In bombshell news these past few days things have wildly been shaken up with judicial nominees. After meeting heavy conservative criticism by many senators and political pundits and several PR failures such as her questionnaire being returned to her by the senate judicial committee Harriet Miers has withdrawn herself from the nomination process. The true reasons behind her withdrawal are hazy to the average American. According to the White House's press statement the reason behind the withdrawal was "It is clear that Senators would not be satisfied until they gained access to internal documents concerning advice provided during her tenure at the White House - disclosures that would undermine a President's ability to receive candid counsel." However many Washington insiders and experts are saying that is merely a smoke screen and that the President saw a hard confirmation process against members of his own party and saw that as a battle that was not worth fighting. Whatever the reasons Miers has withdrawn herself and yesterday President Bush nominated a new appointee.
In a morning news conference President Bush came out before the American people and presented to them the newest nominee for the Supreme Court of the United States, Judge Samuel Alito, a Federal Appeals Judge from the 3rd circuit court. Unlike Miers with this pick Bush has selected a nominee with an extensive legal and judicial track Record. A brilliant man, Alito attended Princeton and Yale for his bachelors and law degree respectively. After completing his education Alito's resume becomes extremely impressive, in his career he has served as an assistant Attorney General, assistant solicitor general, an attorney general, and a federal judge on the 3rd circuit court. Throughout all of this Alito has gained extensive experience of the Supreme Court through the 12 cases he has fought there. Alito has not been received well from many Democratic senators as well.
Within mere hours of the nomination men like Kerry and Kennedy were calling him "disappointing" and "wrong for America." Liberal pundits in newspapers and on TV have dubbed him "Scalito" in reference to current conservative Supreme Court Justice Scalia. Bush however seems confident in his ability to have Altio confirmed; he ended his nomination speech with this: "In the performance of his duties, Judge Alito has gained the respect of his colleagues and attorneys for his brilliance and decency. He's won admirers across the political spectrum. I'm confident that the United States Senate will be impressed by Judge Alito's distinguished record, his measured judicial temperament, and his tremendous personal integrity" Also many conservative pundits in response to accusations that he would overturn Roe V. Wade point to how he has been on both sides of the issue as a federal Appeals Judge. Point to his vote to maintain partial birth abortions and his vote to maintain spousal notifications, clearly a pro-choice vote and a pro-life vote.
It will be interesting to see in the coming days how Alito is accepted by men and women from both sides as his record becomes scrutinized. He is in many ways almost a complete opposite of Miers, a man with a distinct record as a conservative dissenter in a liberal circuit court. With this record senators will be able to get a distinct picture of how he should rule on many Supreme Court cases.
The Man in the Black Robes
