Judge Alito

At this writing the confirmation hearings of Judge Samuel Alito before the Senate Judiciary Committee have concluded, and the Committee vote is scheduled for next week. Most people believe that all the Republicans will vote in favor and most or all the Democrats will vote against confirmation, but the Democrats do not seem to have enough enthusiasm or votes to sustain a filibuster to prevent confirmation.
The Republicans have managed to contain their glee. Judge Alito appears to be a conservative thinker, bright, articulate, and in every way qualified to be a judge.

The Democrats know they are opposed, but are having difficulty articulating their reasons. Senator Kennedy says unequivocally "...the record’s clear that the average person has a hard time getting a fair shake in Judge Alito’s courtroom". Kennedy’s statement is certainly untrue, a good example of the Big Lie for political effect, and some commentators have commented that his questioning of Judge Alito’s 1980’s membership in a conservative college alumni group was reminiscent of Senator Joseph McCarthy’s attack on Fred Fischer in the Army McCarthy hearings which ultimately brought his disgrace. For the television it appears that Kennedy’s style, reducing Mrs. Alito to tears has done the nominee a favor. Kennedy’s position is the pure politics. He really did not care about Alito’s "qualifications", he will vote against whomever President Bush nominates.

Senator Feinstein has taken a different position. She says that she does not see a likelihood of a filibuster, which is a concession that the nomination will pass. She says, "This might be a man I disagree with, but it doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be on the court". That is a traditional conservative stance, that the standard is whether the judge is qualified and not a litmus test of a political stance. However, Senator Feinstein then goes on to say that she will vote against Alito, based on his conservative record. Senator Feinstein apparently has two thresholds. In the first instance, like Kennedy, she votes against conservative judges based on their beliefs, but will not support a filibuster to make her opposition effective. At some other and unknown level she would support a filibuster.

I am concerned that Judge Alito is merely competent. He has spent his entire professional career working for the government as have too many of the Justices, and there is little in his record of creativity or originality. Competence may be the threshold to avoid a filibuster, but we will need to see whether we could have done better.

I am also concerned that any Justice on the bench cannot forget the malignant attacks of the interest groups during the confirmation process. The abortion lobby has been relentless, probably defamatory, and certainly misleading in these proceedings. Senator Kennedy has been a mean caricature. What effect does that have on a Justice after confirmation? Is there any doubt that the Clarence Thomas confirmation process taught Justice Thomas to say nothing, ever? And will not Thomas and Alito, having suffered and their familes suffered at the hands of Democratic posturing and abortion lobby defamation have an affected view of their issues?

Pseudonyms

Pseudonyms have a long and glorious tradition. With some notable exceptions it seems that a practice good enough for both Jefferson and Hamilton and many in-between should be good enough for most of us.
The blogs are full of pseudonyms and debate on their propriety. One Asian-American website has some pseudonyms and some critique of them, apparently concerned about racial pollution of the web site.

I like mine for several reasons: Fun – it’s word play I’ve been saving for a few decades; Fear – the Islamofascists have silenced people around the globe, and it may happen here, sooner or later; Folly – it hides stupidity.

On the other hand, maybe if we needed our names and phone numbers we’d be more careful what we say.

Why Bother?

There really is nothing new under the sun. One thing certainly not new is the time spent wondering "Why bother?", some of those days when we read the newspaper, feel the weight of the world on our shoulders and wonder what to do, what we should do, or what we can do. Our experience is that we are more inclined to shrug it off, to put up with troubles which are minor or maybe far away. Sometimes it feels admirable or just easier to suffer in silence until an event affects us personally or a long series of events moves us. Then, while there is a time to keep silent, there is also a time to speak, when it is our right or our duty to cast our bread upon the waters and see what comes back.

I used to think that the General Theory of Relativity meant that everyone’s relatives were crazy. Now I have found a common thread in Ecclesiastes, Hamlet, Jefferson, and Ayn Rand, combined in 5 sentences,

The Cyber House Rules

Ben would be proud of me. I thought of a double entendre which Matt Groening thought of before - Futurama

These are for me – I need to look at them before fouling the nest.

1. Brevity is the soul of wit.

2. Skepticism is warranted, no, demanded of a contrarian. Cynicism, however is inappropriate. Finding the line is the trick.

3. Stick to the knitting.

4. When "frequently in error but never in doubt", make changes

5. Don’t be self-conscious.

6. Make new rules as necessary.

I would like to give some thought to the nature of rules. Sometimes they are useful lenses to focus and sometimes they are harmful self-constraints. I’m not certain how to tell the difference.

I had a motorcycle and wrote down some riding rules (no riding at night, wear protective gear etc.). One of the rules was to get rid of it after one fall. I fell, separated a shoulder, followed the rule and sold the bike. I miss the bike, but I think that having the rule and following it was useful not constraining. It prevented me from making excuses that it was safe.

New Year's Resolution

If I'd gotten up early enough or stayed up late enough I could have been the first American to make a blog on January 1, 2006. As it is, I will be somewhere in the middle of the day. Which is probably not a bad place to be. I wouldn't want to be a person who pushes the blog button at either 12:01 or 11:59. Maybe that says it all. Which is probably not a bad place to be.