agenda at all. Yes, he is as conservative as they may come- but in all sense of the word, in that he is calm, careful, and reserves judgment until all the facts are presented. I HATE how the media (particulalry all us bloggers out there) runs to critique every decision made (thus, judging immediately) rather than taking the time to sit back and take a look at the individual who will be assuming the bench. I’m personally worried about how the tilted bench will interpret women’s issues, but from the day-long special on NPR (not necessarily a champion of conservative ideology) had to say, he doesn’t seem to be the type to disrespect former decisions (e.g. Roe vs. Wade). It will be interesting to see what happens. I’ll wait and see myself. As for Bush, would you care if your ratings were down? A second term is the time to do what you want – it might be the only time you can really get anything done.