Judging Alito, Day 4

I don't have much else to say about the Alito confirmation hearings; I think that I said it all yesterday (about the serious questions being asked by Democrats, the general handling of the hearings by Republicans/Democrats, the biased media coverage, etc). Alito's confirmation is said to be a given, yet there are a number of serious concerns that need to be addressed and not ridiculed. Some members of the panel, but not enough, are doing that. Whether or not Samuel Alito becomes an Associate Justice of our Supreme Court, these are important questions to ask and are more important than the supposed 'drama' of the hearings themselves obsessed about by the media.

With that said, here are two relevant articles I recommend-

NY Times editorial: Judge Alito, in His Own Words

Some commentators are complaining that Judge Samuel Alito Jr.'s confirmation hearings have not been exciting, but they must not have been paying attention. We learned that Judge Alito had once declared that Judge Robert Bork - whose Supreme Court nomination was defeated because of his legal extremism - "was one of the most outstanding nominees" of the 20th century. We heard Judge Alito refuse to call Roe v. Wade "settled law," as Chief Justice John Roberts did at his confirmation hearings. And we learned that Judge Alito subscribes to troubling views about presidential power.

Those are just a few of the quiet bombshells that have dropped. In his deadpan bureaucrat's voice, Judge Alito has said some truly disturbing things about his view of the law. In three days of testimony, he has given the American people reasons to be worried - and senators reasons to oppose his nomination...

(See the link for their detailed reasons that followed)

And a must-read Washington Post article today:
Alito Leaves Door Open to Reversing 'Roe'-
Membership In Controversial Group Surfaces As an Issue

[Note: Both Yahoo and C-Span have options for viewing the hearings]