Dianne Feinstein Urges Alito Filibuster

NewMax ^ | January 8, 2006 | Carl Limbacher

[Kaslin]

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said Sunday that she will support a Democratic filibuster of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito if it becomes clear he'll vote to overturn Roe vs Wade.

Asked if she would consider it "filibuster material" if she finds out that Alito intends to vote against Roe, Feinstein told "Fox News Sunday": "If I believe that he was going to go in there and overthrow Roe, the question is, most likely, yes."

The California Democrat, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that any High Court nominee who thought Roe had been "improperly decided" was outside the judicial mainstream.

"Precedent has been established," Feinstein insisted. "Women all over America have come to depend on it. Because of the lapse of time, more than 30 years, because of the precedential values attached to it, I think it would be, for many of us, a very difficult thing to see somebody who you knew was going to overthrow Roe [added to the Court]."

Asked if opposition to Roe qualified as an "extraordinary circumstance" that would warrant a filibuster, the Judiciary Committee Democrat said tersely, "Yes."

Appearing on the same program, Sen. Lindsey Graham blasted Feinstein for her comments.

"That's a very dangerous thing to say," Graham complained. "If you have to come to the [Judiciary] Committee and say that under no circumstances will I entertain to look at Roe v Wade anew, I think that's very unfair."

Speaking s a member of the gang of 14, which was formed last year in a bid to avert judicial filibusters, Graham said he would vote in invoke to so-called nuclear option.

"I would consider [opposition to Roe] not only not an extraordinary circumstance, [it's] a threat to the independence of the judiciary," he told Fox. "And I would stop it in its tracks with my vote."

[westmichman]

I was hoping that Lindsey was not a wimp and it appears he is not.

[Uncle George]

They still don't get IT. Are the SLIMELIBS totally out of touch with this Planet???? Are there enough KOOL-AID drinkers to support the Democratic Party???????

[mc5cents]

Mc5cents is shocked, shocked I tell you.

Stretches,yawns,rubs eyes, goes back to sleep.

[Kaslin]

No they don't and I doubt that they ever will

[steelyourfaith]

Isn't it about time that politicians be required to prove that they poses a minimal level of intellectual capacity as well as familiarity with the original intent of the U.S. Constitution?

Is that too much to ask?

[Reactionary]

We're back to the Left's abortion fetish.

No wonder they're going batty.

[o_zarkman44]

Has access to abortion become the most important legal issue in America?
What happened to concerns about criminal justice?
What about property rights?
What about the First and Second Amendments?
Immigration?

The Supreme Court is not the Abortion Rights Clearinghouse. That has been decided although greedy lawyers still make money on challenging abortion law, or any law as a matter of fact.

People who focus on singular issues are a danger to society. Open the blinders to what justice really is!!!!!
Life does not revolve around abortion...or does it?
Seems like it is the only concern involving a Supreme Court Justice, and nothing else is important.

[KellyAdmirer]

The return of the liberal litmus test. Oh, I suppose it never went away. But that is a pretty bald statement by Feinstein. I wonder what other positions are Verboten to the Communists.

[BillyBoy]

>> I was hoping that Lindsey was not a wimp and it appears he is not. <<

Not that the "Lindsey Graham is an evil RINO scumbag" crowd will notice this thread. According to them, since Lindsey joined the "gang of 14" in the first place and said a few nice things about McCain, it cancels out his solidly conservative position on the OTHER 90% of the issues, and of course, we should just forget about the fact this man was a HERO of the Clinton impeachment. Lindsey is a "RINO" you see.

Amazingly, the number one Republican SUPPORTER of Slick Willie during impeachment, Pete King (R-Traitor), now has praised heaped on him CONSTANTLY on this forum SOLELY because he comes on MSNBC and praises Bush all the time. The same crowd who thinks Lindsey is a "RINO" is willing to overlook Clintonite Pete King voting with the RATS 30-40% of the time cuz he defends Bush.

Well Graham defends Bush too, but ummm... he's not an MSNBC guy like King, I guess.

Needless to say, Slick Willie himself must be proud of freepers for "coming around" to his views on Lindsey Graham and Pete King.

"Go Freepers Go! Keep trying to throw mah no. #1 enemy, Lindsey Graham, out of office in South Carolina while making sure mah boy Peter King gets PLENTY of face time on TV and REWARDED by the Republicans for his treason. He's MAH favorite Republican! Yall done good, ya hear!"

[Dutch Boy]

With the way the dems are acting you would think Alito is Freddy Krugger, Michael Myers and Jason all wrapped into one. They fear Alito more than bin Laden and his bunch. There are showing signs of psychosis.

