I'm sitting here, listening to the Samuel Alito hearings. Every time NPR says, "We'll return to the hearings in a little while" I'm thinking that they can't return soon enough. I can listen to this shit all day.
On a side note, I'm finding it repeatedly disheartening and enlightening, over the past few years, to really see how weasely & questionably-motivated folks can truly rise to the highest levels of "public service" in this country. These folks are not always all that respectable. That part is obvious. But, more surprisingly, they don't always appear to be all that much more knowledgable and well-thought-out on issues than me & my friends, considering the obvious advantage of being in the midst of thsee issues by virtue of their careers. Potentially a followup post or posts to this down the line...
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6 comments:
I'm listening too, mostly, and agree, totally.
What I got out of yesterday's hearing.
1. Ted Kennedy IS a ridiculous windbag. While what he said may have been valid, I'm not sure he asked more than 2 questions in all the time he spoke. Mostly he just talked and asked rhetorical questions.
2. Supreme Court hearings are almost entirely meaningless theater. As the party of opposition, Democrats try to draw Alito out from behind a wall of obfuscation. He cannot say what he really believes and so dodges and weaves. Republicans spend almost all of their time defending him, and asking the most obvious and ridiculous questions. Wouldn't be surprised to hear, "Do you love your mother?" The exact reverse of this may happen in the case of a nominee of a Democratic president.
3. It may be that is has always been this way, but this system as it exists today is not the best for people in general. There is far too much obfuscation and verbal gymnastics, and not enough straight talk. If Alito were to say that he viscerally opposes Roe and would do everything in his power to overturn it, he might be being honest, but he would be done. Instead, there has been an implicit wink that this is what he will do. If he said he was proud of his 8 year membership in a group focussed on the reduction of female/minority enrollment in Princeton, he may be telling the truth, but he'd be done, and justifiably so.
4. Are there no nominees that are truly good people without an axe to grind?
That's the crazy thing. it goes back to the very interesting questions of:
There are people of honesty and integrity. They're all over the place. But where are they in politics; particularly at the higher levels. Does it have something to do with the fact that all those people at those levels are people that are extremely ambitious, and the quality of ambition (in a political sense) is somewhat incompatible with integrity; therefore, keeping a lot of potentially great candidates out of the mix?
And WHY such complicitness from so much of the media regarding the endless chain of ridiculous political workings? Perhaps the top people in that field, as, are guided by principles that are not totally compatible with integrity and reason.
Don't have the luxury of listening to the radio at work. I tried to download itunes on my computer and it crashed it when I started to restart my computer. I have it back and it is working well after the tech guy swiped it clean. I hope that good provails.
Do not trust to hope. It has long since forsaken these lands.
Hasufel! Arod!
A wonk and a nerd.
I think there are some good ones in all locations, but it does seem their numbers do not reflect those of society in genereal, but maybe that's the optimist in me speaking. Maybe 80% of people would take advantage of the situation for personal gain regardless of what it does to others.
I even think there are good people at this hearing, including Specter (mostly) Leahy and Feingold. Feingold really intrigues me as a potential presidential candidate. He seems to be outspoken in most of the right ways.
Well, all that said, and knowing what I know, I would vote to confirm Alito. There's a couple of disturbing little oddities, and it's so tough not to dismiss everything that the Republican apologists that are involved in the questioning because they simply have zero credibility. But I don't know how we could possibly expect a more qualified and balanced candidate to be appointed this administration. I hope it doesn't sounnd defeatist, but it's simply the world we live in, and I think he's done a good job answering 95% of the questions put before him.
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