Alito will be confirmed and our country will suffer because of it. Why do Republicans hate America?

"Democrats Sens. Robert F. Kerry and Edward M. Kennedy, voted to end"

Hah, nice one there.

This is just a pathetic choice on the part of the Democratic senators and their leadership. That mess of capitulating idiots wouldn't filibuster Bork.

Mr. Barbash, what was the roll call?

Republicans do not hate Americans. They were elected to represent the interests of their constituents in their state. They vote on behalf of the people who elected them, just as the Democrats vote on behalf of their own constituents.

But as to hate, I read these blogs and see more hatred in the bloggers than in the politicians. Why?

There is "more hatred in the bloggers than in the politicians" because the bloggers are often partisans. Politicians, on the other hand, have to represent more laid back folks who don't follow politics very closely but do vote every 2 or 4 years.

Bob Kerry would never have wasted everybody's time and diverted attention from issues Americans care a lot more about by engaging in this silly thing.

Bob Kerrey

Can't folks be partisan and not hate people just because they have other points of view? Has this kind of hatred ever solved anything?

Tommorow we get to see the spectacle of Senators voting against Alito after voting for him.

Until the Democrats start winning elections, they'll just have to suffer through everything the Republicans can throw at them. I finally feel this country is headed in the RIGHT direction.

This is the heart of our democracy. The dems may not have had the votes to sustaing the fillibuster but if they did not at least attempt it, sending a message to their constituents and other dems that they will speak out against something they don't belive in, then why do we have this tool at our disposal. It said to those that side with them "We disagree with this choice and will not lay down quietly". Welcome to Democracy 101.

Why K & K retire for the good of the country? Both are losers!

Moses (how ironic) how about making a legitimate argument to support your comment. "Losers" - how 2nd grade of you. Come on now!!

70+ heh heh

Does anyone believe that if the Democrats were in control that they would not have tried to tip the Supreme Court to the left. They don't want a centrist anymore than the Republicans do. There won't ever be another Sandra Day.

"...Massacusetts Democrats Sens. Robert F. Kerry and Edward M. Kennedy..."

Not to be pedantic, but I think you mean JOHN F. Kerry from MassaCHUsetts.

John Kerry, military hero, displayed his leadership skills during the filibuster campaign. He was last heard saying about his fellow Democratic senators: "There they go, I must hasten after them for I am their leader".

Kerry and Kennedy put their country above the image that the cons will paint them with, as obstrunctionists.

So-Called-Mainstream media. I blame you for not informing the people on this board who are ignorant of the cliff that they are about to be thrown over by the corporatists - represented best by the Republicans and, now, defended by Alito in the SCOTUS.

JR
Come on, those two are real losers! They should retire, and enjoy sailing in the waters, especially Teddy.

Hooray!!

Tom:

They did try to tip the sale to the left by nominating Ginsburg and Breyer; subsequently confirmed. The GOP went along and those processes were remarkably (comparatively) free of partisan grand-standing.

"Come on, those two are real losers! They should retire, and enjoy sailing in the waters, especially Teddy."

Sailing waters, or driving single women off bridges and into the water.

Republicans are in power and able to put someone like S. Alito on the Supreme Court because many American voters are politically ignorant non-thinkers who cannot get past the Pavlovian "9/11" so often repeated in their collective ear by an administration who uses well a dualistic presentation for the simplistic mind. Maybe it's time to accept that neither the Constitution nor the ideals of the Founders matter much anymore as the Republic crosses into another dimension of the American experiment: neo-fascism.

This has all played out according to script.

Kerry isn't a complete idiot, as calling a last minute filibuster is clearly doomed for failure. But he saw that he could use this political trainwreck opportunity to grandstand...as it turns out, along with all the other Democrat '08 presidential contenders (Clinton, Bayh, etc.) and, of course, the Chappaquidick swim champ as well.

Now, all the wannabe '08 Dems can throw a bone to the hard-left Dems by saying that, sure enough, they voted to "filibuster" Alito.

Don't you hard-left Dem-types find your intellect just a *little* bit insulted by the shenanigans of your "leaders?"

I'll be interested in the roll call. I want to see the names of the 25 Democrats in the Senate.

Can anybody set aside the "nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah" for a moment and let me know if any of the gang of 14 voted against cloture?

JFR

Are you crying now? 72 votes! I thought there werent enough votes for filibuster breaking? Ha Ha. I guess it was you who were delusional.

Did anyone hear Teddy ranting on the Senate floor this morning? He was incoherent. I think it was caused by too much Chivas Regal for breakfast.

But as to hate, I read these blogs and see more hatred in the bloggers than in the politicians. Why?

Um...they're more honest?

i thought the Kennedy brand was Cutty Sark....

I'm so tired of Dems calling Bush (a two-time Ivy league grad) stupid, and when K and K are called losers, they jump up and down. I'm all for open debate, where we list all the reasons why these two are losers, and why Bush is or is not stupid. I for one am confident that Bush is the best president of this century. No one else has ever, or would have ever, stepped up to terrorism the way he has. He speaks to the people, but Kerry pontificates. I can't listen to Kerry - he's too boring. Bush is engaging, because he speaks to the people in language they can understand. And while I have two advanced degrees myself (organic chemistry and law), I don't think I'm smarter than Bush. The rest of you libs out there that do, I hope you have credentials to back it up. However, I suspect you don't.

CDW: Teddy doesn't go with Chivas these days...he got a sinus infection the last time he tried sniffing that up his nose.

"They did try to tip the sale [sic] to the left by nominating Ginsburg and Breyer; subsequently confirmed. The GOP went along and those processes were remarkably (comparatively) free of partisan grand-standing."

The reasons the Republican MAJORITY went along is exactly why Clinton nominated them -- because they were mainstream moderates, not even liberals in the Blackmun mold and certainly not in the Brennan/Marshall mold.

Tomorrow's vote will cap a quarter-century shift to the right that has no philosopical parallel in the 215-year history of the Court, even the FDR years.

Also JR is right on the mark. When Republicans lose the White House, they admit defeat and respectfully allow the Democrats to appoint judges who are well-qualified but ideologically to the left. When Democrats lose the White House, they refuse to exend the same courtesy by allowing Republicans to appoint right-leaning but well-qualified judges. Instead, they resort to whining, grandstanding and obstructionism.

Enjoy your dictator, wingnuts.

We need new leadership for the Democratic Party that I once knew. Winning elections is what it is all about and as I sit and listen to Barbara Boxer, I realize that will not happen any time soon.

How do I turn off the goddamn audio?

We need new leadership for the Democratic Party that I once knew. Winning elections is what it is all about and as I sit and listen to Barbara Boxer, I realize that will not happen any time soon.

Judge Alito will rubber stamp everything that George W. Bush does or wants to do. That includes, illegal invasions of other nations, torture of prisoners of war, stealing our national taxes and giving them to his corporate friends, and spying on any American citizen he feels like. These are dangers that Thomas Jefferson warned against. These things will destroy our democracy, that mechanism through which we enjoy so many freedoms and personal
rights.

The last ditch effort by Senators Kennedy and Kerry was a misguided effort to pander to the abortionistas in this country. Their views are so outside of the mainstream it isn't even funny. A qualified conservative Judge will be confirmed to the Supreme Court. And the Democrats will pay for it 11/2006, let's hear it for Democracy.

I have to wonder how much money you who hang out here demeaning Kennedy for his past alchohol abuse get paid to spend your time composing put-downs.

Why aren't you concerned that the President and Vice President both had DUIs before they were appointed to their current positions.

In my opinion, no candidate who has ever demonstrated the bad judgement to drink and drive should be allowed to hold such high office.

Republicans won the house, senate and presidency based on a DEMOCRATIC vote of the people. All you sore losers who want some unelected oligarchy on the supreme court make the laws and tell us what the Constitution should say rather than what it does say should take a coure in the Constitution and Democracy. I'm sure that if the situation were opposite that these same sore losers would be crying about how awful the minority was in trying to defeat the will of the majority. What comes around goes around, and playing by the rules definitely has its advantages in avoiding a politics-by-any-means. Get a life -- and find out what the majority of people really want Alito!

Republicans love america, they don't like Socialists

Wow Kennedy/alcohol jokes how original RD your so clever. Did you pick those thoughts doing coke lines with W.

It was fun to see Kerry commit "hary-kerry"

HAHAHAHAHA! You friggin' commies are gonna git it now, boyeeeeeeee!

