A Level Gaze

A Level Gaze

"What effect must it have on a nation if it learns no foreign languages? Probably much the same as that which a total withdrawal from society has upon an individual."
--G.C. Lichtenberg

Monday, January 16, 2006

Why Feinstein Caved

Athenae is pissed. Senator Diane Feinstein, arguably one of the biggest liberals in national politics, seems to have dropped any meaningful opposition to Judge Samuel Alito's confirmation to the Supreme Court.

I do not see a likelihood of a filibuster," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif. "This might be a man I disagree with, but it doesn't mean he shouldn't be on the court.

Athenae writes:

ACTUALLY THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT IT MEANS, YOU USELESS PLASTIC HOOD ORNAMENT. You're a member of Congress. You're confirming him. If you disagree with the way he'd do his job, that's ground for denying it to him. Will somebody please get this woman a copy of that musty old document that begins "We the people ..." I think the salient points have slipped her mind.

Jesus tits. Is there anybody out there who can even IMAGINE a Republican saying this? Who can even imagine Republicans having to hunt around for REASON not to confirm a Democratic nominee? Who can even imagine President Kerry's nominee getting this far with a Republican Congress? They beat 'er bloody and leave her behind the Capitol dumpster, that's what they'd do to a Kerry nominee. Yet here we sit, saying we need a really good reason to oppose Alito.

Given the Democrats' spinelessness on the big issues of late, it is actually not all that surprising to hear them express such mushy, directionless acquiescence to the will of the right wing. In Feinstein's case, however, it marks a sea change. Last Monday, she was interviewed on Fox News:

HUME: Right, but would you consider someone who thought that Roe v. Wade was improperly decided by the court? Does that place that person outside the mainstream, in your view?

FEINSTEIN: Well, it depends. In my view, it does, and I'll tell you why. And that is because Roe could have been overturned 38 times. Precedent has been established. Women all over America have come to depend on it. An overwhelming majority of people support it.

Therefore, because of the lapse of time, more than 30 years, because of the precedential values attached to it, I think it would be for many of us a very difficult thing to see somebody who you knew was going to overthrow Roe at this point in time. And I'm old enough to know what it was like back when abortion was illegal. I know what it's like to see young women commit suicide. I know what it's like to see them go to Tijuana. And I don't want to go back to those days.

So this is a very powerful question for me. And I represent those women out there. And this is a huge, huge population, and I...

HUME: So is that filibuster material for you?

FEINSTEIN: If I believed he was going to go in there and overthrow Roe, the question is most likely yes.

Feinstein clearly knows what the stakes are. I think she also knows that rank-and-file Democrats would form a solid wall behind anyone who would take dramatic, decisive action to protect women's right to abortion. I think she might even be aware that a fight specifically over this issue could be hugely beneficial to the Democrats, by galvanizing the base and splitting moderate Republicans from the right wing.

So what happened? On one hand, I don't believe the Republican leadership has any real intention of actually overturning Roe v. Wade, the issue that provides them with an army of fanatical footsoldiers, year in and year out. Perhaps someone has made the rounds and communicated this to the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee, something along the lines of "Alito can't be seen as soft on Roe, or he'll get the Miers treatment. But he doesn't want to overturn it any more than you do." Having removed the big, electrifying issue from the equation, perhaps Feinstein didn't think the other issues were worth going to the wall over.

On the other hand, none of that should matter. What matters is what is happening where democracy takes place, in the public arena. Alito has said precisely nothing about any of the big issues. Even if every Democrat knows for a fact that Roe is in no jeopardy whatsoever, his refusal to meaningfully address the issue constitutes a political gimme, which everyone, left and right, expected them to exploit.

Don't our elected representatives have even one principle left? If not, don't they at least want to win?

posted by David at 1/16/2006 12:23:00 PM ::

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