Laura and I found one rational DU commenter (nickname: rayofreason). A sample:

AngryAmish (1000+ posts) Mon Oct-31-05 09:24 AM
Response to Original message
54. Destroy him, destroy his family now
We must take him down through whatever means.

rayofreason (265 posts) Mon Oct-31-05 09:52 AM
Response to Reply #54
66. Brilliant strategy!!!!!
Please disseminate this approach as widely as possible. I am sure it will garner widespread support, especially from moderates.

While we are at it, perhaps in addition to destroying his family, we should destroy his friends and their families as well!!! How about the friends of his children? Right - that's the ticket. Leave no survivors. That will show those bastards who are the true advocates of tolerance.

Of course, with that bunch, there's no guarantee they'll see rayofreason's post as sarcasm.

My confidence in Bush competency was shaken with the last nomination mess. I am only supporting Bush ‘cause of his thankfully firm stance in the terror war (especially the Iraqi front) and the Dem’s complete lack of coherence or believability in that regard. While I am not thrilled with any conservative judge (‘cause I am liberal on most social issues), as long as s/he is competent, I have no practical problem with any conservative judge Bush gets to pick. He won and he gets to pick as per the rules of the game.

If the Dem’s attempt to filibuster this one ‘cause he is conservative, my opinion of them will drop further…if possible. I would support the dropping of the 'nuke' if need be.

After all, was not the liberal Ruth Ginsberg approved by most of the conservative senators even though they opposed her views since she was a qualified justice?

This&That

Judge Alito has my vote based on his long history of
faithfully interpreting the constitution in a way that
does not legislate from the bench.
And also his daughter is DAMN FINE!!!!!!!

You forgot about burning down his house and salting the earth around it, Megan. Let's not get sloppy, here.

First: Megan! Good to hear from you! I have missed your sultry-yet-sweet vulgarity here.

Second: I would still have preferred Luttig, but Alito strikes me as a very good choice. It just proves the maxim that George W. Bush usually does the right thing...eventually.

I agree with Laura that there are lots of Lefties walking around today with loosened bowels. Alito seems to be the kind of conservative I've been hoping for: a judicial conservative and not (necessarily) a political one. The Dems aren't going to find much to harp on about this guy (which is not to say they won't try), but I don't think a filibuster is in the offing -- if the Donks try it, they're going to get nuked. There just isn't anything "exceptional" about this candidate to provoke a filibuster.

My prediction: Alito passes with more than 60 votes, and the Dems show a sliver of sanity and don't filibuster. Kennedy et. al. will gas up the Senate with their bloviating, but in the end they won't filibuster.

And a week from now everyone will be saying "Scooter who?"

"And also his daughter is DAMN FINE!!!!!!!"

Ain't that the truth. :) I like watching confirmation hearings anyway, but with a smokin' hot blonde sitting in on this one, I have a feeling I'll be watching even more closely than usual.

Those legs, when she stepped out of the car... zowie.

Radical Centrist noted: "And also his daughter is DAMN FINE!!!!!!!"

Ain't that the truth. :) I like watching confirmation hearings anyway, but with a smokin' hot blonde sitting in on this one, I have a feeling I'll be watching even more closely than usual.

Those legs, when she stepped out of the car... zowie.

Blah, Ace's comments are doing their usual 403/404 error thing.

Blah, Ace's comments are doing their usual 403/404 error thing.

Yeah, let's kick Ace's ass!
Speaking of Ace's ass, where is it?

This is the Best. Fitzmas. Present. Ever.

The left got Scooter (who?) Libby.

They didn't even get the satisfaction of seeing their underlying crime allegation supported.

We get Alito. (Scalito, heh!)

So we get an originalist for 30+ years.

We got the pony, and the libs are digging through the manure.

What a great Fitzmas day!

I give Alito a 3/4 erect penis on my Hustler SCOTUS pick rating, so I'm pretty happy.