Republicans love America, they dislike Socialism

Hamas won in Palestine; Moslem Brotherhood exceded expectations in Egypt; Nobody good won in Iraq; a maniac won in Iran; it took the Senate to finally give me a vote I like.

IMMP, it is a moronic statement to compare Republican leadership to nazism. Had you lived in Germany in the late 1930's and early 1940's, you would have experienced true nazism. Just because some of us believe butchering unborn babies is wrong, and that judges are set in place to INTERPRET laws passed by Congress, not to find additional or new meanings in them, does not make us Nazi's.

How did Mark Pryor vote?

And to the person who said Clinton's nominees were mainstream, Ginsburg is the most radical justice on the court right now.

Why is it that Democrats can put Breyer and Ginsburg on the court and tilt it to the left but when Republicans tilt it back to the right with Roberts and Alito, all hell breaks loose?

I absolutely LOVED hearing the Repugs talk about how important it was that Scumlito get an up or down vote. Like Harriet Myers, right guys? When the left tries to scuttle a sorry partisan hack appointment, it's obstructionism. When the right does it (even to their own people), nobody in the mainstream media says a word.

The Democrats who voted for cloture should be voted out. We have no need for jellyfish in the Senate.

As an American citizen my heart is broken today. I have seen the end of hope for our democracy to achieve the noble goals of our founding fathers. Tomorrow, after Alito is confirmed as the next Supreme Court Justice we will witness the deconstruction of our nation. Law by law, bone by bone the radical right wing will dismantle everything we hold dear. I'm going to wear black tomorrow because I am in mourning for my nation.

Those of you on the far left should listen to Sen. Obama who said in not so many words that you must win elections to control the outcome of judicial appointments.

ekelly: You've momentarily forgotten to mention that the Republicans control the majority of state governorships as well.

Let's see:
The White House
The U.S. Senate
The U.S. House of Representatives
The majority of state Governorships...

Did we miss anything...? Oh yah...

THE U.S. SUPREME COURT, BABY...!

Sorry, but any serious look at the records of Breyer and Ginsburg as Supremes will tell you they NEVER vote for conservative ideas. Therefoe, how can anyone refer to them as moderates? Republicans vorted them in as they recognize their constitution role to advise and consent, not filibuster and smear.

Y'know, Democrats would do better if they simply stick to ides instead of all the pettiness. Their ides are good for everyone and worth winning votes. If all the smoke, mirrors and stuff would go away, the ideas would win always. Thus, Alito could have been blocked, but not by Kennedy trhowing stupid stones about a college organization.

It was my pleasure to snort coke with the W. Do you have envy? I'm sorry that the dirt weed and the tweak didn't do it for you.

No go back to the trailer park, and be sure to disconnect the dial up connection. Someone (probably one of your tweak pals) is calling.

Please. I'm a two-time Ivy league grad too, and I can tell you from experience that there are plenty of idiots in the Ivy league--most of whom got there for reasons other than past academic success (e.g., rowing crew or WELL-CONNECTED PARENTS).

Way to be absurdly provocative with the Best Pres of the Century claim--I hope you're only making a tautological statement about presidents in the 21st Century, because it's becoming quite clear that this president is the worst and most incompetent since at least Coolidge.

Bush/Cheney were elected both times, not appointed. Regardless, Kennedy and his people have the right to attempt a filibuster, and I applaud their efforts on behalf of what they believe in. However, Alito is a brilliant man who will make an excellent addition to the Court. And relax, nothing really right wing will get done until Bush gets his third justice on there.

Does anyone know when we'll get a floor vote? Can y'all stop bickering and only post if you have something to add, particularly the answer to my question.

yeah, Ginsburg and Brennan aren't liberals.......can you really say that with a straight face?

wow, you libs really are dillusional.

Gee:

About Ginsburg and Breyer: "because they were mainstream moderates, not even liberals in the Blackmun mold and certainly not in the Brennan/Marshall mold." Will you quit it with the Democratic talking points? Ginsburg was general counsel for the ACLU with a long record of radical scholarly writings and legal activism. Ginsburg and Breyer may be mainstream moderates of the LEFT, but they certainly are not in the legal profession or the rest of the country. It isn't that the Democrats do not know how the other half of the country thinks, they do not even concede that it exists! How else could such a party nominate Mondale in 84, Dukakis in 88, and Kerry in 04?

Alito isn't even as conservative as half the GOP state supreme court judges in the south and midwest (i. e. all those RED STATES that the Democrats basically ignore) yet you guys treat him as if he is the most right wing judge ever? Neither Alito or Roberts is as conservative as Rehnquist, Thomas, or Scalia. You guys really need a reality injection, or an honesty one.

Well, now we will have one more person who is anti-environmental protection laws. Be aware that 73% of you support the US to ratify Kyoto. Way to go "government".

As to the statement;" THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER SANDRA DAY" - Thank God, or rather, in her own words; "O Dear!" (upon hearing that Gore was projected to have won Ellection night 2000.)

On December 12, 2000, the Wall Street Journal reported O'Connor was reluctant to retire with a Democrat in office:

At an Election Night party at the Washington, D.C., home of Mary Ann Stoessel, widow of former Ambassador Walter Stoessel, the justice's husband, John O'Connor, mentioned to others her desire to step down, according to three witnesses. But Mr. O'Connor said his wife would be reluctant to retire if a Democrat were in the White House and would choose her replacement. Justice O'Connor declined to comment.

Greg, the vote is 11:00

Here is the Senate vote count, compliments of People for the American Way:

Dems and Independents Supporting filibuster - 25

Boxer

Dodd

Durbin

Feingold

Kennedy

Kerry

Sarbanes

Stabenow

Leahy

Wyden

Obama

Jeffords

Biden

Dayton

Menendez

Reed

Levin

Bayh

Clinton

Mikulski

Murray

Lautenberg

Reid

Feinstein

Schumer

Dems and Mod Republicans Opposing filibuster

Carper

Conrad

Collins

Byrd

Dorgan

Bingaman

Landrieu

Pryor

Rockefeller

Inouye

Bill Nelson

Ben Nelson

Johnson

Salazar

Lincoln

Baucus

Lieberman

Cantwell

Snowe

Kohl

Akaka

OK. Time to regroup, and start with the State level proclomation: [ http://tinyurl.com/7tmyg ] -- There's a way to impeach Bush, and order an investigation without going through the House Judiciary Committee.

It's really stupid to "shut down an open debate" and claim victory. Many other issues could have been discussed while the Senate reviewd their options.

America has an opportunity -- to review the information about the President, and the States can issue a proclomation calling for the President to be impeached.

Just because the RNC controls the House, there is a lawful way for the States to issue an impeachment proclomation. Here's how: [ http://tinyurl.com/7tmyg ]

Here are the issues that need to be discussed: [ http://tinyurl.com/df3df ] Pass this information to your friends, the next phase of this "remove the President lawfully from office"-project commences.

"Why is it that Democrats can put Breyer and Ginsburg on the court and tilt it to the left but when Republicans tilt it back to the right with Roberts and Alito, all hell breaks loose?"

1. Alito lied on either his Reagan application or the hearings about his membership in sexist, racist CAP.

2. Alito has consistently voted for more executive power and has rarely sided with the little guy either against government or against business.

3. Neither Alito nor Roberts would answer even general questions in the hearings. What are they hiding?

Look back at the Senate votes for confirmation of all the sitting justices. Even Roberts was confirmed by an overwhelming majority. Alito isn't in the same league. He is a partisan appointment.

I think kennedy will become the new o'connor. i also agree that the court won't dramatically shift until there is one more appointment.

Who knows what Roberts and Alito will really be like anyway. hopefully nothing like that moron souter.

JR, you need to watch Animal House again to understand what today's temper tantrum was all about. It wasn't Democracy 101 (by the way, we're not a democracy..you won't see that word in the Constitution). It was a purely futile gesture by the Democrats. It's not hard to vote for a filibuster when you know it's not going to pass. Perhaps, you should read "Profiles in Courage" to see what real honor is all about.

Greg,

The floor vote is tomorrwo Alito should be confirmed and be sitting at the State of the Union tomorrow night as Justice Alito

If Kerry had won the election, I don't think you would have had the demos calling for him to replace Renquist with another conservative to keep "balance" on the court. Kerry would have picked a moonbat leftie like himself, to drive the court as far left as possible. If Kerry wants to control the makeup of the court, he should have won the election. Now he just a sore loser

"Republicans won the house, senate and presidency based on a DEMOCRATIC vote of the people."

