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Daily Kos dug up some video from Samuel Alito's confirmation hearings that might take some wind out of the sails of Sonia Sotomayor's opponents. Conservatives have criticized Obama for seeking an "empathetic" justice and have lamented that Sotomayor says her life experiences will inform her judicial decisions. Here's an exchange between Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Alito that comes pretty close to endorsing the empathy-and-experience concept: [VIDEO AT LINK]

As attention focuses on the lack of people at Treasury to help the beleagured Tim Geithner, Dems–with a helping hand from the MSM– naturally try to shift the blame to Republicans, accusing them of holding up nominations. We just had a perfect example of the phenomenon as—with an assist from Andrea Mitchell—John Kerry decried the intrusion of “partisan politics” into the confirmation process. Mitchell wanted to “clear up what you’re talking about” by explaining to viewers that “it’s probably Republicans” who have put holds on nominees. Thanks, Andrea. But I found myself wondering: has the great junior senator from Massachusetts...

Justice Samuel Alito was the featured keynote speaker at the American Spectator’s annual Robert L. Bartley dinner at Washington’s Mandarin Oriental hotel last night. Along with taking a crack at the new vice-president elect (h/t Politico), he also joked about the famous 2008 Obama campaign mantra of “Hope and Change.” (Eyeblast.tv has the audio uploaded here:)

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Jr. has convicted "The Sopranos" of spreading what he says are stereotypes about Italian-Americans. During a visit to Rutgers University on Wednesday, Alito complained that the hit HBO television drama not only associated Italian-Americans with the Mafia, but New Jerseyans, as well. "You have a trifecta _ gangsters, Italian-Americans, New Jersey _ wedded in the popular American imagination," Alito said at an event sponsored by the Italian studies program at Rutgers, the state university of New Jersey. Alito, himself an Italian-American, lived for nearly two decades in a West Caldwell home...

The conservosphere is up in arms over John Fund's report in the Wall Street Journal that John McCain would be squishy on conservative appointments to the Supreme Court: More recently, Mr. McCain has told conservatives he would be happy to appoint the likes of Chief Justice John Roberts to the Supreme Court. But he indicated he might draw the line on a Samuel Alito, because "he wore his conservatism on his sleeve." Over at The Corner, Kathryn Jean Lopez has Fund's back: For what it's worth, I've been told the same thing John F. reported — that at a private...

Yesterday, Senator Fred Thompson issued a statement on the Supreme Court's decision to grant certiorari in the District of Columbia gun ban case. It reads, in part: I’ve always understood the Second Amendment to mean what it says – it guarantees a citizen the right to “keep and bear” firearms, and that’s why I’ve been supportive of the National Rifle Association’s efforts to have the DC law overturned. In general, lawful gun ownership is a pretty simple matter. The Founders established gun-owner rights so that citizens would possess and be able to exercise the universal right of self-defense. Guns enable...

MCLEAN, Va., Nov. 5 /Standard Newswire/ -- Today the Fred Thompson campaign announced the addition of Shannon Royce, an experienced social conservative coalitions director and former Executive Director of The Arlington Group, who will be joining the Thompson Campaign to serve as Grassroots and Special Projects Director. Shannon Royce most recently served as Executive Director of the Arlington Group where she managed a coalition of over 70 organizations advocating on numerous pro-family initiatives. In that capacity, she coordinated coalition efforts on behalf of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito. A former Legislative Assistant to Senator Slade Gorton and...

It is an honor and privilege to live in the United States, the greatest country in the world. Yet for all its blessings, American society is beset by serious problems, including jihadists seeking weapons of destruction who want to create a world caliphate; a violent, sexually loaded popular culture that targets our children; unelected judges who ignore the Constitution and abuse their powers; and a disrespect for human life that has resulted in tens of millions of abortions. It is possible to become demoralized and conclude that everything is hopeless, and that we should withdraw from the political and cultural...