Cheers,
Dave at Garfield Ridge

This and That said: While I am not thrilled with any conservative judge (‘cause I am liberal on most social issues), as long as s/he is competent, I have no practical problem with any conservative judge Bush gets to pick. He won and he gets to pick as per the rules of the game.

You like fairness an awful lot. You do realize Scalito is going to piss on every social stand you support, don't you?

Sean M.--You forgot to piss on the ashes.

Amateur.

Does anybody besides me think that "AngryAmish" on the DU site might be a.k.a. "AtomicAmish" who used to comment here and also post on the Fat Kid's site?

If it is, I hope he keeps making the DU'ers look nutty.

Am I in trouble for outing a covert agent now?

Dont miss the controversy over at Democratic Underground (I won't link to them)...

Hey, who needs a link? Just log onto the site and randomly browse the Discussion Forums. It's timeless entertainment, like Martin and Lewis.

Incidentally, I'm sure the DU folks would regard "liberal pants-shitting" as politically insensitive language. I believe the politically correct term is "fecally challenged"...

Hey this&that-
Shaken confidence about Bush?
Don't you see what's happened here?
Everyone wanted a woman to replace Sandy O, so Bush (Rove) gave them what they wanted- on the surface. That brilliant bastard knew that Miers would never make it, and then he'd be able to play his REAL cards, and give us Alito.
Merry Fitzmas!!

I don't know anything about the guy yet, but as long as Harry Reid is unhappy, I'm happy.

aren't we supposed to cut his head off and run a stake through his heart too? I forget.

and does the idea of an angry amish person seem as silly to anybody else as it does to me?

I think it's a great pick. Alito will be a helluva Justice. The fact that the Dums are already screaming against Alito is just icing on the cake.

and does the idea of an angry amish person seem as silly to anybody else as it does to me?

In my neck of the woods, you pretty regularly read news of Amish kids being busted for drugs, drinking, etc. And you also read of domestic disturbances and the like. Just being Amish doesn't absolve you of other human traits, I guess.

The Amish (and the Mennonites) are a pretty misunderstood group of people, and I always get a little exasperated that what little the American people know of them comes from movies like Witness and (god forbid!) Kingpin. The Amish and Mennonites are some of the oldest sects in America, have a very rich and deep connection to the American heartland.

The take-away lesson: an Angry Amish guy will still kick your ass (and, being a farmboy, do a good job of it); he'll just feel sorry afterwards and ask God to forgive him for it.

good to know

Alito is Catholic; I think the Left will spend the next few days pondering whether to mount an all-out assault on a Catholic-majority court. (Scalia, Thomas, Kennedy and Roberts are Catholic.)

This strategy would aim at peeling off the secular libertarians and legal conservatives among the President's supporters. My guess is the left-blogs will try but get no traction, because of Alito's long record of carefully reasoned cases. A paper trail can be an asset, after all!

But watch for the anti-Catholic venom, esp. on DU.

Bonus question: We may see Roe overturned by a 5-4 majority of Catholic against non-Catholic justices. Are we conservatives prepared to defend such an outcome? At some point it may get ... awkward.

Here's what I'm wondering:

People are already trying to stress he's not a clone of Scalia, that he has a different judicial philospphy (although, apparantly, one that still renders him a 'conservative' - whatever that means judicially) Ok, fine. But what exactly is his philosophy then? Is he not an originalist? A textualist?

What exactly does he believe as to how a judge is supposed to decide whether a right is enshrined in the constituion or not?

Bonus question: We may see Roe overturned by a 5-4 majority of Catholic against non-Catholic justices. Are we conservatives prepared to defend such an outcome? At some point it may get ... awkward.

It depends on how that case is decided. If it's overturned based on a belief by the justices that abortion is "wrong," then that would cause problems.

If they back up the overturning of Roe by pointing out that it is terrible constitutional law that Blackmun pulled out of his ass and return power to the states, then the anti-Catholic argument would lose weight.

and does the idea of an angry amish person seem as silly to anybody else as it does to me?