[montag813]

I wish Tom Selleck, Bruce Willis or Michael Savage would run against Feinstein next year.

[HarleyLady27]

I wonder (scratching head) just what Di-Fi is afraid of here????? Very In-ter-esting indeed.....

[westmichman]

I agree, sometimes freepers tend to eat their own. Lindsey is an example. I like him and believe he is a good pubbie!

[george76]

[geezerwheezer]

She is worried that her counterpart, Barbara Boxer,is giving her competition for the "Dumba$$ of the Year" award, and Diane doesn't like it at all. Between those two, is it any wonder there is any botox left in California?

[HarleyLady27]

ROFL now I never thought of that, but I think you might have something there....

[chimera]

Liberals have always had the abortion litmus test. It's just no one, especially the lamestream media, says anything about it, because in their "minds" it is a "proper" litmus test. They only hammer Republicans/conservatives if they are even thought to hold to any notion of a litmus test (such as strict interpretation of the Constitution). IOW, for the lefties, a litmus test on being pro-abortion is good and proper, but if there is even a hint of a litmus test for a conservative nominee, that person is automatically disqualified.

Remember how for the Breyer and Ginsberg hearings, the 'Rats right off the bat laid down the rules: no talk of "litmus tests" for those nominees, because they knew they were pro-abortion. As soon as Bush started making nominations, the pro-abortion litmus test was revived, with a vengeance.

I hope these 'Rats get nuked this time. It's time to put an end to this judicial filibuster crap. It is the President's duty and Constitutional authority to make appointments to the judiciary. It is the Senate's duty and authority to advise and consent, and that means vote, not filibuster.

[george76]

[Carry_Okie]

This is a major signal that the Democrats think they can get away with a filibuster. Given Cornyn's woosie performance this morning, they just might.

[upchuck]

Linsee showing off again ping.

[Starve The Beast]

I was hoping that Lindsey was not a wimp and it appears he is not.

Time will tell. Republican 'moderates' have disappointed me too many times for me to be optimistic.

A filibuster could be a good thing if the Republicans play it properly, but it's all down to a handful of unreliable grand-standers.

[Condor51]

Okay, Sherman, set the Way Back machine...

January 8, 1895

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said Sunday that she will support a Democratic filibuster of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito if it becomes clear he would dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson which is currenly before the court.

Asked if she would consider it "filibuster material" if she finds out that Alito intends to vote for Plessy, Feinstein told "Fox News Monthly": "If I believe that he was going to go in there and dissent in the Plessy case, the question is, most likely, yes."

The California Democrat, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that any High Court nominee who thinks Plessy will be "improperly decided" was outside the judicial mainstream.

"Precedent has been established," Feinstein insisted. "White people all over America have come to depend on the separation of the races on public transportation as a matter of personal safety. Because of the precedential values attached to it, I think it would be, for many of us, a very difficult thing to see somebody who you knew was going to make me sit next to a colored person on a train." What's next she snarled, "Irish Catholics in First Class?"

Asked if opposition to Ferguson qualified as an "extraordinary circumstance" that would warrant a filibuster, the Judiciary Committee Democrat said tersely, "Yes. This is Dred Scott all over again!"

Senator, can you say "starry decide us" /s

[Cobra64]

Bingo! However, there are some here though who do not share your (and my) views. The planet could stop spinning on its axis, and they wouldn't notice, or care, since they their prism is limited.

[Verginius Rufus]

Feinstein is up for re-election in 2006...not that she has to worry too much about being re-elected, considering that she's from a strongly Democratic state where supposedly 70% of the public supports Roe, but grandstanding on the issue could be useful for campaign fundraising.

[ARCADIA]

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said Sunday that she will support a Democratic filibuster of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito

Excellent! It will give us the chance to see whether we still have any real Republicans in the Senate. My suggestion would be to counter by shutting down the entire Federal government for as long as the filibuster holds. If irresponsibility driven by political infighting is to be the rule, then we should strive to be the best at it. It about time we take note on either side, that abortion is a piss-ant side issue, compared to challenges that confront us daily. It shouldn't be used as a justification for extremism. Just make the other issues visible (in their absence), and push this sidebar off the table. Alito should be voted up or down on his character and competence, we should have zero tolerance for those who would set abortion as a litmus test.

[conservative physics]

If so many people support killing babies, she has nothing to fear from the supreme court overturning Roe, because the vast majority who support the slaughter of babies will pressure their state legislatures to protect the practice.

The fear of the overturn of Roe points to the fact that they know in their hearts that the majority of Americans don't support baby killing.

[pankot]

Frankenstein just wants to keep killing babies.