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) declared that his decision not to lead a successful filibuster in January 2006 of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's nomination was one of his "greatest failings" as a senator. In an address to liberal legal scholars of the American Constitution Society, Schumer said that after watching the work of the newly constructed "Roberts court" the past 18 months, he would block any future Supreme Court nominee of President Bush's should a vacancy arise between now and January 2009. Schumer's address covered his views on the confirmation processes for Alito and Chief Justice John Roberts. Conservatives have...

Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. made it clear as he began taking questions at yesterday's National Italian American Foundation luncheon that he couldn't reveal any of the Supreme Court's forthcoming opinions. But did he at least give a hint? Two of the court's biggest remaining cases focus on the First Amendment, and while Alito didn't mention either, he did make it clear that any restrictions on speech face a high hurdle with him. "I'm a very strong believer in the First Amendment and the right of people to speak and to write," Alito said in response to a question of...

The next U.S. president could reshape the Supreme Court, where the two oldest members are liberals and volatile decisions like abortion now hinge on a single swing vote. The possible sea change has already surfaced 18 months before the November 2008 election and could develop into a major campaign issue for Democrats who want to move the court to the left and Republicans who hope to plant it firmly in the conservative camp. The U.S. high court is now evenly split between conservative and liberal justices, who have been divided by 5-4 votes on abortion rights, the death penalty and...

It was buried in the avalanche of coverage of the horrible shootings at Virginia Tech. But the Supreme Court's partial-birth ruling will likely have a much bigger impact on Campaign. The human toll is unfathomable. And the heartfelt debate triggered by the slaughter at Virginia Tech—over why America allows such easy access to guns, and how best to determine when a troubled student might turn into a psychopath—will rage on for years. But as a political matter, the killings in Blacksburg, Va., will likely have little impact—on the presidential campaign of 2008, at least. That race will, however, be affected...

After the Supreme Court upheld the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act on Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said at a news conference: "I would only say that this isn't the only decision that a lot of us wish that [Justice Samuel] Alito weren't there and [former justice Sandra Day] O'Connor were there." Does that mean Reid was repudiating his 2003 Senate vote in favor of the bill? No, he told me Thursday, he was talking about other decisions by Alito. Reid, an effective legislator and canny politician, reflects a dilemma on abortion among Democrats, currently flying high against dispirited...

SIMI VALLEY How does Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito describe the last year, when he endured a bruising confirmation fight in the Senate to land a seat on the nation's highest court? "I sometimes feel as if I had an out of body experience," he said. Speaking Tuesday to a capacity crowd at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Alito described the highs and lows that came with being plucked from the relative quiet of a seat on the federal bench in New Jersey and landing in the spotlight of Washington politics. It was, he said, "certainly quite a change." Hounded...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court said Friday that it would hear arguments a second time before ruling on the constitutionality of a Kansas death penalty law, apparently so new Justice Samuel Alito can break a tie. The case is the second one that deadlocked the court following Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement in late January. The other one involves government whistleblowers. Justices heard arguments on Dec. 7 in the Kansas case, which involves rules for how juries weigh evidence for and against the death penalty. The 1994 law says if the evidence for and against imposing a death sentence...

All audio from these interviews is here --- What's up with Alito? Lawyer and blogger Chris Price (aka Layman) breaks down what you need to know about the new Supreme Court Justice. --- Conservative African American: oxymoron?African American President of the Southern California Republican Club , Austin Dragon, tells his story of crossing the political spectrum. What happened to turn this man from a liberal to a conservative? He also had a thing or two to say about Julian Bond and the NAACP! :) --- Who is being "abused" at UCLA: Students or Professors? Bruin Republican President Faith Christiansen gives...

There now ... nominating a conservative to the Supreme Court wasn't that scary, was it? Hey, who wants to go again? Democrats have the most exaggerated reputation for fearsomeness since Saddam Hussein's vaunted "Elite Republican Guard" -- the ones who ran like scared schoolgirls when U.S. forces toppled Iraq in 17 days flat. A few years ago, the Democrats wouldn't allow a vote on Bush's Hispanic, black and female judicial nominees. Sen. Bill Frist was afraid of what the Democrats might do, so he backed down. Scary Democrats! And not just Joe Biden's hair plugs -- all of them were...