Not as silly as the idea of him posting messages with his PC. What's that thing run on, anyway, pig methane?

cjan, I'd be stunned if Kennedy voted against Roe, Catholic or not. Also, in the eyes of a liberal blogger a "carefully reasoned opinion" is one which favors liberal social policy.

Well, Reo, if you want the definitive answer, go to findlaw.com and google his 15 years of decisions, read them, and you will have your answer. Otherwise,you are at the mercy of pundits. So, be a man --start reading!

I went to Harry Reid's blog to give him some advice. Maybe the rest of you could do the same. Here's mine:

Sen Harry, your best tactic in this is to call Alito a Nazi, then follow up by mumbling something about Halliburton and Jesus humpers. Also make sure you bring in Howard Dean to remind the country of how much he hates Republicans.

After that, complain that Bush is dividing the country. Use the word extremist a lot, too.

You know, every time I go to the DU I am left shaken. It's hard to believe that these people can really be that evil, vindictive, bitter, etc.

But the thing that strikes me the most is that all DU'ers are totally incapable of laughing at themselves or the democrat party. These people are utterly humorless.

Gives me the creeps. There should be a DU list, like the sex offender list, so I can know if one of these unhinged lefties moves in the 'hood.

Well, I was completely wrong on what kind of person Bush would nominate if Meirs went down. I was sure it would be someone squishy like Gonzales.

And I could not be happier that I was 100% in error.
Simply listening to Alito's critics tells you all you need to know about him. He is an excellent choice.

Here's the link to Sen. Harry's site http://giveemhellharry.com/blog/41/reid-statement-on-the-nomination-of-judge-samuel-alito

Missed the daughter on TV.... anyone got any pics?

Megan?

Me, too, Log Cabin. I thought he might be mad enough to go for a revenge pick. From what I can tell, Alito is an excellent choice.

Sorry to misunderestimate you, George, but that Harriet Miers thing really shook me up.

You know, I think this was all part of Dubya's plan. He know Miers wouldn't fly...not he has chosen someone really good, and I don't think he'll get any argument on it. Except the hot air from the Dems.

This is going to be rather enjoyable, I hope.

While we are at it, perhaps in addition to destroying his family, we should destroy his friends and their families as well!!! How about the friends of his children? Right - that's the ticket. Leave no survivors.

Well, you need to leave some, so that the moonbats may revel in the lamentation of their women...

Uncle Jefe: Errr, I would like to believe it was a well-thoughtout move by Bush & crew (the Meir's nomination mess) but I don't believe it. I think that you are spinning a Bush error into a sneaky tactic. That it may work out as your 'spin' suggusts is just lucky. Bush & crew looked out-of-touch & that worried me. I feel better with this pick (and not because he is conservative but rather that he is competent).

To who ever wrote this in response to my post, "You like fairness an awful lot. You do realize Scalito is going to piss on every social stand you support, don't you?"

Maybe not all of the issues but probably most of the biggies (e.g., abortion etc) but that is the point of my post. As long as the decisions are not based on a political view but one rather based on the law I am quite willing to accept those rulings. Bush won (I voted for him because the war issue overrides all the other ones.....'cause we will not get to fight over say abortion rights if we lose the war) & he gets to pick.

After the war, if my guys ever get their act together and start acting like actual Americans again instead of simply anti-Bush, I will vote for them and their appointments might not be so agreeable to my old righty allies. What comes around goes around in the long run. I hope that the opposition then is reasoned and not like the DU example Ace presented.

So I believe that we must first secure American long-term survival AND freedom....then we can go back to our merry fights over the details of our various rights.

Bush and crew are not the enemy of America & currently are the ones struggling for her....so people like me can quibble and fuss over our rights without fear of death, disappearence, or torture.

