Topics at the Hearings

Watching parts (I work, therefore could not watch all of the hearings) of Samuel Alito's confirmation hearings, I ended with a very great admiration for him as a human being, and as a US Supreme Court Justice nominee.

I was and still am furious about the personalization of this hearing. And it isn't JUST this hearing, but many others.

My respect for the US Senate decreases all the time. No, change that. It is my respect for many of the people who are serving in the US Senate that is decreasing.

Character assassination does not stop with these hearings, as many of the items brought up during this 'hearing' that had nothing to do with the person Samuel Alito will remain around for years to come. And it is beneath the dignity of the office that we elect our offiicials to serve in.

When someone with as many skeletons in his past as Kennedy has the audacity to impugn another's integrity on camera in the way that Kennedy did the other day, it speaks volumes.

When a committee of men who are charged with either approving or disapproving a nominee have to stoop to trying to get that nominee to make a judgement on any case he may hear in the future so that WHEN the cases related to that judgement does come before him, he must then recuse himself, it is reprehensible. (Abortion and related topics).

When that same committee uses the hearings to attempt to get the nominee to say that the President has committed a crime (or anyone else), when there is no charges made, when there has been only innuendo and a questionable 'leak' about a possible wrong-doing, (and that LEAK is possibly treasonous), it is reprehensible.

Yes, reprehensible.

And if this list of questions is accurate, it is even more than reprehensible:

He also provided a breakdown by subject area of the 546 questions asked of Alito as of yesterday. Here's the list:

Concerned Alumni of Princeton: 49
Vanguard/Ethics: 49
Abortion: 101
Commerce Clause, Federalism, Congressional Power: 42
Executive Power: 94
National Security/Wiretapping: 20
Criminal Procedure/4th Amendment: 11
Religion: 16
Habeas/Death Penalty: 15
Race: 23
Reapportionment: 6
Gener: 7
Judicial Philosophy/Role of Courts: 71
Disability: 6
Plaintiffs' and Consumers' Rights: 8
Other: 28


I was able to hear the KINDS of questions regarding the Vanguard/Ethics, and Concerned Alumni of Princeton as well as many of the others. These two topics alone had more personal attacks than the others that I was able to hear.

It is time that the US Senate begins to police itself and puts PRINCIPLES above personalities into their policies. To continue to try to destroy the hard built reputations of good and qualified people is wrong, and it serves no purpose whatsoever, especially when many of those involved have no room to talk.

What makes it even more disgusting is that at least one of those same Senators long ago said something totally different about this same Judge, and most of the questions he now asked had nothing much to do with the judicial history of the past fifteen years....