Kerry calls for Filibuster

Kerry is apparently urging democrats to filibuster Alito.

Good, from my perspective they have little choice. If they truly do not want him on the supreme court as most democrats do not, they need to block his nomination. Right or wrong, they are there to serve the will of the people. About half the people in this country do not agree with him, based on his abortion and executive power stance.

Now is it political suicide? Probably, the republicans will not be happy but then why should we care? They don't try to make the democrats happy. In the end he will get nominated. But there should be a fight and the reasons should be very clear.

It appears not all democrats agree yet, time will tell if this actually happens. I like it when both sides stand up for what they believe.

CNN BREAKING

Updated link...



[edit on 1/26/2006 by nativeokie]

Yay Filibusters!




He's going to announce it soon, Kennedy supports him. Dems are currently working furiously to get support behind it.

Here we go, either McCain's deal holds true, or the filibuster is going to vanish from the political scene for judicial nominees. In the event the latter takes place, look for further posting by me on the "John McCain Is An Idiot" thread

Frist has tabled a cloture motion for 4.30 on Monday.

If it passes with 60+ votes then the dems cant filibuster.

It'll be a close one.

Originally posted by Nerdling
Frist has tabled a cloture motion for 4.30 on Monday.

Can you tell me what that means? I could look it up and I will if no one explains...

I was thinking yesterday about Alito. I have the feeling he's pretty harmless, but then I started wondering what the future plans for this administration might be in terms of taking more and more control away from the people and I realized that Alito's vote on the SC could come in very handy for BushCo if they need him down the line. It will have nothing to do with abortion or anything obvious to us now, but remember who put Bush into office the first time...

Alito on the SC could be very dangerous just because of his loyalty to Bush.

A cloture motion is tabled when someone wants to limit the discussion time on an issue and to prevent a filibuster. After it passes the resolution will go to a straight up and down vote.

I like filibusters it kind of spice up the long faces that are the representatives of our country, I mean our elected "for life" representatives.

Any way I like when things get hot in congress, it means that somebody still have some blood left somewhere after selling themselves to private interest.

Any way after reading on Alitos "resume" I feel that he has some issues mostly personal when it comes to civil rights and privacy rights and issues with minorities due to some of his decisions in court.

But many of these judges kind of become pretty much neutral onces on the highest court bench after all they are there to ensure that the integrity of our constitutional rights stay as it.

But then again we have a president that have not been very conscientious of our constitutional rights when it comes with his own interpretations and the power that he holds.

Taken that in consideration and the fact that Alitos is one of his "Chosen ones" I am very concern.

So let the filibuster go.

This isn't going to happen. The following is a letter, in full, I received from Mr. Kerry talking about this. If it is excessive quoting, sorry about that; there's no online resource short of giving out my email addy and password that I could link to. Besides, Kerry asked me to pass this on, and I am more than happy to oblige

Yesterday, Senator Ted Kennedy and I told our colleagues that we supported a filibuster of Judge Alito's nomination for the Supreme Court. And we weren't alone. But the bottom line is that it takes more than two or three people to filibuster successfully. It's not "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington."
If you want to stop Judge Alito from becoming Justice Alito, use your own email list and organize. We can't just preach to our own choir. We need to prove to everyone - from our friends and neighbors to our fellow Senators - that the American people know Judge Alito will take our country in the wrong direction, and they expect something to be done about it.
So I'm asking you to join Senator Kennedy, me, and concerned citizens across America who are signing this petition to support a filibuster. If there was ever a time to forward an email on to friends and family, this is it. One way or another, we're going to find out in the next few days if Judge Alito is going to become Justice Alito. You know where I stand. The time to make your voice heard is now.
So please sign this filibuster petition and get as many friends as you can to do the same. Sign the filibuster petition If Judge Alito gets on the Supreme Court, it will be an incredible mistake for America. And remember, this is one mistake that we can never take back. I voted against Justice Roberts, but I feel even more strongly about Judge Alito. Why? Rather than live up to the promise of "equal justice under the law," he has consistently made it harder for the most disadvantaged Americans to have their day in court. He routinely defers to excessive government power no matter how much government abuses that power. And, to this date, his only statement on record regarding a woman's right to privacy is that she doesn't have one.
There isn't a shred of doubt in my opposition to Judge Alito's nomination. I spent a lot of time over the last few years thinking about what kind of person deserves to sit on the highest court in the land, so I don't hesitate a minute in saying that Judge Alito is not that person. His entire legal career shows that, if confirmed, he will take America backward. People can say all they want that "elections have consequences."
Trust me, I understand. But that doesn't mean we have to stay silent about Judge Alito's nomination. Sign the filibuster petition
President Bush had the opportunity to nominate someone who would unite the country in a time of extreme division. He chose not to do this, and that is his right. But we have every right -- in fact, we have a responsibility -- to fight against a radical ideological shift on the Supreme Court.
This nomination was a sellout to the demands of the extreme right wing of the Republican Party. The president gave no thought to what the American people really wanted - or needed. So now that the president and Judge Alito have proven they won't stand up for the majority of Americans, we have to stand up. We have to speak out. That's the true meaning of "advice and consent."
Sincerely,
John Kerry

What does this mean? Say hello to the new Supreme Court Justice!

Interesting. Despite Kerry's email, I just got another email from MoveOn.org stating the filibuster has begun. The actual email just talks about Kennedy, Kerry and Edwards. It also seems to be calling for us to call our senators requesting a filibuster, so I'm not so sure what the subject of the email means.

It also seems I gave MoveOn a false address, as it has contact info for Wisconsin senators. Oops

I love how he did this from Switzerland...the guy just can never learn

Anyway there likely will be an attempt at a filibuster, but it's unlikely to work. I believe at present at least 3 Democrats say they'll vote for Alito outright and another 5 that'll at least vote for cloture, even if they don't vote for confirmation.

I just heard on the radio about 30 minutes ago that ten Democrats said they would not filibuster. They're going to need some strong Republican support to pull off a filibuster at this point. I wonder if the seven that signed that agreement way back when are included in the 10.

Hmm, well Dick Durban was just on FOX and said he was going to try to filibuster. I also heard earlier that Harry Reid would support one too. The only problem is they don't have enough votes to do it, so their filibuster will last like 5 minutes.