Conservatives of all stripes have certain desires concerning the makeup and evolution of the Supreme Court. We may not agree on all details, but we are united in wanting the Court to act as a court should act – that is, interpreting and applying the laws as passed by representatives of the people, the House of Representatives and the Senate. To be specific with regard to widely discussed issues, we want to see Roe vs. Wade and Kelo vs. New London overturned, and we want the “establishment” clause of our Constitution to be interpreted and applied as it was...

WELCOME to the first, RNC officially sanctioned, CYBER GOP House Party for the President's STATE of the UNION speech! There are 1375 Parties nationwide, and WE are the biggest and the best! Tonight, President Bush, in his STATE of the UNION speech, will discuss America's leadership in the world and share his vision to lead America forward. To seize opportunities here at home, the President will outline the policies needed for the American people to continue to compete in the global economy. Earlier today, the President sat with Supreme Court nominee, Samuel Alito in the Roosevelt Room at the White...

Feingold, Schumer and Durbin as they went down to defeat in the Judiciary Committee Tuesday. [Snicker...] White House aid Jamie Brown, right, listens to Di-Fi answer reporters' questions for reporters outside the Senate Chambers

Last February, as rumors swirled about the failing health of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, a team of conservative grass-roots organizers, public relations specialists and legal strategists met to prepare a battle plan to ensure any vacancies were filled by like-minded jurists. The team recruited conservative lawyers to study the records of 18 potential nominees — including Judges John G. Roberts Jr. and Samuel A. Alito Jr. — and trained more than three dozen lawyers across the country to respond to news reports on the president's eventual pick. "We boxed them in," one lawyer present during the strategy meetings said...

WITH SAMUEL ALITO ABOUT to be confirmed, it's time to take stock of this particular episode in the making of a justice, the nation's 110th. Bear in mind that Alito was not President Bush's first choice to succeed Sandra Day O'Connor. The estimable John Roberts was, but when Chief Justice William Rehnquist died, Bush decided to redesignate Roberts for the center seat. That meant finding another nominee for O'Connor's seat.As it happened, Bush surprised the world by naming White House Counsel Harriet Miers. The Miers nomination proved a major blunder. Bush had opted for a person he knew well who...

WASHINGTON - Senate GOP leaders plan to confirm Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito early next week after dealing with a filibuster threat from Democratic die-hards who worry that the conservative judge would swing the court too far to the right.A final vote making the New Jersey jurist the nation’s 110th Supreme Court justice was scheduled for Tuesday morning, only hours before President Bush begins his State of the Union address to Congress and the nation, if Alito’s bipartisan supporters succeed in rounding up 60 votes to cut off debate on Monday.<SNIP>A Democratic senator who plans to vote against Alito’s confirmation,...

EVERYTHING you need to know about John Kerry's LAUGHABLE attempt to organize a filibuster attempt against the confirmation of Samuel Alito as Supreme Court justice can be summed up in the first paragraph of this New York Times ARTICLE: WASHINGTON, Jan 26 — Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts could not attend the Senate debate on the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. on Thursday. He was in Davos, Switzerland, mingling with international business and political leaders at the World Economic Forum. Yeah, this filibuster is so vitally important that Kerry won't even be leaving the Swiss...

The impending Alito nomination has driven the DUmmies into a greater crazed frenzy than that of Rambo Cat above. It is starting to dawn on them that the filibuster, if ever tried, will FAIL. Despite the too little, too late support of such a filibuster by Jean Kerry from the ski slopes of Switzerland, the votes for filibuster are just NOT there. Plus we now have word that Sheets Byrd SUPPORTS the nomination of Alito. Game over for the DUmmies thus their INTENSE anger as you can see in this THREAD titled, with SUPREME understatement, "I am very, very...

