Bush has nominated Judge Samuel Alito for the SCOTUS, in order to replace the manifestly bad choice that was Harriet Miers. The far-right is happy again, and apparently are back to believing that judges should have an up-or-down vote. Honestly, as with Chief Justice Roberts, Alito is certainly qualified, and while he is a clear-cut conservative, it doesn't appear yet that he's a rank ideologue. The Dems are already talking filibuster though, and the Repubs are talking about the nuclear option. As I said, I think we ought to wait to see Alito's record before we judge. Barring extreme cases, I'm not a big fan of the filibuster (although the nuclear option is plainly against the rules), and at very least, we should wait until we hear his record before we throw down. BTW, it's not good policy to block him just because he's pro-life. Blocking him because he's pro-life is bad form.
In more Senate news, Harry Reid has thrown down the gauntlet. He forced a closed session to debate the issues of Iraq war intelligence that the Repubs have been stalling on for months. Needless to say, the Repubs were pissed. Really pissed. They called it a stunt, and Frist looked like he was going to explode. Note to Frist: Get over it.
Here's what Reid said:
“The Libby indictment provides a window into what this is really all about, how this administration manufactured and manipulated intelligence in order to sell the war in Iraq and attempted to destroy those who dared to challenge its actions,” Reid said before making the motion which sent the Senate into a closed-door session.
Regardless of one's view of Iraq, this is hard to argue with.
To see how the hearing went, the AP story is here.
Note to Republicans: The Senate isn't a purely majoritarian body. You can't get everything you want.
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