10-8, As Expected

Samuel Alito is out of committee on the expected 10-8 party line vote. I listened to as much of the Democrat garbage as I could stand. His judicial knowledge is impeccable, as is his character and qualifications. For all 8 Democrats to vote against his nomination is an abomination. Not even they could question his qualification to sit on the Court. Their lame excuses for voting no on ideological and political grounds, grounds which they are not even sure of regarding his opinions, were painful to listen to. None of them deserve the distinction of being a part of the committee who determines a judge's qualifications for the Supreme Court. They are nothing but political hacks, and they are a disgrace to the Senate.

JASmius adds: Reportedly (sorry, I lost the link - oh, good, there it is) the Democrats will attempt a "non-filibuster filibuster" during the floor debate, bloviating at unbearable length into the wee hours without committing to formally blocking cloture. What the point of this will be when nothing less than a filibuster-filibuster will satisfy their neoBolshevik supporters frankly escapes me, but unless Harry Reid knows something about the GOP headcount that Bill Frist doesn't (always a possibility), Judge Alito, as a GOP staffer flatly declared, will be Justice Alito by the State of the Union Address - one way or the other.

UPDATE 1/25: One other thing, regarding Senator Kyl's lamentation of the partisan precedent the straight party-line vote on Judge Alito's nomination may have set - personally, I don't have a problem with it. I never understood why Republicans voted overwhelmingly for left-wing extremist oligarchs like Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Stephen Breyer; both were (and are) judicial supremacists with utter contempt for the original text of the Constitution who had no business being put on the Supreme Court. There's no way that either of them should have received a single iota of GOP support, something Bill Clinton's election most definitely did not entitle them to.

That's why I found Senator Feinstein's equivalent stance against Alito that she declared yesterday to be so refreshing. I disagree with it completely, but I can understand it equally as well.

I just draw the line at minority filibusters. If Donks want a say in what kind of judges end up on the federal bench, and most especially the SCOTUS, let them re-take the Senate, and then they can bork to their heart's content.

Which is a big reason why that won't happen again any time soon. But then you knew that.

Unless you're a Democrat, I suppose.