Senate Democrats regret supporting Roberts, Alito

[cal04]

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/110499-senate-democrats-regret-supporting-roberts-alito-

Senate Democrats are expressing regret for supporting the nominations of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito.

The Democrats’ criticism of Roberts and Alito comes as some centrist Republicans mull whether to break with their party and support Elena Kagan, President Obama’s nominee to the high court.

Twenty-two Democrats backed Roberts in 2005, while four supported Alito four months later.

From the rank and file to senior members, Democrats widely said they were particularly frustrated that Roberts, during his confirmation hearings, portrayed himself as an umpire merely calling balls and strikes. Instead, they say, he has joined the far-right wing of the court and been a leading voice in recent controversial 5-4 rulings.

“The representations that were made and implied turned out not to be accurate,” Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) said of Roberts. “Many of us met with him personally and tried to take his measure, and I remember worrying, ‘Is this someone who’s going to go to the far-right corner with Scalia and (Clarence Thomas)? Most of us were assured that wouldn’t happen. Turns out that’s exactly what happened.”

[hatrack]

1. "Here Charlie Brown, I'll hold the football while you kick it!"

What did they expect?

[MyNameGoesHere]

9. That is perfect!

Yes that's what dems have been doing for way too long.

[Amonester]

50. And they (some or many of them) will do it again someday, or any day.

Mark my words.

[JerseygirlCT]

27. Exactly! nt

[EFerrari]

38. It's time to start the music, it's time to dim the lights!

[hobbit709]

2. If they had put that much effort into thinking about it back then.

Maybe we wouldn't be stuck with them now.

[rurallib]

5. Well they will be gone in what 40 years or so?

[Ignis]

57. +1

While we're at it, how'd that IWR vote work out?

[spanone]

3. no they don't.

[cyberswede]

4. fucking duh

what did they think would happen? idiots.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

6. Roberts should be impeached for saying he would uphold stare decisis

when he went out of his way to broaden the scope of the issue and revoke stare decisis more than once in Citizens United - the decision that officially makes the United States a corporate fiefdom.

I actually believe sincerely that every judge who voted for that decision should be impeached for treason, since not only did they upend the apparatus of democracy - our electoral process- but they ALSO made it possible for foreign corporate interests to purchase the government they want. This is no secret, it is part of the arguments before the court.

[Raineyb]

7. They were fucking warned, numerous times, by many many people.

But they couldn't be bothered to listen.

[racaulk]

8. After having * in the White House for 4+ years, you expected his nominee to be HONEST?

Idiots. :eyes:

[AspenRose]

10. .

:banghead:

[WinkyDink]

11. As Michael Corleone declared: "I don't wanna hear it! I DON'T WANNA HEAR IT!!"

[malaise]

12. Bet it's the same group who

didn't support the public option, strong financial reforms and are willing to support keeping the Bush tax cuts. Fuck them...they're fucking spineless jellyfish.

[valerief]

13. My ass, they regret it. They knew what they were doing. I'm sure $$$$$ was involved. nt

[loudsue]

24. Absolutely, they knew what they were doing. If this happened to the republicans

they would have impeached in a heartbeat. Just like they "recalled" every election they didn't like the outcome of during the bush years. There is one rule for Dems to play by, and one rule for republicans. Anybody that believes "all men are created equal" don't live in these unUnited States.

[valerief]

46. Uh, no. It's the same rule for both parties. nt

[Lance_Boyle]

49. I'll go ya one further - they are by and large the same party. n/t

[loudsue]

51. Which planet have you been living on?

How many "recall" elections did the democrats have between 2000 and 2008?

Now, how many "recall" elections did the republicans have?

How many democratic presidents have the republicans impeached, assassinated or coopted in the past 50 years?

Now, how many republican presidents have the democrats impeached, assassinated or coopted in the past 50 years?

The list goes on.

[valerief]

53. Dems throw crumbs. Repubs throw bleach. nt

[LiberalAndProud]

14. Too late. We *tried* to tell them, didn't we?

Hope it keeps them awake nights. Altnough I'm pretty sure it does not.

