I have been watching some of the Alito hearings before the highly esteemed Senate Judiciary Committee for two days now hoping and praying for some honesty, intelligence, and an articulate set of both questions and answers - not banter about mother-in-law metaphors! Democrats bash Alito with lies, Republicans honor him with platitudes, and Alito himself just sits there, with an "open mind," doing a pretty good impression of a robot. Which brings up the real issue. Nobody wants to say it directly, few ask it directly, no-one dares answer it directly. And so we dance. The Senate and the nominee, waltzing around the law and the Constitution with shrill music, provided by special interests, reaching ever higher volumes. How come nobody wants to talk about abortion? It's what everyone wants to know. It seems to be the central issue - both on the left and the right. Which is where I come in - both left and right are out of touch with reality on the abortion issue. Here are my opinions, mixed in with a good serving of facts:
1) I am personally opposed to abortion. I think it is morally reprehensible - under all circumstances!
2) All polls indicate that the majority of Americans think abortion ought to remain legal - therefore I am in the minority on this issue.
3) Roe v Wade (1973) was a terrible decision - an abominable interpretation of the Constitution. Even liberal law professors (Lawrence Tribe of Harvard) admit this - therefore Roe v Wade ought to be overturned post haste, and no nominee to the Supreme Court ought to be afraid to say so.
4) Overturning Roe v Wade will have virtually zero effect on abortion in America. Roe v Wade simply incorporated the 14th Ammendement so that one state's allowing abortion applies to the other 49 states. If Roe is overturned all but about 5 of the 50 state legislatures will scurry to make abortion legal in their states.
5) Most Americans, including Senators, do not understand point number 4.
6) There is no right to abortion or privacy in the Constitution - there is, however, a right to own private property.
7) Therefore I am more concerned about overturning the recent (2005) Kilo v New London decision which gave local municipalities the right to confiscate private property and give it to developers if it expands their tax base.
So why can't Samuel Alito just say all that?
3 comments:
Because -- at the end of the day, it is not about, nor has EVER been about, the facts...
It is about charging the emotions, and getting the pollsters and spinners to provide 'information' that shows whether or not Alito is 'electable'(that is actually what they are doing).
There is so little fact, or substance in today's political circles that we should not be surprised at the rhetoric we hear.
When someone like Ted Kennedy can lecture ANYONE on ethics, we see the sham that American politics has become.
Not that the other side is an ethical beacon!
Abortion is actually not the issue; the issue is deeper: it is whether or not the judge will be partial to the proper constituency... Regardless of the issue, it is simply, which side has him/her in their collective pocket...
So much for the impartial judge!
Anymore, the only person who stands a chance of being nominated is one who is as robotic as Alito. God forbid we actually have a judge who speaks his mind, or rightly interprets the law!
Yeah, I guess I'm a little naive wishing for facts and honesty in that particular arena. Don't you wish you could read the poor nominee's thoughts as he is berated by these senators? By the way, Mary Jo Kopechne was unavailable for comment!
You almost CAN read his thoughts if you watch his facial expressions... Some of this is so mind-numbing that we are going to get to the place where, like the presidential races, no one with any true character and qualities will DARE run/be nominated.
We will end up with a succession of Supreme Court nominees as devoid of ethical and moral depth as the current crop of presidential hopefuls... Each judge will respond to what the polls say in a Pavlovian response to the Senate, much like the elected offices do in today's world...
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