The vote? 58 to 42, along party lines. Four Democrats went over for Alito. One Republican voted against: Lincoln Chaffee, Rhode Island.
Guess what: Samuel Alito is only 54. He’ll be around for a long time.
And Bush may in fact be able to make a third Supreme Court appointment.
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Yeaa!!!! And interestingly enough, Mr. Alito is confirmed and Coretta Scott King died. I guess the balance of the universe has to be maintained. This is a good day and a bad day for those reasons. I am happy Alito got confirmed cuz he deserved to, he was overqualified and blah blah blah. I am just sad Ms. King died. She was an icon in my community.
Yep, turned out to be a good day all around…
I was listening to Teddy Kennedy go absolute apoplectic this morning, at least 210/190, his voice cracking as he railed about cracks in the earth, demon tsunamis, a hail of frogs, rivers of blood, and no one to fill his gin glass.
I had a lot of fun. He was very entertaining.
:^)
Who would the Third person be or who would he replace?
The Supreme Court is getting very old, and it has been unchanged for 10 years — its longest period yet.
The likeliest candidates for retirement were Rehnquist, 80, who passed away from cancer; O’Connor, 74, who had breast cancer surgery and retired; and Stevens, 84, who has been treated for prostate cancer. Ginsburg, 71, has also had cancer surgery.
My guess: it’s a tossup between Ginsburg and Stevens retiring next. So you can see: there may be a third. Even a fourth.
I am praying for the miracle then of two (2) more. How awesome would that be?
Agreed, it WOULD be awesome but the LIBBERS would have Ginsburg and Stevens sitting on the bench taking LIFE SUPPORT measures before they let GWB name another Justice, and to name 2, and POSSIBLY 3 more Justices, that would drive the Dems completely over the edge..
Like THAT’s a BAD thing??
Chaffee is a bloody hack! He ought to jump ship like Jim Jeffords. Conservative Rhode Islanders are furious. If I were a voter here, I’d totally register as a Republican, just to vote for Steve Laffey this year.
But then I’d have to pay those oppressive Rhode Island income taxes. Screw that noise. I think these New Englanders are beyond saving.
Robo: I had hopes of visiting the Republic of Rhode Island one day, just to see some nice trees in Autumn — no more. Chaffee should just hang up on himself. What a sham.
New Englanders get what they deserve.
I have been concerned that Alito would go all Souter on us. But the popular psychology on the leagal blogs is that adding an intellectual conservative may bring Souter, Kennedy and possibly even Breyer over to the light on a few decisions.
Hey…if the Dems were against him…then he’s got to be good
I too hope Bush gets to replace 2 more liberal activists on the court.
Texas you crack me up.. having them on life support!! ha!!
Yeah, Rebecca…I lol’ed when I read that too, from fred.
Now…by life support…would they be in a perpetual vegetative state? Would the roles be reversed on “right to life” issues and such, as Republicans argue to pull the plug, and Democrats make quality of life arguments against it.
Woo-hoo on Alito getting confirmed :-).
I am also hoping for 1 or 2 more justices. How awesome would that be?? I just hope we don’t lose the majority in the senate this year.
I was soo laughing at Kennedy’s tirade. He’s such a joke and the sad thing is he doesn’t know it.
Echotig: the conventional wisdom is that some right-leaning/centrist justices move left for the same reason — it brings them accolades and moves them into a bigger, more accepting DC society. Alito and Roberts: good. Final analysis: I’m waiting 2 or 3 years.
Justthinkin: Welcome aboard! Glad to see you! Yes, that’s a logical rationale.
Wordsmith: Ditteaux! Welcome aboard! Yes! You went precisely where I would have — how indeed would life be if the roles found themselves reversed! I suspect it would be as you propose!
LMC: I’m still of two minds about the senate — the jury’s still out. It’s so hard to predict the local electorates state-to-state, and how effective the campaigns against the GOP will be.
I haven’t done this in quite some time, but I actually DID laugh out loud yesterday when I heard the sound bite of Teddy’s voice cracking as he pounds on the table. However, we all must realize, a certain percentile of what he does is good, melodramatic acting because that’s the role he’s chosen for himself and he must, of course, keep to type.