Contact: Press Office 202-863-8614  “To even suggest a filibuster against a nominee as qualified as Judge Alito reflects a philosophy so out of touch that it’s bordering on reckless. The judicial confirmation process, particularly one for the nation’s highest court, should be insulated from such thoughtless bomb throwing in an effort to remain relevant. One can't help but wonder if the consummate candidate was for Judge Alito, before he was against him.”-Tracey Schmitt, RNC Press Secretary SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA) CALLS IN ALITO FILIBUSTER FROM SWITZERLAND“Sen. John Kerry Has Decided To Support A Filibuster To Block The Nomination Of Judge Samuel...

(Washington - AP) — US Senator Jim Jeffords says he will oppose the nomination of Samuel Alito to the US Supreme Court. Jeffords says that while he believes Alito is qualified to serve on the court, he does not believe the country would be served by his judicial philosophy. The independent senator says that he does not believe Alito fully appreciates the limits on the power of the presidency.

The coming ApocAlito is hitting my DUmmie Ants HARD. They are scurrying about the circular mill with ever more furious and DESPERATE speed. Some of them are talking about leaving the country. Others about leaving the Democrats. Pied Piper Pitt wants the Democrats to stand up and WALK OUT of the President's State of the Union Address. And more are now talking about taking out retribution against the Democrats for not filibustering (despite cheerleading support for this antic by the NY Times) the Alito nomination as you can see in this THREAD titled, "Expose the 'Alito 8' Democratic Senators...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito won commitments from a majority of senators Tuesday, assuring his eventual confirmation and making a rightward tilt of the court likely. On the same day Alito won a 10-8 party-line approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee, five Republicans announced that they would vote for his confirmation in the full Senate, pushing him over 50 votes in the 100-member chamber. Fifty Senate Republicans, plus one Democrat, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, have publicly committed to vote for Alito through their representatives, interviews with The Associated Press or news releases. No Republicans have opposed him...

My fingernails are bleeding. I had pretzel nuggets for breakfast. Must be getting close to the Alito confirmation. For those who wonder why women pace like caged animals every time they hear "Supreme Court" and "nominee," consider the news. Samuel Alito Jr. is reaching for the robe to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. This is the guy who, in his 1985 application to become deputy to then-Attorney General Edwin Meese, wrote that "The Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion." And if anyone wondered if he still felt that way, here's Alito's 90-year-old mother on the horn from...

WASHINGTON — In an exchange of speeches that increasingly focused on presidential powers and whether President Bush had exceeded them, the Senate on Wednesday began formal debate on the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. No firm date has been set for a Senate vote, although both Democrats and Republicans say they expect it to be before the president's State of the Union address Tuesday. With no Democratic filibuster expected, Alito's confirmation on a largely party-line vote appears all but certain. Almost all of the Senate's 55 Republicans and one Democrat, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, either have...

WASHINGTON -- In praising Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr., Sen. George Allen came close yesterday to daring Senate Democrats to filibuster. "My reaction is, if they move forward with such a filibuster, 'Make my day.' We will enjoy pulling the constitutional trigger to allow Judge Alito a fair up-or-down vote," Allen, R-Va., warned in a speech on the Senate floor. He was alluding to what some have called the "nuclear option." That is a Republican-threatened procedure to eliminate filibusters of judicial nominees.

WASHINGTON - On the verge of a second successful Supreme Court appointment, the White House flexed its judicial muscles Wednesday, sending Samuel Alito to the Capitol for an early victory lap and renaming a contentious appellate court nominee whom Democrats managed to block in past years. Just hours after Senate debate opened on his nomination to the Supreme Court, Alito posed for photographs and congratulations with Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and other senior GOP senators. Although a Senate confirmation vote is not expected until Friday at the earliest, the group acted as if the result was not in doubt....

Judge Samuel Alito Jr., whose entire history suggests that he holds extreme views about the expansive powers of the presidency and the limited role of Congress, will almost certainly be a Supreme Court justice soon. His elevation will come courtesy of a president whose grandiose vision of his own powers threatens to undermine the nation's basic philosophy of government — and a Senate that seems eager to cooperate by rolling over and playing dead.It is hard to imagine a moment when it would be more appropriate for senators to fight for a principle. Even a losing battle would draw the...