I am a fellow traveler with the Right for the duration of the war.....unless the Left can offer some actual reasonable solution itself besides 'Run Away!"

This&That

Sobek, you're right. Kennedy will probably stay in the middle, or move to the left. With O'Connor gone, he's the new golden boy on the court. Look for fawning MSM profiles next year.

Slublog, I agree, and in the actual event we would probably get a well-reasoned originalist opinion, appealing to federalism to return discretion to the states. My point is that at some stage, risk-averse Republicans and some libertarians will not want to defend a decision that looks like it's Catholic vs. non-Catholic. (For an ugly preview, check out the comments on the Volokh post Ace links to in the main entry.)

Also, see Sobek's point about "carefully reasoned = leading to realization of liberal policy goals".

I think we would be wise to prepare for a media firestorm if the next SC abortion decision pits a Catholic/conservative bloc vs. a non-Catholic/liberal bloc. In its current state, the Left just can't ignore a dynamic like that.

There's nothing inherently leftist or rightist about judicial activism versus strict constructionism. In theory, anyone who is happy with the rights and freedoms laid out in the Constitution should be okay with a judge who interprets law as carefully as possible according to the Constitution.

In practice, lefties decided that getting judges to "make shit up" was going to be the easiest path to their goals.

Cjan, that would be a pretty difficult political tact for the Dems to take.

After all, much of their remaining influence in Congress are due to Senators and Reps in states with large Catholic minorities.

Do the Dems really want to risk fully adopting the "anti-Catholic" label, knowing this could turn seats in the NE from blue to purple? Further, such a strategy could alienate Hispanic voters in the Southwest.

Wooing Catholic voters was a core component of W's electoral strategy in '04. I'm not sure the Catholic card is one the Dems should be all that eager to play.

Err, this&that, I was channeling through my tinfoil conspiracy-theory hat...
Sarcasm.
As for "your guys", I'm afraid you're hoping against hope.
They believe in a different America, one that exists in their utopian dreams.
They're against the America that we know and love, and that has given them the freedom to go batshit crazy, and still live to spout off about it...

i just saw alito's daughter on foxnews, she's got big biceps!

Canuck:

You mean beautifully toned biceps!
And those pins she's riding on, as megan said....

ZOWIE!!!!!

Bonus question: We may see Roe overturned by a 5-4 majority of Catholic against non-Catholic justices. Are we conservatives prepared to defend such an outcome? At some point it may get ... awkward.

Bring. It. On.

Jack M., I agree that no sane Democrat would contemplate such a move. Probably most of the action will be confined to blogs, with a few loopier mainstream figures (Howard Dean) chiming in.

Then again, the pitch could be made carefully, to avoid the anti-Catholic label. "As the true political home of thinking Catholics and others who value our hard-won American liberties, we are distressed to see our political institutions taken over by a fringe minority of theocrats who place their ideology ahead of their faith."

Maybe Hillary will get out front on this, and show us how it's done.

Democratic Underground is a fucking trip. Say anything halfway sensible there and you're banned. So all that's left are some of the craziest, stupidest people who serve up hilarious nonsense day after day after day.

Uncle Jefe.....yikes!....your sarcasm went over my head!

This&That

PS: As for 'my guys' returning to sanity, well, Hope springs eternal. After all, no one really wants a single party country, do they?

And the DUmmies are already glomming onto the anti-Catholic white male meme.

How long til Schumer starts carping about
"Concerns over Judge Alito's deeply held personal beliefs" ?

This can only be good for Rudy. He needs to shore up his cred - getting hardcore into the judicial question, actually knowing his stuff (which few senators of either party seem to - the constitution's not that long, guys, try reading it during lunch some day), would pay off hugely in the end.

After reading a post like that, EVERYTHING sounds like a perverted sexual act allofasuddenly.

Say, I feel like a turkey club for lunch. Hold the tomato. What? I don't like tomatoes. What? Why are you looking at me like that?