1/13/2006
The most honest and, in my opinion, important moment from the Alito Confirmation Hearings this week was the moment on Wednesday when Ms. Martha-Ann Bomgardner, Samuel Alito’s wife, left the chamber in tears because of the way her husband was being treated by partisan Dems. When I heard about this, I immediately felt sympathy for her, and for Judge Alito who was required to sit in front of a bunch of partisan Dems — who, by the way, will never vote for him no matter what he says – making inane comments and disparaging his career and reputation simply because some in Congress need to pander to their special interest groups and/or political base.
Truth be told, they were also treating him poorly partly in hopes of angering him and getting him ruffled enough to say things they could then use against him in the court of public opinion. As Peggy Noonon points out:
[I]t cannot be easy. When Mr. Biden says things like, “Try to follow me, Judge Alito,” as he goes on one of his long, sterile journeys, I wonder if Judge Alito has to control himself with an act of will. I wonder if he has an inner Regis Philbin, and wants to throw out his arms and say, “Follow you? If I follow you, we’ll both wind up lost!” When Mr. Biden says, “Now this is a somewhat subtle point,” I wonder if Judge Alito wants to say, “Joe, if it were a subtle point you wouldn’t be making it!”
How does Judge Alito put up with this?
How does any nominee?
But, on Wednesday, Ms. Bombardner’s tears reminded us that, behind this ridiculous facade we like to call ”Confirmation Hearings” is a person who has dedicated the majority of his life to upholding the laws of this nation. And behind Judge Alito are scores of people who love him, respect him, and appreciate him; including myself.
I wonder if Democrats learned anything from this unexpected occurrence. When I heard what had happened, it reminded me of something I learned 15 or 16 years ago.
One of the first gifts my wife ever gave to me, way back when we had just recently begun dating, was a book called, “The Secret of Loving,” by Josh McDowell. She gave me the book soon after I admitted to her that, though I loved her, I was basically a “relationship novice.” I asked her for help in understanding her needs, and she, knowing that I love to read, gave me that book.
I read every page, and I learned a LOT! One of the primary lessons from that book, which sticks with me to this day is that, when you marry someone, you marry their family, their friends, their pets, etc. You marry that person and their whole world as well. It was an eye-opening lesson for me.
On Wednesday, I hope the political wonks trying to smear the reputation of a good man learned a similar lesson. When you blatantly smear someone, you smear their loved ones, their friends, their associates, etc.
It is one thing, and quite acceptable in my opinion, to say to Judge Alito something to the effect of, “Judge, to me, the survival of the Roe v Wade precedent is paramount, and because I suspect you might overturn this precedent, I have serious reservations regarding your nomination.” This, at least, is an honest and forthright statement. Even some of Judge Alito’s admirerers might agree on that point!
But to try and smear a good man with something that someone else said 20 YEARS AGO is just sad. And Ms. Bomgardner’s honest and heartfelt reaction to Democratic smear tactics underscored to me (and I believe to MANY average people like me) just how sad and moronic these tactics have become in recent years.
A party with some influence but no real power, at least as Democrats define power, is showing desperation in its attempts to turn conservative judges away from the federal court system. In the process of doing this, they have shown us in quite a transparent manner how low they are willing to go.
I’m beginning to think that, based on this behaviour, the Abramoff investigation is not likely to hurt the GOP in the upcoming 2006 election cycle. Based on the behaviour of Democrats this week, I find myself quite hopeful that indeed Republicans will not be hurt by the Abramoff situation.
I’m showing myself to be a bit bi-polar on the Abramoff issue, I know. But, you see, this week, an honest woman’s tears reminded me that, even in the face of a legitimate campaign finance scandal, there are bigger fish to fry.
Cleaning up the federal court system is one of those, and I think Judge Alito will be a key person in helping to throw off the rampant activism of many courts in this country and will reinforce the principle that courts uphold the law, they do not MAKE law. To that end, I’m thankful to report that, after four days of hearings, it’s Alito 4, partisan congressional dems 0.
And that is very good news for us all!
3 Comments
[…] Oh if only the Democrats sitting on the Senate Judiciary Committee could have expressed their concerns and doubts so honestly, intelligently, and forthrightly. Please note that the editorialists’ comments related to concerns over curtails on abortion is almost precisely what I said in a previous post an honest liberal and/or Democrat should say, rather than hiding behind a lot of hooey related to comments made by someone else over 20 years ago. […]
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