Alito Open Thread

By chi_nick
January 11th, 2006 @ 12:04 PM Politics

alito05.jpg

I’m interested in your reactions to hearings. Have you watched any of the hearings? If so, what do you think? If not, how are you following the hearings?

This is an open thread- holla.

12 Comments so far

  1. Marty (unregistered) on January 11th, 2006 @ 12:31 pm

    I listen, in my car, to NPRs coverage. Nina Totenberg. I get 0 radio reception in my building, and my access to the internet is severely limited.


  2. tankboy (unregistered) on January 11th, 2006 @ 12:33 pm

    That Alito’s a slippery little guy. Props to our own D Durbin though for some excellent questioning this morning. Also, I dug the parliamentary procedure attempted by Kennedy and the little fraces he got into today.


  3. Ben (unregistered) on January 11th, 2006 @ 12:46 pm

    I think all we’ve learned so far is how absurd some senators are and how much they enjoy listening to themselves talk.


  4. Dave! (unregistered) on January 11th, 2006 @ 12:49 pm

    I listen to WBEZ on-line while I’m at work…

    I will also second Tankboy, Durbin doesn’t usually impress me, but he was well organized and very effective in his round of questioning this morning.

    Kennedy didn’t impress me… to most people listening (I think) the parliamentary move just sounded like sour grapes, and Specter came off sounding much more level headed and reasonable.

    Alito has been doing a pretty good soft-shoe up there–because none of the democrats have really been effective enough with their questioning to make him tap.


  5. nikkos (unregistered) on January 11th, 2006 @ 12:52 pm

    Just an FYI to those salving away for the man during the hearing- CSPAN re-broadcasts the day’s events starting at 7 PM each night. The broadcast goes til 3 AM however- another insomnia cure perhaps?


  6. Marty (unregistered) on January 11th, 2006 @ 12:59 pm

    Ben: While we may disagree on the senators in question, I definitely agree with you.

    AS per the parliamentary move, I thought Spector–a Republican Senator that I do respect–lost it towards the end of the motion. Still, teddy wasn’t restrained either.

    Nikkos: That wouldn’t cure my insomnia. I’d get flustered and start yelling at the TV. I may get mad enough to change my plans (Law school before SSA). That wouldn’t be good either.


  7. nikkos (unregistered) on January 11th, 2006 @ 1:03 pm

    Ben, as a public service, would you consider debating Marty at odd times of the night?

    He needs the sleep.


  8. Jason (unregistered) on January 11th, 2006 @ 3:21 pm

    I think Alito is doing a remarkably good job. His sort of simpering, educated tone serves his evasions particularly well. He also seems to be consistently distancing himself from the actual neo-cons, a motion I support, although it did seem to piss of Orin Hatch.

    Then again, I can’t remember the last time I heard Orin hatch, NOT pissed off.

    Moreover, Alito is either not as bad as many of my peers would suggest, or he is an excellent liar.


  9. Ben (unregistered) on January 11th, 2006 @ 3:27 pm

    Dare I ask…what is it that Alito is lying about?


  10. Ben (unregistered) on January 11th, 2006 @ 4:22 pm

    FROM NRO
    “One reason Leahy, Kennedy, and Biden couldn’t get much done was that they would not stop talking. Late in the day, staffers released an analysis of how much time each senator had spent talking during his chance to question Alito. Each senator got 30 minutes for questions. Leahy, the chart showed, spent a little more than 18 minutes talking. Kennedy spent nearly 24 minutes talking. And Biden also spoke for about 24 minutes. Which meant that Alito himself spoke for just 11 minutes during Leahy’s questioning, nine minutes during Kennedy’s (which was extended slightly because of a question over the timer), and just six minutes during Biden’s.

    Republicans also spent lots of time talking; Ohio’s Mike DeWine, for example, went on for more than 22 minutes. But they were trying to get Alito safely through the hearings, so each minute they spent talking meant one less chance for Alito to make a mistake. For Democrats, however, the gabbing made no sense at all.”


  11. Ben (unregistered) on January 12th, 2006 @ 8:39 am

    From Drudge:
    Conservative activists are eager to point out that Sen Ted Kennedy was on shaky ground accusing the Judge Alito of associating with people opposed to the inclusion of women in private institutions, the WASHINGTON TIMES is fronting on Thursday.

    The eight-term senator belonged to an all-male social club — the Owl — at Harvard University. The Owl refused to admit women until it was forced to do so during the 1980s, according to records kept by the HARVARD CRIMSON, the student newspaper.

    A Kennedy spokeswoman said it was an entirely different matter.

    “No one can question Senator Kennedy’s commitment to equality, justice and civil rights,” said Laura Capps. “What he was part of was a social club, not a radical group pushing a radical agenda.”

    Anyway, she said, even though women were admitted to the university during Mr. Kennedy’s tenure, they weren’t fully integrated to the campus until much later.


  12. Ben (unregistered) on January 18th, 2006 @ 9:14 am

    The swimmer and hero at Chappaquiddick, Ted Kennedy, has now severed his ties with the former Harvard college club that bans women.

    Now, if only the voters of Massachusetts could sever their ties with Kennedy.

    Isn’t nepotism grand?



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