Ahem. Please re-check the POPULAR vote numbers for the 2000 presidential election. If we had a pure democracy (one person- one vote), we wouldn't have had this arrogant fool in office in the first place. He's there only because we live under a REPUBLICAN system of government that heavily weights the votes of ignorant rednecks in prairie states that no one else wants to live in. Ditto on the Senate. And why it took forever to make sure that Manhattan got more Homeland Security funds than Boise.

Teddy: "How many bridges do I have to swim under to get a drink around here?"

All you people who think this is about people and their "ideals" is a lot of nieve claptrap! This is about politics, pure and simple. Both the conservatives and the libs play that game and this time the right had the upper hand. Sure the President is going to try to move the Supreme Court to the right, just as others before him have tried to move it toward their political and philosophical direction.

I just don't understand why ANY of this comes across as a surprise to anyone. Everything went exactly as it was supposed to. The next time we have a Dem as President and there are appointments to be made, the pendulum will swing back the other way. Be patient, you libs will get your turn...one day.

On 12 January, 2006, the New York Times ran an article entitled "Thrust into the Limelight, and for Some A Symbol of Washington's Bite." It was a mini-biography of Mrs. Martha-Ann Alito, and it purported to explain the reasons for Mrs. Alito's tears during her husband Samuel's confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. It blamed them on a follow-up question by Senator Lindsay Graham, rather than on the verbal savaging of Judge Alito by the Democrats on the Committee, led by Senator Ted Kennedy.

The Times should have gotten the story right, because one of the three reporters on the story was in their New Jersey Bureau, and based in Caldwell. But they didn't. Here are the operative paragraphs from that article on the cause of her tears:

She has sat behind him [her husband] all week, a pleasant-looking woman in sensible clothes, peering through rimless glasses as Democrats grilled Judge Alito about his investments and his affiliation with a conservative Princeton alumni group and Republicans tried to provide him some relief.

On Wednesday, one of those Republicans, Mr. Graham, tried to mock the Democrats with a question about the alumni group, which opposed affirmative action.

"Are you really a closet bigot?" Mr. Graham asked, at which point Mrs. Alito drew her hands to her face and left the hearing room weeping.

Source: http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F20C14FD3C5B0C708DDDA80894DE404482

As the article explained, Mrs. Alito is "fiercely protective" of her husband. And she was upset by the attacks on him as if he were dishonest, or a bigot, or a poor judge. But there was an additional reason, much older and much darker than what happened at that hearing. It concerns the fact that Senator Kennedy led the attack against Judge Alito.

Mrs, Alito was born Martha-Ann Bomgardner in Ft. Knox, Kentucky. The family moved with her father's profession as an air traffic controller to New Jersey, where she attended Rancocas Valley Regional High School in Mount Holly. After earning bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Kentucky, she returned to New Jersey and became a librarian in the US Attorney's office, where she met her husband.

Through her husband's family, she learned of their personal friendship with another young woman who was also an only child. This other woman and her family were staunch Catholics. On occasion, they attended the same church in Roseland, New Jersey, as the Alitos, Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, one of only two churches in that town of 5,298. The Alitos live in Caldwell, population 7,584, where this other woman graduated from Caldwell College, probably as a commuter student from her home, rather than a resident student.

From the personal memories of this woman that Mrs. Alito got from her husband's family, and from her own understanding of what it means to be an only child, Mrs. Alito knew of the worst thing that any human being could do to another. She also heard of its impact on the family.

That other woman's name was Mary Jo Kopeckne. She was killed by Senator Ted Kennedy, in an auto accident on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, on 18 July, 1969. That was the other reason for Mrs. Alito's tears.

[Author's notes: The author did not bother any of the three families referred to here in writing this. All the information was gathered from reputable Internet sources. If the Times puts a competent reporter on the story, it can find the same information. It should also then apologize for its original article, in which the three reporters presented their personal assumptions as facts on the cause of Mrs. Alito's upset at the hearing.]

John_Armor@aya.yale.edu

I can guarantee that the DNC is finding the best doctors it can possibly muster to ensure that John Paul Stevens lives to see 2008.

"Judge Alito will rubber stamp everything that George W. Bush does or wants to do."

THANK GOODNESS!

Excellent!

Now, somebody really should summon the men in white jackets and have that babbling fool Kennedy carried off to a padded room. All of the sane Democrats should be angry and embarrassed by the behavior or Kennedy, Kerry and their doltish supporters.

Great.
Now wingnuttia is hating on Sandra Day O'Connor.
She only gave you Bushito in the first place.
Do you feel safer now than you did 5 years ago?

"...73% of you support the US to ratify Kyoto."

Right, John. What you really mean to say is: "...73% of the U.S. had/has _no freaking idea_ what is in the Kyoto agreement."

Be honest, at least...

------
Also JR is right on the mark. When Republicans lose the White House, they admit defeat and respectfully allow the Democrats to appoint judges who are well-qualified but ideologically to the left. When Democrats lose the White House, they refuse to exend the same courtesy by allowing Republicans to appoint right-leaning but well-qualified judges. Instead, they resort to whining, grandstanding and obstructionism.
------

BB, this is irony, right? You do remember the anonymous hold, the deference paid to same-state senators, blue-slipping, and the like, back when Orrin Hatch was head of the Judiciary Committee? Do you remember how many of Clinton's nominees were stalled in the Senate because of the GOP machinations in keeping the courts unstaffed?

I must say that I agree with Ronin's comment above that Bush is the best president of the century.

"Republicans won the house, senate and presidency based on a DEMOCRATIC vote of the people."

Ahem. Please re-check the POPULAR vote numbers for the 2000 presidential election. If we had a pure democracy (one person- one vote), we wouldn't have had this arrogant fool in office in the first place. He's there only because we live under a REPUBLICAN system of government that heavily weights the votes of ignorant rednecks in prairie states that no one else wants to live in. Ditto on the Senate. And why it took forever to make sure that Manhattan got more Homeland Security funds than Boise.
----------------
Yes, and both parties understand this. That's why they campaigned the way they did in 2000 and 2004. Yet the results are what the results are under the rules of the game.

It would be nice to see the next justice an anarchist (the poltical theory, not choas). Its about time for diversity anyways.

1. "Alito lied on either his Reagan application or the hearings about his membership in sexist, racist CAP." Actually, he did neither. And if you think that CAP is any more extreme than the ACLU, then that just shows how extreme YOU are. It is amazing how liberals will not even concede that even their MOST RADICAL ORGANIZATIONS are controversial and out of step with the beliefs and values of the vast majoirty of Americans.

2. It is not Alito's job to side with the little guy, but to interpret and apply the law.

3. Alito and Roberts followed the same "say nothing" strategy of Ginsburg. Even the liberal newspapers like the New York Times and the lefty opinion rags like Slate.com and Salon.com admitted the same. Saw the Newsweek interview where Joe Biden wants to stop having confirmation hearings so he and his ilk can just tear into the nominees on the Senate floor without giving them a chance to defend themselves, claiming that "the process is broken"? Funny how when the process does not yield the result that you want it is "broken" or "unfair" to certain people. Funny how he did not have that opinion when Ginsburg and Breyer were the nominees.

IMMP. Just because the American public does not think like you doesn't mean that they're ignorant. I would venture to say that I'm more informed than most of the moonbats who blog on DailyKos or DemocraticUnderground and do not think anything like those folks. How presumptious of you to think that you're better than the rest of us. How typical of the left. You just think that you're smarter than us. Therefore, you need to make our decisions for us. No Thanks. Thank you to the 72 Senators who stood up to the moonbat pressure.

If the Democrats weren't so hung up on abortion rights, then conservatives wouldn't have been so proactive about constructionist judges being appointed to the court. Thank you. This is working out really well. This is the only reason that Bush is better than Reagan.

"Bush is engaging, because he speaks to the people in language they can understand."

Enough said... only ignorant would take things at face value.
Tell me something that Bush said that you find so engaging? In what speech has he ever delivered clear and concise message without any reference to 9/11 or terrorist? What more freedom are you willing to give up so he can so call "protect" this nation?
Intelligence doesn't scare me... intelligence with lack of wisdom does.

