"Gang of 14" to meet in the next few days to decide how to handle...

[Maddy McCall]

Alito nomination. McCain is being interviewed by Imus right now. He's speaking VERY praisingly about Alito.

I think the "Gang of 14" is about to be dismantled.

Imus just asked McCain if he would vote to confirm Alito, and he would NOT say that he would. He just said that he's "favorably disposed" toward him, and needs to have judicial hearings to decide.

:shrug:

[Karmadillo]

1. Unrepresentative government at its best

nt

[babylonsister]

2. I hope the repugs tread very lightly; they can see

how this admin, and by extention themselves, have botched up our country, from Katrina to indictments to DeLay, Frist, et al ad nauseum. I'm hoping they try to distance themselves.

[Kolesar]

3. I am disappointed to hear that the Gang of14 think they are still relevant

I would have hoped dem leadership would have quietly told them to let the leadership call the shots.

[FSogol]

6. Sadly, that assumes that we have "leadership"

All I see are couple of noisy democrats, (Coyners, Waxman, Dean) who get little to no press coverage. They need to accept that fact and find a way around it.

[mazzarro]

8. Ha ha ha ha ha ha! democratic leadership?

That must be a jest - right? With back-stabbing of the repuke-lites in the rank of the leadership and the dock-low-&-cower (DLC) policies, it will be a miracle to get anything different from the usual - capitulation.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

10. Do you not pay attention? They ARE most relevant.

The 14 Senators completely took the power out of the hands of BOTH parties' leadership. LEADERSHIP HAS NO SAY without the Gang of 14. Don't you get that?

[Kolesar]

11. bush* got to his Senators already

There is no longer a "gang of 14" if Ohio's Dewine likes this guy (Alito).
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=172x8965
:nuke:

[papau]

4. Samuel Alito’s America

http://thinkprogress.org/2005/10/31/samuel-alitos-america/

Samuel Alito’s America

ALITO WOULD OVERTURN ROE V. WADE: In his dissenting opinion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, Alito concurred with the majority in supporting the restrictive abortion-related measures passed by the Pennsylvania legislature in the late 1980’s. Alito went further, however, saying the majority was wrong to strike down a requirement that women notify their spouses before having an abortion. The Supreme Court later rejected Alito’s view, voting to reaffirm Roe v. Wade.

ALITO WOULD ALLOW RACE-BASED DISCRIMINATION: Alito dissented from a decision in favor of a Marriott Hotel manager who said she had been discriminated against on the basis of race. The majority explained that Alito would have protected racist employers by “immuniz an employer from the reach of Title VII if the employer’s belief that it had selected the ‘best’ candidate was the result of conscious racial bias.”

ALITO WOULD ALLOW DISABILITY-BASED DISCRIMINATION: In Nathanson v. Medical College of Pennsylvania, the majority said the standard for proving disability-based discrimination articulated in Alito’s dissent was so restrictive that “few if any…cases would survive summary judgment.”

ALITO WOULD STRIKE DOWN THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT: The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) “guarantees most workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a loved one.” The 2003 Supreme Court ruling upholding FMLA essentially reversed a 2000 decision by Alito which found that Congress exceeded its power in passing the law.

ALITO SUPPORTS UNAUTHORIZED STRIP SEARCHES: In Doe v. Groody, Alito agued that police officers had not violated constitutional rights when they strip searched a mother and her ten-year-old daughter while carrying out a search warrant that authorized only the search of a man and his home.

ALITO HOSTILE TOWARD IMMIGRANTS: In two cases involving the deportation of immigrants, the majority twice noted Alito’s disregard of settled law. In Dia v. Ashcroft, the majority opinion states that Alito’s dissent “guts the statutory standard” and “ignores our precedent.” In Ki Se Lee v. Ashcroft, the majority stated Alito’s opinion contradicted “well-recognized rules of statutory construction.”

[sendero]

5. If the Dems don't filibuster this asshole...

... well, it's going to be a sad day for Democrats and America.

The pukes are weakened right now, this is the time to slap them down. This wingnut needs to be filibustered.

[Maddy McCall]

7. I so thoroughly agree with you.

It's time for Democrats to stand up! Americans are WAITING for them to STAND UP to the Republicans.

[halobeam]

9. Although that is true; they are weakened right now,

it shapes the argument we have with them, in the same old line of thinking. They ought to be hearing a single message; Anyone standing with Bush in this divisive manner, especially at this time that the admin. holds minimum trust from the public, would scream volumes that they stand with the untrustworthy "same old course".