Selling Woof Tickets

For those not in the know, this is the practice of making a lot of tough talk that you know that you are unable, or unwilling, to back up. Like the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

When dress shirt model John Roberts was confirmed for the position of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, after mildly... I hesitate to even use the word "contentious", hearings, Democrats promised that the next Justice that George W. Bush nominated would be in for some serious grilling. This seemed strange to me at the time. You would let the Chief Justice pass with some non-commital answers to some limply asked questions, but you're gonna get tough on the next ASSOCIATE Justice that comes through? As they say, WTF?

Yeah, yeah, I understand the principle at work here. Roberts was replacing William Rehnquist, a reliable resident of the Court's right wing. But the next Justice coming in would be taking the place of Sandra Day O'Connor, the crucial "swing" vote on the Court. It would be important for Democrats to keep a right wing ideologue out of that position.

So where's the fight then? Bush, after the Harriet Meiers fiasco, settled on Samuel Alito, a man apparently so ideologically bound over to the right his name is melded with Antonin Scalia's to form the unholy hybrid, "Scalito." Unlike John Roberts, Alito has a paper trail. He has written opinions questioning a woman's right to abortion. He has shown a marked bias to big business in his writings. He belonged to an association named the Concerned Alumni of Princeton, a group that opposed admission of women and minorities to the University. And then there's that litmus test.

But so far, it appears only token resistance is being put up in Alito's confirmation hearings. Joe Biden, Ted Kennedy, Pat Leahy, and Charles Schumer have thrown some pointed questions Alito's way, but have been weak on follow-ups and seem more concerned with appearing polite that probing this guy's record. Alito seems determined to keep the room temperature low, and to say nothing that he can be held to (He'd keep an "open mind" on abortion? Huh?). Absent an Al-Pacino-style shouting meltdown in the hearings and lacking the votes to reject him, Alito seems likely to be confirmed. And the filibuster against him we were told to expect last week? Won't be happening.

Thus, as the Supreme Court goes firmly the way of Scalia and Clarence Thomas for probably the next twenty years (thanks a lot, 2004 Bush voters and non-voters), I'm left to consider that empty tough talk. Who was that for? The Republicans? The Media? Us citizens? Or maybe themselves?

Facing a Bush administration that was self-destructing last year, with Iraq, Katrina, Plamegate, etc., Democrats showed little sign of being able to capitalize. Instead of speaking with one voice and again making clear exactly what the differences are between them and the Republicans (because voters do need reminding), they have been fairly disorganized and diffuse. And the fact that some of them (Lieberman, Hillary) are still trying to look like Republicans certainly doesn't help.

I would like not to give up on the Supreme Court. But you know that Bush has litmussed and rehearsed Alito until he looks clean enough to eat off of. My hope now is that the Democrats will ease up on the tough talk and finally give those opposed to the administration some tough action. Despite how it looks some days, Republicans cannot be counted on to destroy themselves. Give them some help.