Akaka (D-HI), Yea
Alexander (R-TN), Yea
Allard (R-CO), Yea
Allen (R-VA), Yea
Baucus (D-MT), Yea
Bayh (D-IN), Nay
Bennett (R-UT), Yea
Biden (D-DE), Nay
Bingaman (D-NM), Yea
Bond (R-MO), Yea
Boxer (D-CA), Nay
Brownback (R-KS), Yea
Bunning (R-KY), Yea
Burns (R-MT), Yea
Burr (R-NC), Yea
Byrd (D-WV), Yea
Cantwell (D-WA), Yea
Carper (D-DE), Yea
Chafee (R-RI), Yea
Chambliss (R-GA), Yea
Clinton (D-NY), Nay
Coburn (R-OK), Yea
Cochran (R-MS), Yea
Coleman (R-MN), Yea
Collins (R-ME), Yea
Conrad (D-ND), Yea
Cornyn (R-TX), Yea
Craig (R-ID), Yea
Crapo (R-ID), Yea
Dayton (D-MN), Nay
DeMint (R-SC), Yea
DeWine (R-OH), Yea
Dodd (D-CT), Nay
Dole (R-NC), Yea
Domenici (R-NM), Yea
Dorgan (D-ND), Yea
Durbin (D-IL), Nay
Ensign (R-NV), Not Voting
Enzi (R-WY), Yea
Feingold (D-WI), Nay
Feinstein (D-CA), Nay
Frist (R-TN), Yea
Graham (R-SC), Yea
Grassley (R-IA), Yea
Gregg (R-NH), Yea
Hagel (R-NE), Not Voting
Harkin (D-IA), Not Voting
Hatch (R-UT), Yea
Hutchison (R-TX), Yea
Inhofe (R-OK), Yea
Inouye (D-HI), Yea
Isakson (R-GA), Yea
Jeffords (I-VT), Nay
Johnson (D-SD), Yea
Kennedy (D-MA), Nay
Kerry (D-MA), Nay
Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Kyl (R-AZ), Yea
Landrieu (D-LA), Yea
Lautenberg (D-NJ), Nay
Leahy (D-VT), Nay
Levin (D-MI), Nay
Lieberman (D-CT), Yea
Lincoln (D-AR), Yea
Lott (R-MS), Yea
Lugar (R-IN), Yea
Martinez (R-FL), Yea
McCain (R-AZ), Yea
McConnell (R-KY), Yea
Menendez (D-NJ), Nay
Mikulski (D-MD), Nay
Murkowski (R-AK), Yea
Murray (D-WA), Nay
Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Obama (D-IL), Nay
Pryor (D-AR), Yea
Reed (D-RI), Nay
Reid (D-NV), Nay
Roberts (R-KS), Yea
Rockefeller (D-WV), Yea
Salazar (D-CO), Yea
Santorum (R-PA), Yea
Sarbanes (D-MD), Nay
Schumer (D-NY), Nay
Sessions (R-AL), Yea
Shelby (R-AL), Yea
Smith (R-OR), Yea
Snowe (R-ME), Yea
Specter (R-PA), Yea
Stabenow (D-MI), Nay
Stevens (R-AK), Yea
Sununu (R-NH), Yea
Talent (R-MO), Yea
Thomas (R-WY), Yea
Thune (R-SD), Yea
Vitter (R-LA), Yea
Voinovich (R-OH), Yea
Warner (R-VA), Yea
Wyden (D-OR), Nay

SHZ

bush won the popular vote dufus. i believe it was by the largest number on record as well.
Also, you are one of the most arrogant people I have ever met. Just because you think you are smarter than someone doesn't give you the right to talk down people and assume they are inferior to you. You sound like Kerry. None of us are perfect, including your arrogant self.

In reply to Vanna's lamentations over America ...

Don't dispair about impossibilities. There are enough realities to get really down about. If you are worried about the direction our country is going, look no further than the people who ELECT our "leaders". They are more interested in entertainment then saving for the future, paying their bills on time, or keeping informed about the government and corporations that pull the strings. Those who care are educating themselves on the internet and those who don't are just passengers on the bus. If you want to place your passion where it will be most effective, remember to teach the children how to THINK and REASON.

I could not stand Clinton but kept my mouth shut and supported the presidency and thus the nation. We need to stop this demonizing each other and defeat the terrorists that would shake the foundation of this nation if given a chance. Save the bomb the bomb throwing for peace time (no pun intended)

The Italian philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli said: "Never strike a king unless you kill him" The demos smeared Alto's reputation, called him a racist, reduced his wife to tears. They did the same thing to Clarence Thomas, with a shamelessly racist attack on him based on proven lies. Justice Thomas has not forgotten. Neither should Sam Alito. Stay healthy, guys, stay on the court for decades. Let the liberals pat a terrible price for striking a king!

All hail George I of America!
So long to the constitutional republic.

And you know what?
Roe Vs. Wade will never be overturned.
You know why?
Because it's the best money raising tool the Republican party has.
That along with same-sex marriage.

25 to die

All those democratic senators who voted against the filibuster are not americans and should not be reelected. The line in the sand is drawn. Those feeble democrats should move to the republican party. They are a disgusting and weak bunch of pretenders. I hope they rot in their own juices. I spit on them...

"SHZ

bush won the popular vote dufus. i believe it was by the largest number on record as well.
Also, you are one of the most arrogant people I have ever met. Just because you think you are smarter than someone doesn't give you the right to talk down people and assume they are inferior to you. You sound like Kerry. None of us are perfect, including your arrogant self."

Oh man. You might want to at least check the facts (or your memory) before spouting off like a raging idiot. Re-read my post about the 2000 POPULAR VOTE. Or check right here on the official government page: http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2000/prespop.htm

You will see that you are sorely mistaken. Al Gore got roughly half a million votes more than W.

DK, IMMP actually called Bush a neo-facist. Pop Quiz: Do you understand the difference between Nazis and neo-facists? If so, please demonstrate your knowledge here. If not, maybe you should try wikipedia.

Uhh, shz...not to surprise you too much, but we live in a democratic republic, not a pure rule-by-mob "democracy"?

You should consider reading "The Crowd" by Gustave Le Bon. As it turns out, rule-by-mob is actually, _not_ such a hot idea.

You people have too much time on your hands!
Get off your behinds and look for jobs!
And if you find any, let me know, 'cause I need one too.

dufus

i was speaking of 2004 moron. I think that makes your argument worthless. If the result was wrong in 2000, then they could have fixed in 2004, but they didn't, because Kerry was just as bad as Gore, and because the american people didn't want a democrat appointing a judge who would continue making laws that most don't agree with from the bench.

Bush lost the popular vote in 2000 by a quarter million.
He did get the most votes in history in 2004.
Guess who got the second most votes?
That's right. John Kerry.
Bush won 51% to Kerry's 49%.
And I'm still not sure what happened in Ohio.

even if i was wrong. you are still an arrogant jerk. thank goodness you libs are the way you are. it is what helps us win elections.

Translation: "I might be wrong but you're a kaka head!"

Time will tell! You all can stand up and pretend to know the future but in the end it is History that teaches us.
I am sure that if we stopped with all the name calling and selective stupidity that we would be able to work together on almost all issues. It is unfortunate that we are now pushed to the point of insult and ignorance about the other side.
Love thy neighbor...heh.

"dufus

i was speaking of 2004 moron. I think that makes your argument worthless."

No, it actually makes your argument worthless, you know, as a response to my post which came first. The one about the 2000 elections. If the implication we're supposed to draw is that W as a non-incumbent, coming off of a 2000 election loss, would be just as successful as the "War President" Bush who won the popular vote in 2004, I think you have a lot more premises to supply and substantiate.
----------------
Uhh, shz...not to surprise you too much, but we live in a democratic republic, not a pure rule-by-mob "democracy"?

Yes, thank you. This is exactly the point I was making in response to the poster who indicated that we should all take our licks and smile because our elected officers actually represent the majority of this nation's citizens. As you agree, that poster's premise was false.

Care Bear Stare!

What matters is that now we have a Supreme Court justice that believes it's absolutely fine to execute a child on the spot, no trial, for stealing ten bucks and trying to run away from the police. And who believes it's okay for police to strip-search kids without a warrant. That's not law and order, that's lawlessness. That's what Kerry was trying to stop.

Republicans don't hate America. They simply do their best to accomplish the right thing in spite of the relentless moaning from the whiners. Pity the whiners.

