ÿ Harriet Miers was a poor pick for the Supreme Court.ÿ She could not think for herself, and would have relied on the Bush White House to tell her how to rule on important issues.ÿ Although she seemed like a sure bet to be a conservative puppet, the right wing killed her nomination because they couldn't make sure that she'd be as fawning and uncritical as they wanted her to be.ÿ The right wing rebelled, and twisted the President's arm until they got Sam Alito as Miers's replacement.ÿ With Alito slated to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court, hard-right ideologues across the country rejoiced.ÿ In Alito, they have a proven conservative, one that they are sure will vote their way on the issues that matter most to them.ÿ If Miers was a risky pick for the Court, then Alito's nomination is downright treacherous, and exposes just how dangerous the right wing is for America.
ÿAlito is the worst of all worlds for ordinary Americans.ÿ First, Alito is a conservative from the Barry Goldwater school of thought.ÿ Goldwater, an angry Arizonan who served in the Senate for decades, ran a disastrous campaign for the presidency against Lyndon Johnson in 1964.ÿ He campaigned against protecting minorities' civil rights, and wanted the government to be as small and powerless as possible.ÿ Ronald Reagan, one of America's worst presidents, was one of Goldwater's underlings.ÿ Alito worked in the Reagan White House during the 1980s.ÿ Anti-choice, anti-civil rights, and anti-worker, Alito bragged about how proud he was to "advance legal positions in which I personally believe very strongly."ÿ Alito is dangerous because he is a Goldwater-Reagan conservative, but what makes him most dangerous is that he marches in lockstep with the religious right.ÿ He is a carbon copy of Rick Santorum, except he wears a judge's black robes.ÿ If he makes it onto the Court, he would roll back civil rights, help weaken labor unions, and probably vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, all steps back towards America's darkest days.
ÿPresident Bush is not being truthful when he says he wants judges who won't "legislate from the bench."ÿ What he really wants, but can't say he wants, are judges who will turn America to the right.ÿ He wants judges who will legislate from the bench, but can't admit it, because if he did, ordinary Americans would never support his picks for the Court.ÿ President Bush is hard right, and he wants to nominate fellow righties.ÿ In picking Alito, Bush once again proved that the Republican Party is not committed to diversity.ÿ President Bush had a chance to prove that the Republican Party was pro-minority, pro-female, or both by picking someone who fit into either group.ÿ Instead, what did he do?ÿ He picked a white male.ÿ He eliminated estrogen and made sure that pale prevailed.
ÿSam Alito represents an America that no longer exists.ÿ America is moving away from being lily white and testosterone dominated, but there is still a chance that he might make it onto the Court.ÿ The White House has bullied more conservative Democrats into supporting Alito.ÿ Those red-state Democratic senators won't be able to oppose Alito without being embarrassed and losing their seats, so killing the nomination means that liberal, pro-female, pro-civil rights Republican senators will have to join forces with the Democrats.ÿ The only way that this will happen is if the American people continue to find out more unsavory things about him.ÿ This means that liberals and moderates must do everything they can to expose his record as a right wing nut.ÿ If they can do that, they have a fair shot at being able to filibuster the nomination to death.
ÿSam Alito is too far to the right for ordinary Americans, and would destabilize the Supreme Court if he ever got a chance to sit on it.ÿ I'm hoping he never gets the chance.
Robert Idlett is a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs, and is a liberal columnist for the Eagle.