WASHINGTON - Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito won commitments from a majority of senators Tuesday, assuring his eventual confirmation and making a rightward tilt of the court likely.  On the same day Alito won a 10-8 party-line approval from the Senate Judiciary Committee, five Republicans announced that they would vote for his confirmation in the full Senate, pushing him over 50 votes in the 100-member chamber. Fifty Senate Republicans, plus one Democrat, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, have publicly committed to vote for Alito through their representatives, interviews with The Associated Press or news releases. No Republicans have opposed him and...

From Fox News' "Fox News Live" January 24, 2006Former DNC Chairman, Governor Ed Rendell [D-PA]: "I Believe He's A Qualified Judge. He Sits On The Third Circuit Court Of Appeals In Philadelphia. I Don't Know If You Know This ... My Wife Is A Third Circuit Court Judge."Fox News' Bill Hemmer: "I'm Aware Of That, And Your History In Philadelphia Should Give You Pretty Good Knowledge Of Him."Rendell: "Right. She Has A High Opinion Of His Integrity And His Academic Standards. She Disagrees With Him On A Number Of Cases And Agrees With Him On Some. I Disagree With A...

Today, President Bush welcomed Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to the Oval Office where the two discussed the relationship between the two countries, and made a joint statement to the press. Later in the day, President Bush welcomed 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart to the South Lawn of the White House where they posed for a photo op with the Nextel Cup Champion team (and the winning Chevrolet !) He also met with West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin in the Oval Office, whose legislative proposals to improve mine safety have passed by the West Virginia Senate unanimously. Today,...

If Judge Samuel Alito Jr.'s confirmation hearings lacked drama, apart from his wife's bizarrely over-covered crying jag, it is because they confirmed the obvious. Judge Alito is exactly the kind of legal thinker President Bush wants on the Supreme Court. He has a radically broad view of the president's power, and a radically narrow view of Congress's power. He has long argued that the Constitution does not protect abortion rights. He wants to reduce the rights and liberties of ordinary Americans, and has a history of tilting the scales of justice against the little guy. As senators prepare to vote...

Hypocrisy, thy name is . . . Not an easy call in the first month of 2006. If you thought 2005 was a banner year for political hypocrisy — if you thought watching Democrats berate President Bush for lying about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction after they cited the same intel was one for the record books — well, get ready. Two old Democratic warhorses — OK, anti-warhorses — are in a red-hot race for this year's Golden Globe for Political Hypocrisy after this last week. First, there was Sen. Ted Kennedy's double-barreled offering in the hearings for Judge Samuel...

It didn't matter then—it shouldn't nowRemember all those news stories in 1993 about how the nomination of former ACLU lawyer Ruth Bader Ginsburg to replace conservative Justice Byron White on the United States Supreme Court would "tilt the balance of the court to the left?" Of course you don't. Because there weren't any. In the past three months, the major media have repeatedly hammered away at the theme that Judge Samuel Alito Jr. would "shift the Supreme Court to the right" if he replaced retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. According to Lexis/Nexis, major newspapers have used the phrase "shift the...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist told Republican Party activists on Friday night that U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito was the "worst nightmare of liberal Democrats." Frist, a Tennessee Republican, made the remark to fellow Republicans during a private tour he gave them of the Senate chamber when the Senate was not in session. Frist was not available for comment following his remarks. Asked about the senator's remark, Frist spokesman Bob Stevenson said that Alito "is a thoughtful mainstream conservative jurist who is well respected by his peers, by Democrats and Republicans alike." Stevenson added, "There are...

Senator Kennedy’s Speech Against Judge Alito The Last Gasp Of An Embarrassing Legislator For Immediate Release January 19, 2006 Contact: Amy Skeen (202) 547-8570 “Senator Ted Kennedy’s anti-Judge Alito speech today before the Center for American Progress is yet another display of how out of touch Kennedy is with American values and beliefs,” said TVC Executive Director Andrea Lafferty today. “Apparently Kennedy isn’t satisfied with his bullying and character assassination of Judge Alito during the Senate hearings. He seems determined to keep on mischaracterizing Alito’s record up until the moment the judge is confirmed in the Senate—and he will be...