"" I for one am confident that Bush is the best president of this century. No one else has ever, or would have ever, stepped up to terrorism the way he has. ""
the gullibility of the maker of such a statement is amazing!
the endless droning attempts to fan the fear of terrorism and rally the ignorant around flags and homophobia, while distributing wealth and tax savings to the rich and reversing vital environmental protections --- an American tragedy -- certainly one of the worst presidents in us history!

but the statement that Bush is the best president of the century is undebatable.

"In the end, learning that the Alito filibuster was John Kerry's brilliant idea really isn't that surprising to us. It reflects the same shrewd political judgment and unerring strategic insight that Senator Kerry displayed in running his 2004 presidential campaign."

Both the 2001 and 2004 elections
were rigged. Not only in Ohio and Florida but across the nation. And those SOB's will rig it again in '08 if we are not careful. True Americans who care about our fragile but beautiful republic will rise up to defeat these coportist facist pigs. Don't let them fool you. They are not Americans they have no loyalty to this country or any other. Their bottom line is profit and nothing else. They will continue to rape our country until we put a stop to this insanity. I am ashamed of all of us. We are such fools..

Once again, I am wondering when this insanity is going to end. Both the Republicans AND Democrats have proven to be absolutely useless. I weep for the future of our nation.

Bush did NOT win the popular vote and the exit polls for Florida and Ohio did not match the actual voting. The only states like that. Thats a clear cut indication of rigging.

So now we have to put up with an ignorant president(everyone was wrong about his credidentials) because brainwashed ill-educated fools in states "redder than Satan's arse" helped elect him into office with the help of rigging. Lets see...Republican voted for Diebold machines to have NO paper trail when that is standard for voting machines. Gee...I wonder why. Note: A year after the 2000 election two programmers came forward stating that they were paid to keep quiet and put in code that suppressed democratic votes in Florida. 2004...6 programmers came forward.

This is a problem. Republicans will do anything to win and do not care who they hurt. My biggest problem with republicans is when they make statements going off on Bill or Hillary(lately Hillary), but when I ask them why they feel this way they cannot tell me. I even got a "I don't know, but I am sure shes evil" once. They have no credibility and often do not know why they vote the way they vote. When asked to produce why Hillary is a snake or why shes so bad, they simply have no answer. They just stare at me dumbfounded.

This country is going to go into the stone age compared to other countries if it keeps going to the right.

"In the end, learning that the Alito filibuster was John Kerry's brilliant idea really isn't that surprising to us. It reflects the same shrewd political judgment and unerring strategic insight that Senator Kerry displayed in running his 2004 presidential campaign."

Waaaa, I am too stupid to understand the way anything works, so now I will whine and pretend that one Supreme Court justice has the power to turn America into a dictatorship. I wish I could just read and become less of an idiot, but I am too lazy.

When Ted Kennedy was merely just another Democrat bloating on Capitol Hill on behalf of liberal causes,it was perhaps excusable to ignore his deplorable past.
But now he has become a leading Republican attack dog,positioning himself as Washington's leading arbiter of truth and integrity,the days for such indulgence are now over.
It's time to stand up and remind America why this chief spokesman had to abandon his own presidential bid in 1980- time to say the words "Mary Jo Kopechne" out loud.As is often the case,Republicans have deluded themselves into thinking that most Americans already know the story of how this "Conscience of the Democratic Party" left Miss Kopechne behind to die in the waters underneath the Edgartown Bridge in July 1969,after a night of drinking and partying with the young blonde campaign worker.But most Americans under 40 have never heard that story,or details of how Kennedy swam to safety,then tried to get his cousin Joe Garghan to say he was behind the wheel.Those young voters don't know how Miss Kopechne,trapped inside Kennedy's Oldsmobile,gasped for air until she finally died,while the Democrat's leading Iraq war critic rushed back to his compound to formulate the best alibi he could think of.Neither does Generation X know how Kennedy was thrown out of Harvard on his ear 15 years earlier,for paying a fellow student to take his Spanish final.Or why the US Army denied him a commission because he cheated on tests.As they listen to the Democrats"Liberal Lion"accuse President Bush of telling"lie after lie after lie"to get America to go to war in Iraq,young voters don't know about that notorious 1991 Easter weekend in Palm Beach when Uncle Teddy rounded up his nephews for a night on the town,an evening that ended with one of them credibly accused of rape.
It's time to quit "going along with the gag"when it comes to Uncle Ted's rants about deception and moral turpitude inside the Bush White House.
It's time to wake up memories of what a fraud and fake Teddy really is.
The Democratic Party should be ashamed to have the national disgrace from Massachusetts as their spokesman.

He's a republican attack dog, or a republican attacking dog?

A judge's job IS NOT TO SUPPORT the little guy or the big guy. A judge's job is to apply the law according to what the law says is legal or illegal. If that means the little guy wins, great. If that means the little guy loses, also great.

If you want certain outcomes to protect the poor, or punish the rich, or whatever, that is why you elect CONGRESSMEN and PRESIDENTS to enact those policies into law, and then the judge's job is to follow those instructions.

The only role the judge holds regarding policy positions is to make sure the baseline set by the Constitution is not crossed.

Liberals get all wound up when lose judge positions because that means they actually have to start playing by the Democratic process, and fight in the realm of ideas. This scares liberals, because they are so utterly deviod of ideas or rational arguments. Most liberal argments rely entirely on "feelings", or on insults and personal atacks. Liberals call their opponents ugly, stupid, radical, etc... because they are unable to formulate rational arguments.

GS Paul sums up the prognosis for this kind of direction, people:

"Data correlations show that in almost all regards the highly secular democracies consistently enjoy low rates of societal dysfunction, while pro-religious and antievolution America performs poorly." Additionally, "Increasing adolescent abortion rates show positive correlation with increasing belief and worship of a creator, and negative correlation with increasing non-theism and acceptance of evolution; again rates are uniquely high in the U.S. Claims that secular cultures aggravate abortion rates (John Paul II) are therefore contradicted by the quantitative data."

[Paul GS, Journal of Religion and Society, Volume 7, 2005]

Statement by the President:

"I am pleased that a strong, bipartisan majority in the Senate decisively rejected attempts to obstruct and filibuster an up-or-down vote on Judge Sam Alito's nomination. The Senate has a constitutional responsibility to hold an up-or-down vote on every judicial nominee - and throughout its 216-year history, the Senate has held an up-or-down vote on every Supreme Court nominee with majority Senate support. Judge Alito is extraordinarily well-qualified to serve on our Nation's highest court, and America is fortunate that this good and humble man is willing to serve. I look forward to the Senate voting to confirm Sam Alito as the 110th Justice of the Supreme Court."

To those who suggest Democrats should just rollover and support the president's nominees, let's just say that the attempt to filibuster Judge Alito, in adherence to the Bush Doctrine, was a preemptive strike to protect America from an imminent threat. Though our coalition was larger, our efforts proved as futile as the debacle in Iraq.

I tend to side with Gore on this, I would hate to see this nomination lead to a kind of lopsided power structure, where the president has too much power, and no check on it. the danger is all too real. We have seen this administration obfuscate and conceal things bordering on obstruction of justice. Now we shall have a conservative court, who knows if they will see their way clear to render the proper rulings to protect this grand experiment we call the USA. I am no fan of Bush, in fact I think he has commited crimes in his pursuit of security, but I do not wish to see us divided, one civil war was enough thank you .

While we all may be partisans to one degree or another, there is the fact that we are all human beings, so perhaps even a conservative judge like Alito will find the proper perspective when he must render opinions which have dire concequences. It is a slim hope in the face of the corruption in our leadership.

The founders of our country wished for us to be free of the tyranny of monied interests, and religeous zealots, it is safe to say, we now live under that tryanny in the form of George Bush and his constituents. I am sad, but not disheartened. Brave souls will find a way to overcome this, let us not lose courage, or the belief in our union.

The problem with the way the president is handling the war on terror is that he is ripping the constitution up in the name of protecting it, which is more than the terrorists could have hoped for. So here we sit victmized and made to squable in our own house over the fear of loss which ha sbeen relatively small when compard to the losses of WWII Korea, the civil War... and all because the military industrial complex feigned powerlessness in the face of 9/11, one small attack.

