This is Life!: Revolutions Around the Cruciform Axis

More Alito Hearings Stuff

It's 4:47 and the hearings are in recess for another few minutes.

It's being reported that the Dem attack has brought Martha Alito to tears. Nice job, guys. Makes ya'll look real good. Keep it up.

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It's 4:23 though and now Sen Cornyn is showing how responsive Alito is being vis a vis Ginsburg. (Who counts these things?!! But then again, given these hearings, who wouldn't?!)

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It's 4:20 and Sen Cornyn is bringing up the erstwhile Dem witness about CAP, the nutjub Dujak. This might bite them. The GOP has dropped a witness for Alito who would have questioned his bona fides on advancing women's rights.

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It's 4:15 and Schumer is addressing--can you guess it?--CAP. He's nearly shouting so it must be an important issue.

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It's 4:13 and Sen Schumer is doing his darnedest to read every possible extreme position into a statement of 20 years ago (Alito, as a government prosecutor, presented the government's case that the constitution doesn't protect a woman's right to an abortion), but is only "succeeding" in his attempts by interrupting Alito before he can address the question. This won't stick.

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It's 4:05 and Sen Schumer gave the Lie of the Day®: "It doesn't matter which way you answer the question, just so you answer the question."

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It's 3:59 and Sen Schumer is beginning his nails-on-the-blackboard questioning.

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It's 3:48 and Sen Lindsey Graham is defending Delay against Abramoff charges. Oh, wait a minute, no he's attempting to help Judge Alito. Oh, I don't know. Which is it?

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It's 3:33 and hold on there! Sen Feingold just invoked the leftward drift of SCOTUS justices on capital punishment issues. Take that, right wing base! (I'm sure the phones of the rightward senators are ringing now. Yawn.)

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It's 3:30 and Sen Feingold is belaboring Alito's rulings on capital cases. Move along, nothing going on here.

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It's 2:46 and Sen Sessions is citing statics about Alito's rulings to rebut Dem criticisms that he's a xenophobe and ideological bigoted racist.

My question is: Does Judge Alito feel that this legal inquisition is tantamount to a proctological exam?

He'll soon be singing, "Moon River!" "You using the whole fist, doc?"

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It's 2:41 and Di Fi is boring me (and by his facial expressions, Alito, too). So here's a bit from the Q&A with Rusher (him whose papers were in question earlier today).

Lopez: What was Concerned Alumni of Princeton?

Rusher: CAP was exactly what its name implied: a group of alumni who were concerned over various liberal tendencies that had developed in the Princeton administration in recent years. Shelby Cullom Davis, the former ambassador to Switzerland, gave us the money that enabled us to send mailings to the alumni, etc. Naturally, the University administration wasn't happy about our existence.

Lopez: Was it racist and or sexist? Anti-gay? Ted Kennedy read a pretty bad-sounding quote from its publication today.

Rusher: CAP was none of the things Senator Kennedy is smearing it as being: anti-black, etc. Since Alito apparently had next to no involvement with CAP, Kennedy is trying to give CAP the worst possible reputation, in the hope that some of that will rub off on Judge Alito.

Lopez: Do you for any reason regret your involvement with the group?

Rusher: My only regret is that CAP didn't have a bigger effect on Princeton.

Lopez: As you know, Ted Kennedy has an interest in your papers about CAP. What might they reveal?

Rusher: I haven't seen those files in 30 years, but I am sure there is nothing discreditable in them. Of course, Senator Kennedy can always hope.

Lopez: Do you know Samuel Alito? Do you remember him involved in CAP?

Rusher: I have no recollection of Samuel Alito at all. He certainly was not very heavily involved in CAP, if at all.

Lopez: Are you surprised that CAP has become such an issue in Alito's hearings?

Rusher:I am surprised that Judge Alito's opponents are so desperate.

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It's 2:26 and Sen Feinstein is starting off with abortion. Will she follow up with CAP and Vanguard? Will she bring up his "utter disregard" for the little people?

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It's 2:03 and Sen Kennedy just scampered off with his tail between his legs and barking impotently. Triple ouch!

