Too Late for the Court

Although I'd hoped to have made this post several weeks ago, it is nonetheless fitting that I'm posting this now: well after the Alito confirmation hearings and public debate. Yes, this posting is too late to inform the debate; but similarly, the entire public debate occurred far too late to make any difference in the makeup of the Court.

The fate of the Supreme Court was sealed when we elected our President in 2000 and 2004. The President picks the justices; and we selected a socially conservative executive who openly opposes a woman's right to choose.

After the fact of the 2004 election results, it was both futile and divisive to fight the nomination of a Supreme Court candidate who was clearly qualified for the job. Certainly, the confirmation process was useful and necessary to guarantee Justice Alito's credentials. However, all the attempts by democrats to get Alito to admit he'd overturn Roe or eliminate all controls on presidential power were doomed to failure from the start. Even had they succeeded in rattling Justice Alito into a public-relations mistake, the next candidate would have been just as conservative.

Even though I'm appalled that we have a court becoming more and more conservative, I believe we must respect the process. Within the rules it was fine to try to find any reasonable reason to keep Alito off the court. Once those arguments were exhausted, the Senate should have voted on his qualifications and ability to fairly evaluate cases, not on his likelihood to overturn Roe. Had there been a Democrat in the White House, we less conservative citizens would have demanded as much for any candidate.

I believe that the majority of American's would not support (what I believe will be) Alito's stance on social, right-to-life and executive-powers issues. If you are upset about the Court's possible overturn of Roe, but you voted for Bush in 2004, then shame on you for not realizing the implications of your vote. The makeup of the Court was the largest (albeit rarely-discussed) issue of the 2004 election.

But that ship has sailed.