A few days ago, Sen. Frist said that — if Democrats delay the Alito nomination past January 20 — then Frist would cancel the week-long recess that was scheduled to begin soon thereafter. Senate Democrats have now decided to delay past January 20 (contrary to a previous agreement), and so the Washington Post reports: Frist announced that … he would cancel a week-long Senate vacation next week — a step that he took yesterday, according to his chief of staff, Eric Ueland. Ueland said last night that Frist planned to start debate over Alito in the full Senate on Jan....

In his opening statement to the Judiciary Committee, Judge Samuel Alito told the senators where he comes from. First, Hamilton Township, N.J., the modest-income suburb of Trenton, where he grew up. "It was a warm, but definitely an unpretentious, down-to-earth community. Most of the adults in the neighborhood were not college graduates. I attended the public schools. In my spare time, I played baseball and other sports with my friends. And I have happy memories and strong memories of those days, and good memories of the good sense and the decency of my friends and my neighbors," he said. All...

The Senate confirmation hearings for Judge Samuel Alito told us more about the Senators than it did about Judge Alito.First, there were those long-winded preambles to "questions" for the judge. Then there were the Mickey Mouse maneuvers and insinuations, spiced here and there with outright lies.The ridiculousness of the charges was classically illustrated by Senator Joseph Biden's claim that Alito had been part of a group that was trying to keep minorities and women out of Princeton. Apparently wanting everyone to meet the same admissions standards is considered to be the same as being against minorities and women.To dramatize his...

ABOUT THE ALITO HEARINGS, one thing is certain: If it had been the Concerned Alumni of Princeton that was up for confirmation, the nomination wouldn't even make it out of the Judiciary Committee. Democrats led by Sen. Edward Kennedy portrayed CAP as hostile to minorities and to coeducation and thus to women. And Republicans weren't about to get into a fight over CAP, which was formed in 1972, shortly after Princeton went coeducational and the same year Samuel Alito graduated. CAP went out of business in 1986.CAP drew the interest of committee Democrats because Alito once identified himself as a...

ON THE MORNING PRESIDENT BUSH nominated Samuel Alito to become the fifth Catholic on the Supreme Court, I was sitting on an airplane next to a joke-teller, one of those people whose idea of travel is the chance to pass along to strangers all the latest gags. "So," he began, patting his jovial belly, "have you heard this one? A doctor, a lawyer, and a priest are on a ship when it hits a rock and begins to sink. 'What about the women and children?' the doctor worries as the three pile into the only lifeboat. 'Screw the women and...

Those who hold hands with the future at night and relay their divinations tell us that Judge Alito will be OK'd by the Senate Judiciary Committee by a party vote. Some reach even further and predict that he will be confirmed by a party vote, but that there might be a little maneuvering on the floor in the matter of a filibuster.One is told not to expect a filibuster because it is a weapon of last resort, and weapons of last resort should be kept for last-resort use. Several times, in the recent past, the question has been raised whether...

 Ladies and gentlemen, Democrats of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, welcome to this introductory tour of the North American federalist in his natural habitat. We hope that by getting to know the 10-toed American federalist a bit better this afternoon, you'll avoid, in the future, some of the errors and missteps that have thus far plagued your efforts to understand, question, and possibly impugn them at confirmation hearings. Sen. Feinstein, please do try to keep up with the tour. We ask that you listen carefully as we debunk some of the stereotypes and myths you may have heard about...

I'm BACK in near record time with ANOTHER edition of the DUmmie FUnnies. The reason for the quick return is that I am SAVORING the DUmmie angst over their political ApocAlito as you can see in this THREAD titled, "If no filibuster I'm leaving the Democratic party." I must admit that the DUmmie meltdown over the confirmation of Judge Alito to the Supreme Court is WAY BEYOND anything I previously envisioned. It is making me look forward to peering into my DUmmie Ant Farm when at least two MORE Supreme Court Justices are named by Bush before his term...