Bush Nominates Alito
(AFP/Luke Frazza)
Bush has wasted no time nominating Samuel Alito as a replacement for Harriet Miers. That look on his face gives me the creeps. He looks like he’s about to sprout fangs and sink them into Alito’s neck. I expect he needs to replenish his life force after last week.
This may turn into an ugly fight — or the Democrats and moderate Republicans may roll over and give this guy a pass. At least Arlen Specter is making a show of asking questions.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Penn., a supporter of abortion rights, said that Alito’s views “will be among one of the first items Judge Alito and I will discuss.”
Not that it matters.
Given solid Republican support in the Senate — where the GOP controls 55 of the 100 seats — Democrats would have to filibuster to block Alito’s confirmation, a tactic that comes with political risks. Conservatives who denounced Miers as an unqualified crony quickly praised Alito.
Bush has learned his lesson, and he won’t be going against the religious right again. He has to rehabilitate his image and burnish his “legacy”. And make us all look deep into his eyes and forget…
The nomination of Alito, a judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals since 1990, is one step in Bush’s political recovery plan as he tries to regain his footing after a cascade of troubles rocked his presidency.
Bush’s approval rating in the polls has tumbled to the lowest point of his presidency and Americans are unhappy about high energy prices, the costly war in Iraq and economic doubts. Bush also has been hit by a criminal investigation that reached into the office of Vice President Dick Cheney and led to the indictment of I. Lewis Libby, the vice president’s chief of staff, on perjury and other charges in the CIA leak investigation.