There are those who know the truth of it, who understand the federal reserve is a form of tyranny, that the military industrial complex and the corporate power structure are manipulating events for their own greed and not for the common good. Soon the days of deep sacrifice will be upon us, perhaps then our government, our representatives will live up to their obligations, instead of dancing to the tune played out by the pipers of fear and the money changers in the temple.

At the age of 67 and having lived in NYC for 58 years and served in the USMC back in the 50's, I'm saddened by the ignorance expressed on this web site by both sides. Someday maybe everyone will learn the meaning of "THE TRUTH, THE THUTH, THE TRUTH

Yae!! Now let's overturn Roe and delegate the responsibility of deciding the morality of baby killing to the state legislatures.

I love it when the neocon theosophist anti-american facist sociopaths rail against the ancient history of a kennedy. If that is all you got, crawl back in your hole or under the rock of ignorance that you issued from. It is people like you that are a detriment to all. All people are flawed in some way, but at least those flaws don't endanger all that we hold dear. Why don't you go back to listening to drudge, hannady, limbaugh, colter,Ingram and all the other demons who poison this republic. You are a pig..

Mary Jo was all that **I** held dear, my friend.

Whether or not a judge is left, right, or center (whatever that means), is entirely irrelevant. A judge should be a person with sufficient self-control that he can ignore his personal perferences on a case before him, and instead focus on the law and make decisions according to what the law states should be the outcome. We do not live in a judicial dictatorship where judges can decide for themselves that the elected officials failed to take some action the judge thinks should have been taken, and therefore "imposes" what he thinks the law "should have said". I am a Conservative, but I sure as hell don't want conservative activist judges writing unelected law for me. I want my elected officials making law for me, and if I disagree with them, I can fight to elect someone else. How do I fight against an unelected judge who sits for life who ignores the law and does whatever he "feels" the right outcome shuld be? That's no different than making Saddam Hussein president.

We are supposed to live in a country governed by LAWS that are written down with defined meanings, not by MEN who wave and swerve wherever the wind happens to blow today. This, in fact, is precisely why the Founder's were fearful of pure "democracy." They were afraid that the common folk would be blown here and there by whatever today's fads were, or whatever drove their passion today. Instead, they wanted elected officials who were supposed to DELIBERATE on the issues and try to reach rational decisions based on clear debate and substantive arguments.

Sure, the system isn't perfect, nothing built and run by men ever is or ever will be, but it's the best system ever devised on this planet, and our nation's wealth, power, and greatness testifies to the fact that our Founder's were correct. Our nation didn't reach where it is by some lucky random chance. It reached where it is, the preeminent nation on this planet, because our political, economic, and social culture has allowed our citizens to excel and strive to be the greatest their abilities and ambition would allow.

The sad part, is that today's Democratic party has abandoned all semblance of rational debate and substantive argument.

Re: Stevens and the comment about the DNC keeping him alive until 2008.

Jokes aside -- and it's "until 2009", actually -- it helps to remember that although Alito will likely move the Supreme Court to the Right, it won't be by a whole lot. Assuming he turns out to be reliably conservative, it will amount to one SC vote changing from "centrist" to "conservative". Instead of a 3-2-4 conservative-centrist-liberal breakdown, it will be a 4-1-4 breakdown with Kennedy still the pivotal swing vote.

On the other hand, if there is an opening or two between now and 2009 (Stevens will be turning 86 in April and Ginsburg is a cancer survivor in her 70s), Bush will have a chance to nominate another conservative or two. Barring another Miers or a Democratic takeover of the Senate in November, of course. That would be a very significant change.

but the statement that Bush is the best president of the century is undebatable.

This has to be a joke.
Bush is the only president to have been elected in this century.

It's interesting how the fact that one of your liberal senator's (Byrd) was a former KKK member, just to name a single example of many, is irrelevant, but the fact that maybe Bush had a DUI decades ago should disqualify him. The fact that Teddy Kenndey can run from the scene of an accident that killed a woman is ignored, but if a conservative so much as sneezes the wrong way, he should be executed for it. Clinton can have a long string of women in his harem, be disbarred by the Supreme Court for Purjury, lie to the face of the American people with his waving finger, and all that is washed over as having "nothing to do with his ability to govern." But it's ok to endlessly search Bush's National Guard records to dig up the dirt, to disqualify Clarence Thomas based on an unsubstantiated claim, and call Bush a dolt. Al Gore can forget that leopards have spots, but the slightest slip by Bush or anyone on the Conservative side is grounds for calling him a moron for the rest of his life. Clinton can sell nights in the Lincoln bedroom to his supporters, but a photo of Bush with Abramof is proof of his evil.

The liberal hypocracy is boundless...

Vanna said:
"As an American citizen my heart is broken today. I have seen the end of hope for our democracy to achieve the noble goals of our founding fathers."

Vanna are you okay? You have got ot be kidding me!
Is this what the founding fathers would want:
Gay Marriage?

Big Government?

Welfare?

Abortion?

Please!!!
Our nation was saved today. Saved from FOREIGN LAW.

Yes, wouldn't you say, then, that it is undebatable that he is the best president in the century. As our Ivy League grad has stated, it's a tautological statement about presidents in the 21st century.

The only people who think the end of our country has arrived because of Alito, are the ones who FEAR the democratic election process and KNOW their radical views can't pass legislatively, and therefore they NEED radical left wing judges to help get their ieas into law through extra-legislative means.

How sad.

Why are you afraid, and we're not?

JD,

Republicans don't hate America. Just the one you pathetic leftist losers would foist on us.

We need to step back from the name calling and the ideological spear throwing. We need to get back to the common good, the idea that my conservative neighbor might have a good idea and we should give it a try for a while, with the understanding that at some point we get to try our liberal idea too. the concept of a United states, is our greatest power, a little less name calling and spear chucking and a lot more cooperation is needed.

for instance:
abortion is legal, one is free to choose. the belief that it is something one should not do, can also be lived out side by side with the other view, each to their own personal choice. This is the essence of liberty. The idea that we should be limiting each other's freedom is where we err.

God should not be forced upon me, nor should it be restricted to you, I am free to live according to my personal beliefs, and so are you. In this way acceptance of the right of self determination lays a foundation for peaceful co-existance. If in a democratic nation over the period of 40 years society make abortion illegal, then those who would choose it, must accept that and discipline their powers of conception, or go elsewhere for the proceedure. We have to accept each other and work together or we are doomed.

Alito is a good man and the democrats fear him, not because of his answers to the senate committee, but because he will be a judge of honesty and integrity, something the democrats have a hard time embracing.

bush is a cool guy. Alito seems pretty down-to-earth.

Bush and the "crazy neo-facist, child-murdering, house burning, KKK supporting, crazy, far right wing" are not going to take anything over. We have a thing called Checks and balances in which the three branches make sure the other doesn't gain ultimate power. Do you seriously believe that republicans are conspiring to unify all three branches and turn america into a dictatorship? Do you really think that this great nation would allow that to happen? the answer is NO. Get a grip on things and settle down.

If you liberals want to gain some more votes then stop straying farther left; the republicans are gaining votes not because of rednecks who don't know anything, it is becuase they are becoming more moderate in their overall views. Since the Democrats are losing power, they like to complain and get on the offensive and say crazy stuff about Bush taking over the world. That isn't pursuading anyone to vote your way. The efforts of Kerry and Kennedy on the floor today are fine with me; in my personal opinion, it isn't helping much. I beleive that 20 or so democrats even voted against the filibuster attempt.

shz-why are we discussing the 2000 vote? in 2004, Bush fielded more than 3 million votes more than Kerry. Would you like to discuss that?

First of all, call a spade a spade. Constructionist = conservative. It means nothing more. Secondly, millions of americans are concerned about the personal rights and freedoms which founded our country. It's not about "being hung up about abortion rights." These rights are being stripped away by psychotic NEO-CONS who forgot to separate church and state. I'm all for spirituality, but RELIGION NEEDS TO GET IT'S STICKY FINGERS OUT OF OUR LAWS AND OUR SCHOOLS!! Our country has lost it's balance and fiscal conservatives are gone. OPEN YOUR EYES! It's not terrorists who have ruined this country! Our government is doing it for them! Open your eyes and see - you are losing all your rights, your jobs, your healthcare and your education!!

"I have to wonder how much money you - who hang out here demeaning Kennedy for his past alchohol abuse - get paid to spend your time composing put-downs. Why aren't you concerned that the President and Vice President both had DUIs before they were appointed to their current positions. In my opinion, no candidate who has ever demonstrated the bad judgement to drink and drive should be allowed to hold such high office. -Sue

Touche.

