As we approach the vote in the Senate on the Alito nomination, America stands at a crossroads. It is just slimly possible that Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court of these United States of America can be stopped by a filibuster when the vote comes on Monday, if enough senators will stand up for principle against confirming a Justice whose core values support principles that are inimical to a sustainable democracy.
Alito's radical right-wing views are well known. He has described himself in job applications and talks, and there is a significant body of judicial opinions from which to judge what kind of Justice he would be. In particular, Alito's known positions on unconstrained presidential powers, lack of protection for individual privacy rights, lack of protection for the environment and favoritism towards entrenched corporatist views of government and wealthy/corporate control of government will mar our country's democracy for decades to come if he is confirmed.
The New York Times has it right in its January 26 editorial, Senators in Need of a Spine. Here's an excerpt.
Judge Samuel Alito Jr., whose entire history suggests that he holds extreme views about the expansive powers of the presidency and the limited role of Congress, will almost certainly be a Supreme Court justice soon. His elevation will come courtesy of a president whose grandiose vision of his own powers threatens to undermine the nation's basic philosophy of government - and a Senate that seems eager to cooperate by rolling over and playing dead.
It is hard to imagine a moment when it would be more appropriate for senators to fight for a principle. Even a losing battle would draw the public's attention to the import of this nomination.
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