[Kingofalldems]

15. I wonder if anyone here supported them?

------>:shrug:

[gratuitous]

16. Kinda doesn't matter

Since I don't think anyone here has a vote in the Senate. I could be wrong, though.

Back to the original topic, it just galls me no end to see this "nobody could have predicted" nonsense over and over again. In fact, dozens, hundreds, thousands, even millions of people have warned congressional Democrats on any number of topics, telling them that Republicans aren't to be trusted. For our efforts, we get called "traitors" by our good friends on the Republican side, "naive" by the so-called centrists, and "imbeciles" by our putative political allies.

If you're looking for reasons for the enthusiasm gap, Democratic political operatives, you don't need to look much further than the actions taken by a Democratic-controlled Congress and White House.

[Spazito]

18. If there were any, they were few and far between...

DUers were onto both Alito and Roberts from moment their names were made public, research was done and the majority, almost unanimous take on them was a thumbs down from what I recall.

[DavidDvorkin]

17. So when do the impeachment hearings start?

Surely those senators have colleagues in the House who could start that process going.

[Hubert Flottz]

19. WE tried to tell the dumb assed Dinos!

They need to check DU before they do ANYTHING!

[Greyhound]

20. Another "Nobody could've predicted this" moment.

Not to worry, I'm sure they'll fix this later... Oh, wait...
:kick: & R

[Donnachaidh]

21. *regret* is putting on yet another *populist* face, while piling up the corporate

campaign contributions behind the podium. *Regret* cost THEM nothing - it's costing Americans trillions....

[progressoid]

22. ...

I'm starting to regret supporting Democrats.

[smoogatz]

23. Thanks a lot, Senator Numbnuts.

Jesus. Do your fucking homework or shut the fuck up with your buyer's remorse.

[McCamy Taylor]

25. Idiots. They buckled under corporate pressure, and now they want to have their cake and eat it, too.

[JerseygirlCT]

26. Little late for that, guys.

We could have told you what would happen. The only answer to be given to any of Bush's choices was no, no and hell no.

[Hubert Flottz]

28. Impeach the lying bastids!

If you truly regret it...

[The Backlash Cometh]

29. Why? Is it an election year for them?

[Dr.Phool]

30. Roberts and Alito both flat-out lied during the hearings.

And the Senators knew they were lying, but let them get away with it.

They knew what they were fucking doing.

[Octafish]

31. DEMs should read DU daily.

Then they'd be ahead of the game:

Only One Question for Roberts: "How would you vote in Bush v Gore"?

Know your BFEE: Alito is just another word for Mussolini

Know your BFEE: Vote Suppressor Supreme, the Turd Bill Rehnquist

Hey, Pelosi! The bottom line on these corporate clowns: Treason is the GOP judicial branch's speciality.

[DefenseLawyer]

32. Your winnings, sir.

[catzies]

39. Of all the comments in all the threads I had to walk into yours. Well done! n/t

:thumbsup:

[KingFlorez]

33. Now, they regret it

It's a bit too late to reassess playing nice.

[ProSense]

34. And one Democrat made the case against them both

Senator Kerry presented his case against Alito in three gripping speeches

Remarks by Senator John Kerry on His Opposition to Judge Roberts' Nomination for Chief Justice

[DefenseLawyer]

35. As Denny Green once said "They are who we thought they were"

and we let em off the hook!

[Sebastian Doyle]

36. Opie Roberts... most unqualified "Chief Justice" in the history of the Supreme Court.

Alito may be a right wing hack, but at least he had the qualifications. Opie had been a judge for less than three years, and even that was Chimp Pro Quo for his financial help in the 2000 Florida Fraud.

[Individualist]

37. More if we knew then what we know now bullshit.

No sale, republican enabling DLC Senators!

[EFerrari]

40. Byron Dorgan has a lifetime pass from me for slapping down Michael Powell

over that gross Telecommunications Act.

But even so, sheesh! It's not like you all didn't see Roberts shilling for Bush in Bush v Gore.

[Jefferson23]

41. So much was known about Roberts at the time, but these guys were duped? Yea, sure thing. n/t

[arthritisR_US]

42. and they've only now figured this out? How's that brick wall feeling on the noggin guys? n/t

[geek tragedy]

43. Oh Jeebus.

Really?

