Senator Schumer regrets not filibustering Ailito

[Hawaii Hiker]

Every Democratic senator should regret not filibustering Ailito....And a special "shame on" to Ben Nelson D-NE who voted for that clown...

"Sen. Charles Schumer, D- N.Y., the head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said the week after last November’s election: "I will tell you my greatest regret in last two years is that we didn’t stop Alito… I was never for a filibuster of Roberts, even though I voted against him…. You don’t filibuster unless you think someone is way out of the mainstream. I was unclear on Roberts whether he was, but Alito clearly seemed to be."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18201772/

[Greeby]

1. There was an attempt to filibuster, Schumer, you idiot

By the Senators from MA. And your pals wouldn't support it :grr:

[tblue]

2. Well, an awful lot of us knew they were out of the mainstream. Why didn't he?

[Cha]

3. We're looking for leaders with

Foresight NOT hindsight.

[Gloria]

Too late, Chuck., But for starters, why don't you people start educating the

public about what "PBA" really is NOT and proceed from there. I've read clear explanations on KOS, why can't you do it? And furthermore, Barbara and Jerry--"Freedom of Choice Act" is that same old STUPID framing which makes it all sound so .....frivolous, like choosing shoes. For Pete's sake, can't you call it something else?? LIKE WOMEN's HEALTH PROTECTION ACT???

[BlooInBloo]

4. And the fuckwipe electorate of Connecticut... voting for Joe "just a few blocks away" Lieberman.

[Maru Kitteh]

5. Yeah, he's regretful about a CYA decision he made and so now

Countless women will suffer for it. It's not like they (the Senators) all DIDN'T KNOW what the consequences would be.

Thanks, all you chicken shits.

[WildEyedLiberal]

52. Some of them tried to filibuster

Kerry and Kennedy tried to galvanize support for a filibuster, which failed largely because people like Schumer went on TV and clucked about how silly Kerry was making the Dems look.

Schumer can take his "regret" and shove it up his ass.

[burrowowl]

6. I really don't know what to say!

Wishy-washy spineless jellyfish?

:mad:

[Gregorian]

7. It's a shame Congress can't use DU as consultation.

I think they're actually hearing us now. But this is a big big part of the lasting legacy that Bush will "leave behind".

[bdamomma]

8. too late now, and it looks like us women will have to pay for that

big mistake.

[tnlefty]

9. So am I, Sen. Schumer, so am I! I called my senators and raised

hell about the unitary executive supportin', woman dislikin' nominee and it sure would've been nice to have the dem senators united behind me. I also called many senators in other states to plead with them to filibuster the freak....

[badgerpup]

32. My Dem Senator voted against him...

...but didn't support the filibuster.:banghead:
Told him he should be ashamed...a "NO" vote without supporting the filibuster was just the same as a "YES". :grr:

and yes, I had both called and emailed his office pleading that he do both.

[tnlefty]

63. It's frustrating isn't it? I call my senators and rep (all repubs) just to

try to make a dent in the tally numbers. I call senators in other states whose staffers are sometimes baffled, but always polite, and who chat with me for a while because as they state: "I'm not used to receiving calls from citizens in TN, and you get your point across with a delightful accent."

I'm just saying that when votes are critical, and people from other states are calling, it sure as hell would be nice for the dems to be united!

[AtomicKitten]

10. four Dems voted to confirm

Byrd, Conrad, Johnson, and Ben Nelson voted to confirm.

19 Dems voted for cloture (to shut down the filibuster):

Akaka
Baucus
Bingaman
Byrd
Cantwell
Carper
Conrad
Dorgan
Inouye
Johnson
Kohl
Landrieu
Lieberman
Lincoln
Nelson (F)
Nelson (NE)
Pryor
Rockefeller
Salazar

Harkin - not voting

[Hawaii Hiker]

12. Damn, 3 other senators voted to confirm "Hirohito" Ailito

Wow, I thought it was just Nelson....Thanks for big f-ing nothing Byrd, Conrad, Johnson....

[depakid]

11. The man was corrupt and lied to Congress previously

Yet the Democratic "leadership" gave him a pass- they rolled over, just as they have countless times before- then turned around and whined about it.

How pathetic.

[hootinholler]

13. How's that dry powder helping out now?

Sure is useful to have all this dry powder clogging the hallways.

Who was it that cut the no filibuster deal?

-Hoot

[hatrack]

19. Ah, but it's DRY.

Don't you see - in the future, we're really going to need it, and it'll have to be DRY powder for when we DO need it.

Whenever that is . . .

:puke:

[BrklynLiberal]

14. Too damn late, you schmuck!!!!

[EST]

15. Even though I live in Illinois, I wrote sen. Schumer about both

Roberts and Alito, pointing out some of the reasons they were not what the country needed to rebalance itself: that they would further contribute to the division and paupered isolation and that they would add to the already unacceptable level of instability the BA had created, with the enthusiastic supporet of the republican congress and others

I am sure I was not alone.

