Alito's Dilemma and the Willing Suspension of Disbelief
Feinstein appears to be satisfied. Kennedy is more skeptical, but then Alito doesn't need Kennedy. And on the right...nothing. If anyone is reacting negatively to Alito's backpedaling, I haven't seen it (not from the most prominent wingnuts, and not from the right-wing blogs). It's as if as far as they're concerned, he never said anything at all.
It's a willing suspension of disbelief.
People like Feinstein are so disturbed by the prospect of an ugly nomination fight that they eagerly accept any rationalization, no matter how lame, that allows them to avoid conflict. The wingnuts seem to be focusing not on Alito's backpedaling but on the criticism that forced him to it, adopting (in effect) the position that anyone so poorly treated by People for the American Way must be somebody we want on the Supreme Court. Everybody sees what they want to see.
Ultimately, what makes this possible is the absence of any broadly accepted reality in this country--or, to put it another way, the existence of an alternative reality with an alternative epistemology based on assuming the correctness of right wing ideology and finding (or inventing) the facts to support it. (And yes, there is something of a parallel effort on the left; but liberals, on the whole, are still much more tethered to the idea that there are objective truths independent of ideology.) In a world of objective truth, Alito has to be one thing or the other--determined to overturn Roe v. Wade, or willing to let it stand--and either possibility has to alienate people he can't afford to alienate. In a world of competing ideological realities, Alito can have it both ways; the comments that appease the moderates simply don't exist in the reality where they could damage his chances.
[cross-posted at If I Ran the Zoo]
I am not necessarily disagreeing with this theory in general, but I am not sure that it applies to the Alito situation.
I think it is much more simple. The brownback caucus has received assurances about Alito, and have read he past record to their satisfaction. At this point Alito could say anything he wants in closed door meetings with moderates, and the right wing would not care.
Obviously one side has to believe he is lying, either in the past or now, about his true feelings. I believe the conservatives think he is "lying" (panderring is the better word) now, and are privately certain he would vote to overturn Roe.
The deep intellectual dishonesty of this is what really galls me. I do believe that Alito would overturn Roe if given the chance. And his panderring to moderates indicates a lack of moral character.
I would honestly have more respect for the man if he simply stated his beliefs and stood by them. Trying to pull a smokescreen now indicates a lack of character that is precisely at the core of the job description for a Justice.
November 16, 2005 10:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
November 17, 2005 10:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
I am not suprised that the secondary and tertiary conservative groups are also keeping quiet.
The Right has been cultivating a roster of potential Supreme Court Justices for years. These circuit court justices, proffessors and legal scholars are self-reinforcing and cliqueish. But they are also well known quantities to every conservative group. Simply by nominating Alito (Luddig would have been an even clearer symbol) the White House signaled to all conservatives to "trust us".
Ironically this is the same wink and nod they tried with Harriet Meiers. She was not part of this long grooming process, however.
With a solid member of the fraternity in line now, the right can just sit back and let their majority in the Senate do the work for them. Only if the Democrats put up a tooth-and-nail fight will these groups swing into action.
November 17, 2005 3:55 PM | Reply | Permalink