The truth is they knew he was rightwing, but figured he was replacing Rehnquist so no biggy.

[ljm2002]

44. Just like many regret voting for IWR...

...and on and on, ad nauseam. Well it's never too late guys, here is the lesson: better to investigate the issue, and then vote based on your principles rather than based on expedience.

Of course the above assumes that you do have principles to fall back on.

You do, right? Right???

[Overseas]

45. I certainly regretted it.

So why can't we get a far left candidate who pretends like Roberts to just "call the balls and strikes?"

[Hydra]

47. We all knew this

And so did they. They kept saying "we have to keep the powder dry..."

If ever there was a reason to use the powder, a bad SCOTUS appointee would be it.

Can we spell C O M P L I C I T Y?

[truebrit71]

48. Okay fine...so what are you going to do about it? A bit too late now isn't it?

These guys were TOLD, time and time again that Alito and Roberts were hard-core RWers to no avail..

Fuck ALL of you and your regret..WE have to live with your fuck-ups now..

[SoCalDem]

52. When DC democrats did not fight hard for Gore in '00, and then got in line behind Georgie,

they sealed their fate. Once 911 came along and they became even more cowed by him, and feared being called a "non-patriot", so anything he wanted, he got..

George was a bully, and our dear dems just went along for the ride, taking their licks every day in every way.

If you act like you can be bullied, a bully will step up & help you out every time.

If we all knew how awful Alito & Roberts were, how on earth could have a congress full of long-time experts have NOT seen it..?

Bush went as far right as humanly possible when appointing justices & for a very long time our side has gone as far right as WE could possibly go..so is it any wonder we are where we are regarding the SCOTUS? Even our "left-ist" justices are not all that left:(

We have about 35 more years ahead of us with rightwing/conservative decisions ahead...and at a time when we NEED to go back to a more radical decision-making style.

The rest of the world is moving ahead, leaving us in their dust..and all we do is try to inject more Puritanical ideas into our lives. Who knows? Maybe the Talibans of today modeled their style on our own Puritans:rofl:

[diane in sf]

54. It's a fascist problem, not Puritan. The Puritans are the ancestors of the blue states

and mainline Protestants--who are liberal at this point in history. Check out "Albion's Seeds" it is a very interesting book about the 4 groups of English settlers who came to America. The Repugs are an unholy combination of southern royalists and ignorant trailer trash.

[nadinbrzezinski]

59. Fascism... FASCISM

no, these guys have little to do with Puritans. IN fact, they'd be expelled, tar and feathered by the Puritans for being Catholic, to Maryland.

[aikoaiko]

55. Regardless of what they say, left leaning and right leaning justices usually don't change.

There have been a few surprises over the decades, but mostly not.

[UTUSN]

56. Well, koo-koo-ca-CHOO!1 my Dems!1 Why don't y'all ASK me back in the day?!1

Like when y'all vote for Shrub wars or when - oh, NEVERMIND, just never mind!1

[scarletwoman]

58. No wonder they think WE are stupid, they are stupid squared - but they're so confident

of their own superiority, that they can't imagine that anyone else might know better than they.

Assholes!

[hansberrym]

60. Does the author think Obama would have had a chance in hell in Nov 2008

had the liberal wing of the court prevailed (June 2008) in Heller with the nonsensical theory that was rejected out of hand in Silveira?

From the article:
Some of the regrets have been caused by two recent 5-4 decisions with which Democrats have disagreed. Most notably, the Roberts court voted 5-4 in June 2008 to strike down the District of Columbia’s handgun ban, a decision that broadened gun rights and was a severe blow to gun-control efforts. Roberts, Alito, Scalia, Thomas and Anthony Kennedy signed the majority ruling.


And while people should be pissed at the conservative wing in Citizens United for the exceedingly broad reading of the 1st amendment in which they found a right of corporations to engage in political advocacy, the liberal wing was not much better in that case in pushing the view that the freedom of the press relates to the institutional press rather than right of each of one of us to publish.

I am still pissed at the so-called liberal wing for Kelo and Rasich, and will surely be disappointed by both sides in the future, so can't get worked up about some senators supposedly being hoodwinked.