How much would anyone bet that he will recognize his own poor analysis of people and listen to those of us who may have clearer sight?

[bluestateguy]

16. But Chuckie, then you might not be invited to a Georgetown cocktail party this weekend

:eyes:

[Redneck Socialist]

17. No shit, Chucky. You're a little late to the party.

You'd think that people who actually work in Washington would have clued in to the fact that everything bushCo. touches turns to shit. Everything. That Bush picked Alito is reason enough to oppose him.

Jackass.



:grr:

[will_in_chicago]

18. A bit late

This is a bit late. Now, we will have to ask Congress to pass a bill to overturn the 2003 law supported by the court. So, we will likely have to live with Bush's judicial appointments for sometime, and will have to counter with Congressional action. (I am dubious of having lifetime appointments for judges. Maybe 10 or 20 years would be enough.)

[in_cog_ni_to]

20. Well, DU TRIED to get you to filibuster! I hate 'after the fact' regrets when you knew it was wrong

to begin with. If you thought Scalito was way out of the mainstream, why the hell did you NOT FILIBUSTER LIKE WE BEGGED YOU TO DO?!@#$%^ If Scalito wasn't bad enough to filibuster, no one is. It was more than obvious that he should NOT have been confirmed, but the Dems didn't want to look 'bad' filibustering. Fast forward to after the 2006 election.....ALL THE FREAKIN' REPUKES HAVE DONE IS FILIBUSTER EVERYTHING THE DEMS HAVE TRIED TO DO! The repukes PLAYED the Dems and got away with it.

[blm]

38. And Schumer was one of the Dem leaders ATTACKING Kerry behind the scenes for filibustering.

Way to show party loyalty, Chuck - we all know you did it for Hillary just like you put up that FULLOFSHIT HeyJohn site.

[karynnj]

45. You forgot that he also trashed Kerry on Kerry/Feingold

So, now that he agrees Kerry with Kerry on both, shouldn't he apolologize to him.

[blm]

62. heh ...FORGET? Moi?

Schumer spent all his time attacking Kerry for that filibuster instead of presuading other Dem senators to support it.

[sproutster]

21. I was with all of you on the phones.

I called everyone I could think of. :(

[in_cog_ni_to]

22. And doesn't this shit just piss you off? We jammed phone lines, emailed, left voicemails and

they didn't listen to us because they were AFRAID OF HOW THEY WOULD LOOK AFTER THE REPUKE SMEAR MACHINE GOT FINISHED WITH THEM. THAT is no excuse to give up women's rights!

[dsc]

23. Could your post be more dishonest

Shumer didn't vote for Cloture.

[eggman67]

29. Apparently nobody seems to care

but I hear ya...

[karynnj]

47. The op was based on MSM comments of Schumer

You are correct that he did vote against cloture. What the OP is about and what Schumer is speaking about is that he, as a member of both the party leadership and the judiciary committee should have led a filibuster against Alito.

From people following it here and on DKos, it was clear the leadership did not want the fight and rather than pushing people to filibuster it was signalling tha it was ok if they didn't.

[blm]

50. Exactly - they didn't ACTIVELY participate in filibuster and had spoken AGAINST it

to the media and slammed Kerry for doing it, no matter HOW they ended up voting after the thousands of calls to their offices.

Filibustering needs to be sold to the public and to the other senators - what did they do? They gave cover to those Dems who voted against the filibuster instead of working to presssure them to filibuster.

[Canuckistanian]

24. Gee, didn't the thousands of phone calls to his office give him a clue?

Did he not read Alito's past judgments? Did he not sense the urgency of that final cloture vote?

Please, Senator.

Don't piss on us and tell us it's raining.

[eggman67]

25. Apparently it did

Since he voted against cloture and in favor of a filibuster.

[Canuckistanian]

30. See post #1

Schumer has a lot of influence. He used none of it and quietly voted against cloture himself.

[karynnj]

48. To his credit, Schumer was honest enough to admit that in yesterday's comments.

[blm]

60. He also owes Kerry and Kennedy an apology for undermining their effort through the press.

.

[riderinthestorm]

26. But, but, but... Mrs. Alito cried!

:grr:

No fucking shit Sherlock Schumer - too late now. This damn well better haunt you as women's reproductive rights are slowly stripped away. WTF did you think was going to happen if you didn't take a stand on these two guys??!!

[Hawaii Hiker]

41. Yeah, she cried - all those crocodile tears

Ms. Ailito probably took an acting class weeks prior to prepare....She's as phony as a $3 bill....