And what do make of George Bush's girlfriend getting an illegal abortion in Texas?

It seems that conservative rules apply to other people but not themselves.

"The liberal hypocracy is boundless..."

Hypocracy in American politics is non-partisan, it is equal opportunity.

"Open your eyes and see - you are losing all your rights, your jobs, your healthcare and your education!!" - Listen Up

Oh yes, I totally agree. I feel like I can't go anywhere without being oppressed by my government. Between taxes and the police, I don't know what to make of it. Plus, I lost my job this week. Do you know why? Because the government said so! It just came in and stripped me of my job and everything I own, just becuase it said so.

I also heard that Bush is proposing a bill to shut down education as we know it. All high schools and Colleges will be shut down and used as containment camps for all people who don't like the current administration.

I mean come on, where do you think up this kind of crap? The government isnt going to strip us of anything. think of how silly you sound! You don't even back it up with facts. If anything at all, government will keep expanding, as it has been since after the depression. And comparing Bush to a terrorist? When was the last time you feared for the well being of you and your family? He isn't terrorizing anything.

The last two democrat rants epitomize what is wrong with that politcal party. VIZ -- Yeah sure, darned religious people. (snicker) Who are they to try to get some values into an otherwise lameass society? What is this slander against the President Vice President? Where did you dig up those lies? All schools should be run by churches or synagogues.

"All schools should be run by churches or synagogues."

I'm a republican and I'll even disagree with that one. I don't believe in God. I will still recite the pledge of alliegance and use money with "in god we trust" on it becuase those kind of things are frivilous, but I don't want to be taught and have to listen to religious preachings every day. And since public schools are run by the government, it wouldn't be allowed anyways. People can attend religious-based schools on their own.

this is to smart:
Remember the words of TJ
"Those who expect to be ignorant and free, expect what never was and what never will be."
This country is in deep trouble.

This president and his Republican leadership will have a dismal record to run on by nearly every accounting. This president tries to sell Democracy to the world but when the curtain is pulled back we see incompetence (Iraq, Katrina, Medicare), torture (Iraq, Afganistan, Gitmo),spying on innocent citizens and scandals of every nature all pointing to one thing; abuse of power. And now a life time appointment who has established his career fighting for the power of government over the little guy and for the executive branch over all others. The American voter got what they asked for; a self-serving, bible thumping good-ole boy who got through life via a whole pile of white priviledge. (Are we suppose to not notice in those video shots on the Texas ranch show that he don't know the first thing about clearing brush- somebody get that chain-saw out of his hands- now that's a national security risk!) Fact is as the president said (and I paraphrase here) of the Palestians; with all the evidence of incompetence and corruption the people wanted change. What will wake the sleeping giant (the American voter)? Probably nothing as long as he's safe from the boogy-man!

So, Mike...where, exactly, do you go about reciting the pledge of allegiance anyway?

Again, with some precision, please, what's the basis of concern for your judgment that you "don't want to be taught and have to listen to religious preachings every day...?"

There is a generally agreed to separation of church and state...not God and state. BTW, there is no constitutional clause on so much as a separation of church and state.

You just might want to stay in school for a little while longer than planned.

It doesn't matter if you believe in God or not. It's your choice. That's what is so great about this country - freedom to choose and freedom to speak. It's important to separate church and state for many reasons. We can't be cramming religious idealogy down people's throats en masse. Everyone is free to worship God on their own or go to a school with a religious foundation. I have no problem with that. I just think public education should be without religion.
I can see that people are unable to draw the lines between Exxon = largest annual profit of any company in American history = and rising gas prices. The government is allowing these huge businesses to gouge the middle (and lower) class because nobody is willing or able to really stick up for them. Democrats make it sound like they're going to bat for the middle class but their votes are bought just as much as the Republicans. We need more than 2 partys.

Innocent Life

You state that "It seems that conservative rules apply to other people but not themselves"

Hello pot, allow me to introduce you to kettle. What part of liberal hypocrisy do you not get?

Teddy Kennedy killing a girl as part of a one-night stand and then defending Bill Clinton hammer and tong against charges of infidelity being consistent with public office?

Chuckie Schumer attacking the NSA's wiretapping while his own staffers under his direction as head of the DSRC were ILLEGALLY snooping and releasing personal information on MD LT. Gov. Steele?

Howard Dean saying anybody who got money from one of the tribes represented by Jack Abramoff was a criminal and then backtracking when it was pointed out that one of those criminals was Harry Reid?

Where do you want the mudslinging to start and where do you want it to stop? There is a place for bipartisanship but it will never occur so long as partisans like yourself claim the complete and total moral superiority of one party for no better reason than they support your ideas. I'd suggest your view of the world is very one-dimensional and naive in the realities of the situations.

America Sucks! Ask Any (Progressive) Democrat

January 30, 2006 - Democrats are convinced that Americans keep electing Republicans either because they are stupid, or because the DNC message just isn't reaching the electorate. How could their message not reach the electorate when the lamestream press covers their message daily on every front page?

Their message is out there, we hear it, we get it - it isn't that complicated. Even my second grader gets it. Today's DNC campaign platform can be summed up in two words... "AMERICA SUCKS!"

In short, nothing about America is right or good in the eyes of Democrats and their campaign message is, nothing short of a complete DNC victory can change that. This is their message... Everything sucks and only Democrats can fix it... We get it... We hear you loud and clear - like a broken record actually.

The war on terror SUCKS! Bush lied, people died, terrorists did nothing to us, we caused it all, we can't win, Islamic terrorists are "freedom fighters" and American soldiers are "Nazis". We hear you! We suck!

Our economy SUCKS! Matter of fact, capitalism and our free market system SUCKS! Capitalism only rewards those who earn, leaving those who don't behind and that SUCKS! We get it! Socialism is better - we hear you!

Western Medicine SUCKS! Doctors, pharmaceutical companies and hospitals - bad. Trial lawyers - good. We get it! We have the best medicine in the world but it is too damn expensive and that SUCKS! We understand! Socialized medicine - good!

American Intelligence SUCKS! No WMD, no Bin Laden, torture camps and "Gulags", NSA eavesdropping, no Geneva Convention for terrorists, no United Nations cooperation and so many leaks that information flows from our secret services like water through a kitchen colander. WE SUCK at intelligence! Got it!

Our Military SUCKS! They are a rag tag bunch of broken manipulated fools doing the dirty work of the Bush Empire. They are poorly trained, poorly outfitted, poorly led and poorly fed. Their spirit is broken, they can't fight their way out of a wet paper sack and only Democrats can fix everything that is wrong with the military, its leadership and its capacity to win wars. Hear ya loud and clear!

Freedom SUCKS! Freedom is the basis of self-determination and if every American was capable of self-determination, who would be a Democrat today? That SUCKS!

Free Speech SUCKS! If it concerns religion or any form of moral principle. All else is fine...

Life SUCKS! Life is often inconvenient, always unfair and sometimes downright tough. We get it, abortion - good, euthanasia - good, life - bad.

The Founders SUCK! The framers got it all wrong with their silly God given inalienable rights, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Huh! Just a bunch of wealthy landowners securing their own dynasty at the expense of the little guy. Marx and Lenin, now these fellows are some real progressive thinkers who cared about the little guy. We get it! Socialism - good...

Justice SUCKS! Come to think of it, the Constitution SUCKS! We need Supreme Court judges willing to re-write the Constitution since the framers got it all wrong. The framers left so much out that we need special kinds of justices who will write-in the missing parts. The written Constitution - bad, the imaginary Constitution - good. That's why Alito SUCKS!

Marriage SUCKS! So does the traditional family unit. Unisex - good, communal living - good, traditional family values - bad. Hard to miss this one!

Israel SUCKS! Hamas, Hezbollah, Mujahidin, Al Qaeda, all freedom fighters, not terrorists. Palestinians - good, Jews - bad! We hear you loud and clear!

Corporations SUCK! Driven by extreme greed, they plan and plot the destruction of average Americans; they rape and pillage our nation's resources. Modern day despots responsible for all things evil in the world. Labor unions - good, corporations - bad.

Face it, AMERICA SUCKS! This is the message that Howard Dean and other DNC leaders have been peddling for some years now. We have not missed their message. We couldn't miss it if we wanted to. It is pounded into the American psyche day in and day out, around the clock, news paper upon news paper, on every network news program in the country. Even Al Jazeera gets it, hell, even Bin Laden knows the DNC squawking points inside out.