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It's 1:59 and Sen Specter mentions his staffer got approval from Rusher to review the records. And minions are now looking over the records. Double ouch!

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It's 1:58 and Sen Specter is referring to the NYT article on Rusher records Sen Kennedy wants to see. Ouch!

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It's 1:56 and Sen Specter is revisiting his p***ing match with Sen Kennedy. Oooh boy, let's hope this gets fun!

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It's 1:39 and Kathryn Lopez notes that access by Sen Specter's staff to the Rusher papers have been granted. Those crickets chirping are Sen Kennedy's legal minions awaiting word to submit subpoenas.

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It's 1:19 and I'm disappointed that Biden didn't bring up Vanguard.

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It's 1:14 and Biden has moved on to CAP. Is a hat trick waiting for Mr. Healy? (If there isn't one for me, Biden sure pulled out his own "hat trick" by donning a Princeton baseball cap. [Get it? Get it?] Yep. That'll be effective.)

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It's 1:09 and Biden has moved on to FMLA. Are CAP and Vanguard in the wings?

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It is 1:00 and Sen Biden wants to revisit (you guessed it): abortion (and one suspects CAP and Vanguard). Let's watch closely to see if I'm right.

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It's 12:39 and hold on there a minnit! Ed Whelan at NRO's Bench Memos indicates that the papers Sen Kennedy wants subpoenaed have, in fact, been released And Kathryn Lopez writes:

David Kirkpatrick wrote about them in November in the NYTimes (November 27, 2005, "From Alito's Past, a Window On Conservatives at Princeton") and concluded: "Those records and others at Mudd Library at Princeton give no indication that Judge Alito, who sits on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, was among the group's major donors. He was not an active leader of the group, and two of his classmates who were involved and Mr. Rusher said they did not remember his playing a role."

(So, too, Rich Lowry here.)
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It's 11:47 and I read over at NRO's The Corner, that John Podhoretz thinks this CAP subpoena is going to be the "slender reed" on which Dems will base a filibuster.

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It's 11:41 and did you just see the little tiff between Sen Kennedy and Sen Specter on subpoena-ing CAP records from the Library of Congress, with requests and threats of continued voting on the request! Whee! Wasn't that fun?!

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It's 11:29 and Sen Kennedy is trying to implicate Judge Alito with the horrid comments of articles he did not write in an organization in which he took no active part. Good show, senator.

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It's 11:24 and this is just breaking: Sen Kennedy is moving quickly on to the pressing issue of CAP at Princeton. Is that horse deader now?

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It's 11:19 and Sen Kennedy is addressing one of the triumvirate of Dem attacking points (abortion, CAP at Princeton, and, here, Vanguard). Apparently the Dems figure the flogging of a dead horse is extremely effective.

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It's 11:16, and did anyone else catch the irony of Sen Hatch claiming Judge Alito is not a "robotic patsy" to the federal government and Alito answering--to a U.S. senator--"No, sir, I am not"?

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It's 11:08 and if I didn't know Sen Hatch was a Mormon, I'd swear he's making a pitch to take on Alito as his own personal cabana boy. "Yer a darn good, upstanding person, Judge Alito! Isn't that right?" "Thet's right, seenatore! Shall I now rub thee suntan oil on you now?"

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It's 10:59 and Sen Hatch is using the statistics in the Bench Memo post immediately below to give it to the Dems on the Committee about how forthcoming Alito is.

Oh, the power of the new media!

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It's 10:00 and NRO's Bench Memos has a breakdown of the percentage of questions answered throughout their confirmation hearings by Justices John Roberts and Ruth Bader Ginsburg over against that of the first day of confirmation hearings for Judge Alito. Alito comes out as extremely forthcoming.

Judge Samuel A. Alito Answered A Higher Percentage (95%) Of Questions On His Opening Day Of Questioning Than Justices John Roberts (89%) Or Ruth Bader Ginsburg (79%) Did During Their Full Confirmation Hearings.

