Senate confirms Alito for Supreme Court
Considering that this was supposed to be a day of triumph, it's not going well. Yes, Brokeback met with its expected success. But the death of Coretta Scott King, whose courageous work after her husband's death helped to ensure that his message of justice extended beyond race to sexual orientation, put a somber tone on the morning, and the confirmation of Justice Alito makes matters worse. Today feels oddly like the high-water mark, as if the tide is now going to turn against equality.
At least Democrats were mostly united in their opposition to Alito, with 40 of them voting no (joined by Vermont independent Jim Jeffords and Lincoln Chafee, the lone Republican to vote no). When Alito starts saying that the Constitution gives Bush the right to join random Americans for dinner and prosecute them for the quality of their mashed potatoes, as well as read the back of the recipe card to check for signs of cooperation with terrorists, Democrats will be able to point to the fact that they strongly opposed him.
Yeah, that's not really enough comfort for me, either. But it's all we've got this morning.
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