[goresalooza]

They are really cracking up. This bozo wants a filibuster because of a judicial ruling from what...30 years ago? How about we, as a nation, revisit this issue once and for all? It's high time we did so. Instead of blocking a well-qualified judge from the SCOTUS, how about letting the people decide this issue? The SCOTUS should bring it up again and give it back to each state to hammer out. That way, the PEOPLE vote for it or against it.

[Sacajaweau]

I'd feel a lot better about my country if it didn't allow abortion except in "extreme" cases.

No matter how you cut it, there is a human being destroyed.....because of some "inconvenience". There is NO OTHER REASON.

[hschliemann]

I wonder what other positions are Verboten to the Communists?

Any discussion of the intent of the commerce clause.

[FerdieMurphy]

"Women all over America have come to depend on it...."...

What a bloviating swine this DimocRAT is.

[clintonh8r]

the question is, most likely, yes

Gosh, I always thought of "yes" as an answer, rather than a question. DiFi is just another stupid cow...

[kennedy]

I'm really getting sick of far left wing liberals claiming that anyone who does not agree with them is "outside the judicial mainstream."

[Marathoner]

You know the only, and I repeat only, silver lining in the whole abortion on demand debacle is that it almost certainly eliminates many more future RAT voters than voters on our side (and no, that in no way justifies it).

Sometimes I marvel at the stupidity of the RATS' inability to comprehend that point.

[hschliemann]

"Precedent has been established," Feinstein insisted. "Women all over America have come to depend on it. Because of the lapse of time, more than 30 years, because of the precedential values attached to it, I think it would be, for many of us, a very difficult thing to see somebody who you knew was going to overthrow Roe [added to the Court]."

She speaks as though once decided,a case can NEVER be revisisted.She is all in favor of an "evolving" constitution,just not on this issue which was decided by God and therefore cannot ever ever be changed or even discussed.

[goresalooza]

"I'd feel a lot better about my country if it didn't allow abortion except in "extreme" cases.
No matter how you cut it, there is a human being destroyed.....because of some "inconvenience". There is NO OTHER REASON."

Well, sure. But the way it is now, the SCOTUS has ruled. It's time to revisit the issue nationwide. Let's see how the voters REALLY feel.

[Garry Boldwater]

You are right. Many on this forum simply judge people by soundbites not voting records. As long as you say the right thing you are in. Taking the time to understand the Conservative/Republican agenda and matching the voting records supporting that agenda is too complicated time consuming I suppose. Sigh...

[Lancey Howard]

Taking the time to understand the Conservative/Republican agenda and matching the voting records supporting that agenda is too complicated time consuming I suppose. Sigh...

Not at all.

American Conservative Union

[goresalooza]

"The fear of the overturn of Roe points to the fact that they know in their hearts that the majority of Americans don't support baby killing. "

That is exactly what I'm thinking. The issue needs to be revisited. I bet the libnuts and NAGS have been spinning this for so long and so hard that's it's nowhere near what American voters want.

[gridlock]

"Precedent has been established," Feinstein insisted. "Women all over America have come to depend on it. Because of the lapse of time, more than 30 years, because of the precedential values attached to it, I think it would be, for many of us, a very difficult thing to see somebody who you knew was going to overthrow Roe [added to the Court]."

Step with me into the Way Back Machine to 1860. One might hear something like this...

"Precedent has been established," Douglas insisted. "Planters all over America have come to depend on it. Because of the lapse of time, and because of the precedential values attached to it, I think it would be, for many of us, a very difficult thing to see somebody who you knew was going to overthrow Dred Scott [added to the Court]."

My posthumous apologies to Stephen Douglas, who could not sound as stupid as DiFi if he was falling-down drunk.

[freedumb2003]

[Lancey Howard]

Great post!

[Lancey Howard]

Excellent!

[newzjunkey]

Has ANY name come up for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination to face her in November?

[thepatriot1]

the question is, most likely, yes.

"most likely, yes" is a question ?? Must be anuther product of the publik skool systm

[newzjunkey]

We're back to the Left's abortion fetish.

fetish |ˈfeti sh | a course of action to which one has an excessive and irrational commitment

Yup, definitely an abortion adoration fetish.

[TigersEye]

My thanks to DiFi for clarifying that infanticide is the ONLY issue Dimocrats have with Alito. Or any other judicial nominee for that matter. Onward leftist baby butchers!

[Dolphy]

Taking the time to understand the Conservative/Republican agenda and matching the voting records supporting that agenda is too complicated time consuming I suppose

Whose fault is that? Graham most consistently seeks the national spotlight to highlight his differences with the administration. I will be glad to be corrected with links to his national appearances on things like social security and tax cuts. I've long since tired of the Senator from South Carolina.