Democrats aren't out of power because we missed their message. They are out of power because we are sick and tired of hearing their message.

Two days ago, CNN/Gallup announced the results of their current nationwide survey, in which only 16% of voters strongly support a Hillary Presidential run in 2008. THAT SUCKS since Hillary is by far the clear front-runner in the DNC camp. 51% say there is no way they would ever vote for a Hillary Presidential bid. No shocking headline to most Americans, but it SUCKS!

Democrats continue to misread the public on a range of matters, but none more than the public disdain for Democrat's anti-American message. Contrary to the assessments of Democratic campaign strategists, their problem isn't that their message isn't resonating. It's that it is resonating, negatively! American's have heard their message, loud and clear, like a broken record... They just don't buy it!

People who believe AMERICA SUCKS will vote for any Democrat that runs for any office today. But nobody else will and most Americans don't believe that our country or our founding principles SUCK!

Republicans are poised to win even more power in the coming elections and all they have to do is hand a microphone to the Democrats, sit back and enjoy the show. It's Democrats who don't get it and until they figure it out, they will continue to repeat their mistakes over and over, getting the same results every time.

According to most Americans, DEMOCRATS SUCK!

----------------------

JB Williams is a business man, a husband, a father, and a writer. A no nonsense commentator on American politics, American history, and American philosophy. A hard hitting columnist, attacking the socialist cancer plaguing America today. He has a pragmatic "common Joe" approach to even the toughest issues facing our nation...

It is often interesting to me that posters like JB Williams want to tell everyone what Democrats supposedly think and believe.

The Williams position is apparently that if you repeat the lie often enough, it wil somehow become the truth. Where could Williams have learned that? Hmmmm?

Gov Tarkin: "This bickering is pointless, Vader release him!" Star Wars (1977)

the slippery slope arguments from the chicken littles are amazing and like every time before the political emotions will fade and cooler heads will prevail, you'll exchange the one-way ticket to Canada for a nice 1 or 2 week vacation spot for the n-th time (like most of the returning baseball fans who swore never to go to another game again when the World Series was cancelled oh wait I mean since the steroid headlines). You'll drop the idea of telling every immigrant they'll enjoy greater political freedoms in China. Because most of us will realize, it is not perfect, but this is home.

and you'll find a way to forgive the arrogant ones who jeer "WE WON! YOU LOST!"

Cheer up, have you forgotten the so called "conservative" appointees of previous republican presidents who turned out to be moderate? where's your hope? you make it all sound so absolute, when in the beauty of the legal world joke, "IT ALL DEPENDS!" :)

it is hard to buy the argument Alito is going to take this country in the wrong direction based on three hand picked cases selected by blatantly obvious people against his nomination. let ye among you who have reviewed all the cases cast the first stone. it seemed to me this had little to do with Alito as a judge and more to do with political posturing for 2006, a game of mud slinging and spinning half truths from both sides that happens sadly with almost every election and now with judicial appointments.

it doesn't surprise me democratic special interest groups have lobbied hard to basically tell their Democratic senators they must Filibuster with the "you're either with us or against us" tactics. And you'll find examples of similar tactics amongst republicans too.

But I have to agree, with some of the other comments, whatever subset of Democrats that are calling people "stupid", how many votes did this help you gain?

whatever subset that spends time pointing out their message isn't heard, maybe spend less time on the blame game and work harder to find out what centrist America wants.

tired of being viewed as Abortion any time all the time, then write the right partial birth amendment, write the proper parental notification. Provide programs and avenues for women to be proud of choosing to be a mom. What are we doing to help promote a better balance of family, raising kids and working?

want a better environment, how much are we willing to spend on mass transit? on cleaner fuels? on telling everyone to recycle their cars this year and buy a new less polluting 50 miles per gallon vehicle, or get your bike, the bus or carpool? and demand every house include solar panels?

really care about the poor? what are we doing to make healthy organic food accessible and affordable? how far will someone's food stamps/WIC coupons go at Whole Foods?

go on enjoy the ranting, bickering, equivalent to being a child in the back seat of the Oldsmobile with your sibling yelling "he/she's looking out my window!" looking for vindication by pointing out the faults of the other side.

while I take a moment to thank those who truly are doing something to make the world a better place without the need of a spotlight or a blog post who just so happen to also be an atheist or religious, democrat or republican, or better yet just simply a decent person.

Reality Check: I go about reciting the pledge of allegiance in my public high school. One day we even had the people on the daily TV announcements, who lead us in the pledge, skip the "Under God" portion because a local man here in Northern California is creating a lawsuit regarding the matter, and also the matter of "in god we trust" on our money.

I am not a religious person. You seem to think that the ideas of God and religion are seperate, correct me if I am wrong. I know it is all about the fact that we are not allowed to offend people and saying God is politically incorrect to an atheist. I just think there is a big difference between having the word God here and there and letting Churches hijack public schools. My basic concerns regarding the statement that I "don't want to be taught and have to listen to religious preachings every day" is the simple fact that if churches ran schools that is what would happen.

here's a Reality check: I'm in high school and I guess it makes you feel cool because you arent, so you can call me on it. Way to go. That's right up there with criticizing children's artwork.

In response to ronin's post, repeated for your perusal:
"...I can't listen to Kerry - he's too boring. Bush is engaging, because he speaks to the people in language they can understand. And while I have two advanced degrees myself (organic chemistry and law), I don't think I'm smarter than Bush. The rest of you libs out there that do, I hope you have credentials to back it up. However, I suspect you don't."

I am very conservative, but find your post disingenuous. Bush has very little curiosity nor native intelligence, which is obvious to anyone who knows him, especially his mother.

He also does not believe in our Constitution and Bill of Rights, which he swore on a Bible to defend and uphold.

I think your law degree shows that you were not paying attention in your Constitutional Law course.

Alito too, has monarchical leanings. He was a poor choice. I was disgusted by some of his court opinions.

God help us.

I'm not a republican nor am I a democrat. I think both sides have lost their way and need a lot of shaking up. We need to throw some more parties in the mix. I'm not only bored with the dem/repub whining and fighting, it's getting in the way of actually improving our country. So, Rookie, tell me why the Republicans (who are almost completely in power) aren't really doing anything to help the environment, bring affordable healthcare to our citizens or develop an excellent educational system with the ability to raise our children into well rounded adults and productive members of society? The current administration could do pretty much anything it wants at this point, but very little is acually being done to improve our quality of life (with the exception of the upper class). Not only is nothing being done, but the Bush administration is actually attempting to silence NASA's top climate expert. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/29/science/earth/29climate.html?th&emc=th

By the way, JB, you're missing the point. I can speak for many liberal, progressive, intelligent, caring, hard working, law abiding citizens and families when I say I (and we) LOVE America. I was born here, it's my home and I want it back! I want everyone to have an opportunity at education - not just rich white kids and NOT the B.S. no child left behind act. This country has an annual GDP of 13 Trillion! We are number one - so why aren't our schools number one? Why in God's name aren't we leading the world with an excellent educational system for our children, our citizens and ultimately for us? Why are people breaking themselves in half, working multiple jobs for a minimum wage that is so far behind inflation and rising cost of living that we have more poverty in this country than ever? Why can't Americans afford rising healthcare and prescription costs? We have enough money to make great improvements to our country, we just don't have the leadership anymore. All we have is puppets and impostors on both sides - Repubs and Dems.

Conservatives: Don't be afraid to question your leader! Don't be a pawn and a follower! Lead! If you have an opinion, just say it. But don't be afraid to listen to other view points and confront the real issues. I have listened to conservatives for many years now and all I seem to hear is blind committment to every so-called 'conservative' action and that they won't address the issues, only dodge them by saying the "Democrats are bad too!" That's not enough. We know they're bad too. We need to address the issues and hold everyone accountable for their mistakes and misdeeds! It takes all of us to work this country into shape and have it serve the interest of the people - not just global profit and the war machine. So am I correct? Are right wingers afraid to address the connection between Exxon achieving record earnings of any American company ever and the rising cost of gasoline? Any takers? What about 30,000 ex-Ford employees? Anyone?

"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary right to overthrow it."
- President Abraham Lincoln

"Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President."
- President Theodore Roosevelt

Thank you LISTEN UP!

Please run for off