The more I think of the Ailito hearings, the more respect I have for John Kerry & Ted Kennedy, as at least they tried to start a filibuster....Kerry & Kennedy are GREAT Americans, and this country would have been 50 million times better off had Kerry won in 2004 instead of King George...

[Beausoir]

59. Blubbering bawl-baby. What a disgraceful woman.

[XOKCowboy]

27. It's just the fucking Supreme Court!

In truth that vote (or lack of support for a filibuster) on Alito is much more damaging than any vote for the Iraq war. Chuck dropped the ball and we'll all be paying for it for a long time.

Too late for an apology now Chuck. You were looking at the wrong polls.

[eggman67]

28. Um, how did Chuck drop the ball by voting to filibuster? n/t

[RevCheesehead]

31. Dear Sen. Chuck,

I was trying to tell you that way back then.
But your friend Harry said that you didn't have the votes, and you all refused to take a stand.

Oh, and do you regret that Habeus Corpus thing yet? I still do.

Sincerely,
The Cheese -
who is now cheezed off.

[Ignacio Upton]

33. I could understand his excuse for Roberts (he was replacing Rehnquist)

But there was NO reason for not stopping Alito from being confirmed, no matter how many crocodile tears his wife shed. He is an open supporter of the "unitary executive" theory, in addition to being blatantly against women's health and privacy. Unfortunately, now we'll have to wait until one of the conservative justices croaks or resigns, and the liberal wing of the SCOTUS (if you can call it that) is at more of a risk of dying or retiring.

[karynnj]

51. The unitary executive issue was the main issue

The other error made by most Democrats was making it about choice. The fact was, we were going to get a pro-life judge. The reason to block Alito was his support of things like signing statements. Feingold did bring these issues up at the hearing, but most of his peers did a horrible job.

[uncertainty1999]

34. DUH!!!!

how can some of those in Congress be so IGNORANT?? First on the IWR, then on Alito ... the people in the streets predicted the outcomes correctly by just using common sense.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

35. Thanks for nuthin' Chuckie.

[Erika]

36. Yeah, he regrets. Women lose their rights

We lose, and he's so sorry. We pay the price, he doesn't.

[me b zola]

37. Let me add to everyone's outrage by pointing out

...that in the same time period of the SCOTUS nominations, Schumer was one of a handfull of "leadership" Dems who used the slur "looney left" against all of us who were pleading with them to stand up to the bullies on the right. :grr:

[blm]

39. Schumer also orchestrated the attacks on Kerry and smeared him for leading the filibuster.

Just like they did on Kerry-Feingold withdrawal plan.

[Mass]

40. He was too busy bashing those who were trying to filibuster in the media.

Cant do everything.

Note to Schumer: think before you talk. You made clear to the media that you were against filibustering Alito, whatever you ended voting. May be if you and Reid had stood firmly for a filibuster, during the caucus meetings, rather than firmly against it, it could have been done.

[maxrandb]

42. Then he should have no qualms about bringing about Impeachment

hearings against the good justice. I mean, that is what we do in politics when we realize that someone is in a job they don't deserve, or there is evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors.

We better kick the shit out of the Repukes in 2008, because we're going to need a lot a power to wrest every single one of the sycophants and corrupt bastard out of every political appointment in our country, from dog-catcher to Attorney General. We need to remove these bastards like they were cancer cells.

[Dr Fate]

57. Dont worry- by 2009 or so, Chuck will put Bush/Cheney impeachment "back on the table"

Better late than never- it's the thought that counts- keep your powder dry- etc.

[Tesha]

43. Golly. (NT)

[mmonk]

44. Too late to save the courts.

All we can do is limit the damage for a generation. Again, it was us "looney lefties" that warned of this.

[spanone]

46. Too late Chuckie....tell that to the women who die.

[Strawman]

49. I hope that means he will filibuster another one

Should that unfortunate event occur. On this court which is 4-4 with a conservative swing ANY Bush nominee between now and 2008 should literally be an automatic filibuster.

I don't even want to see a Bush nominee go to a vote. That's too close for comfort with a 1 seat majority.

[Nutmegger]

53. The Repukes filibuster every damn thing.

The Democrats shouldn't be afraid to use it when it really counts. Now we have a RW SCOTUS that will undo all the progress that has been made.

Damn

[Dr Fate]

54. Apology not accepted. We BEGGED and BEGGED and BEGGED you to advocate for it and make it happen.

Apology not accepted.

It's also one of my biggest regrets that you all were too frightened of Bush to fight for us.

Oh well, at least you showed Kerry and the "nut roots" who was boss.

[BuyingThyme]

56. Me too.

[firefox_fan]

55. So predictable though.

What did they think, that Alito would change?

[devilgrrl]

58. Perhaps if he was actually Liberal he would have.

eom

[mdmc]

61. baby steps chucky

Smart guy, not much of a leader...