Judge Samuel A. Alito Breakdown:

On The First Day Of Questioning, Judge Samuel A. Alito Was Asked At Least 346 Questions By Members Of The Judiciary Committee. (Transcript Of Hearings On The Nomination Of Judge Samuel Alito, Committee On The Judiciary, U.S. Senate, Hearing, 1/10/06)

* Of Those 346 Questions, Judge Alito Answered At Least 328 Of Those Questions (95%). (Transcript Of Hearings On The Nomination Of Judge Samuel Alito, Committee On The Judiciary, U.S. Senate, Hearing, 1/10/06)

* Of Those 346 Questions, Judge Alito Declined To Answer Only 18 Of Those Questions (5%). (Transcript Of Hearings On The Nomination Of Judge Samuel Alito, Committee On The Judiciary, U.S. Senate, Hearing, 1/10/06)

Judge John Roberts Breakdown:

Throughout His Supreme Court Nomination Hearings, Judge John G. Roberts Was Asked At Least 574 Questions By Members Of The Judiciary Committee. (Transcript Of Fourth Day Of Hearings On The Nomination Of Judge John Roberts, Committee On The Judiciary, U.S. Senate, Hearing, 9/15/05)

* Of Those 574 Questions, Judge Roberts Only Answered 510 Of Those Questions (89%). (Transcript Of Fourth Day Of Hearings On The Nomination Of Judge John Roberts, Committee On The Judiciary, U.S. Senate, Hearing, 9/15/05)

* Of Those 574 Questions, Judge Roberts Declined To Answer 64 Of Those Questions (11%). (Transcript Of Fourth Day Of Hearings On The Nomination Of Judge John Roberts, Committee On The Judiciary, U.S. Senate, Hearing, 9/15/05)

Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg Breakdown:

Throughout Her Supreme Court Nomination Hearings, Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg Was Asked At Least 275 Questions By Members Of The Judiciary Committee. (Transcript Of Hearings On The Nomination Of Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Committee On The Judiciary, U.S. Senate, Hearing, 7/20/93 – 7/22/93)

* Of Those 275 Questions, Judge Ginsburg Only Answered 216 Of Those Questions (79%). (Transcript Of Hearings On The Nomination Of Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Committee On The Judiciary, U.S. Senate, Hearing, 7/20/93 – 7/22/93)

* Of Those 275 Questions, Judge Ginsburg Declined To Answer 59 Of Those Questions (21%). (Transcript Of Hearings On The Nomination Of Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Committee On The Judiciary, U.S. Senate, Hearing, 7/20/93 – 7/22/93)

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It's 9:31 and if you remember, yesterday I gave Sen Biden the "gasbag of the day" award. Turns out, I was right.

Over at Ankle Biting Pundits, they've done a statistical analysis (based on word count) of how senators are in love with their own voices:

So here they are side by side, Senators percentage first, followed by Alito's percentage (w/ actual numbers of words used by the individual Senator and Judge Alito during the Q & A in parentheses)

Democrats

"Rosary Joe" Biden 78-22% (DE) (3,673 - 1,013) (a 1,879 word, and 13 minute opening "question")
Chuck Schumer (NY) 75-25% (3,555-1,165)
Ted Kennedy (MA) 69-31% (3,439-1,539)
Pat Leahy (VT) 60-40% (2,714-1,874)
Russ Feingold (WI) 56-44% (2,976-2,364)
Diane Feinstein (CA) 42-58% (1,912-2,593)
Herb Kohl (WI) 37-63% (1,835-3,094)

Republicans

Mike DeWine (OH) 72-28% (3,398-1,323) (Corrected from 82%-18%)
Lindsey Graham (SC) 65-35% (3,032-1,643)
Jeff Sessions (AL) 61-39% (2,827-1,773)
John Cornyn (TX) 56-44% (3,407-1,900)
Jon Kyl (AZ) 53-47% (2,594-2,255)
Orrin Hatch (UT) 54-46% (2,686-2,242)
Chuck Grassley (IA) 51-49% (2,305-2,183)
Arlen Specter (PA) 50-50% (2,232-2,194)

Posted by Clifton at January 11, 2006 02:03 PM | TrackBack