SOTU ‘10: Pic of the Night

I have always seen Alito as a follower – not too bright, just a loyal (dumb) conservative. Roberts struck me from the beginning as way too smooth – oily, a liar, certainly never to be trusted. Bush’s justices are proving to be exactly who I thought they’d be.

There is something unnerving about a Supreme Court justice who acts like a first year law student in a situation that demands decorum. I think he’ll be hearing about it. Creepy.

as much as we may imagine the supreme court to be above politics and separate from the regular and constant squabbles between the parties, the third branch is regularly inhabited by partisan – yeah, i said it – and ideological hacks.
the court is just as political as the legislature and the presidency, demonstrated most recently by the cynical campagin finance (“free speech!”) ruling in the citizen’s united v. f.e.c. case and, of course, the bush v. gore (“equal protection!”) ruling in 2000.
it’s sometimes easy to forget due to the glacial pace of rulings and personnel changes.
democrats/progressives/liberals/obamists must be heartened by the judicious mien of new justice sotomayor and concerned by the clearly unhealthy – but still kicking! – justice ginsberg.
i often ask older relatives and friends if the rancor in our current public life is a new phenomenon or has existed at other crucial moments in the country’s history. (i’m 36.) their answers are both comforting and saddening.

Alito and Roberts both lied through their teeth to get past their confirmation hearings. Nobody believed that they wouldn’t go all out to reverse existing law and do so in a heroic, immodest way. The Citizens United decision was just the kind of overreach that they pledged not to do.
We think of judges as models of probity and rectitude, but Alito and Roberts are anything but. In their confirmation hearings they were like a pair of salesmen fending off objections. “Why, no-o-o, I have no opinion on Roe v. Wade,” said Roberts. “My wife may be an ardent right-to-lifer, but it never comes up in conversation between us.”
Alito looks pained in the first picture, as if he’s thinking, “I was afraid he might mention that case.” In the second picture Alito looks dumbfounded as though he were caught completely off guard. Behind him, Sen. Schumer glares at him as if to say, “Yeah chump, he’s talking to you.” Finally, in the last picture, Alito is muttering a response as if this is the first time he’d ever been challenged on his opinions.
It was audacious of Obama to challenge the Roberts court on the point where it’s vulnerable, that this is not a conservative court but a Republican court. Citizens United is neither conservative nor modest, and Obama correctly denounced its recklessness. Obama has nothing to lose by insulting Republicans for being Republicans. What are they going to do? Refuse to cooperate in hammering out legislation? They’ve already overcommitted themselves, and they can’t stop Obama from tweaking their noses. I laugh at the expression on Alito’s face. Nobody has tweaked his nose for twenty years!

Agreed. When did our highest officials turn into such crybabies? Good God. And he is not some bumpkin congressman, either, grandstanding for votes; he’s a fricking Supreme Court Justice.
It’s probably good that neither Thomas or Scalia were there. One of them might have stood up and called the president a liar.

Well if Bush v Gore didn’t tell you where these clowns were taking us, nothing would. Alito did what clowns often do . . . make us laugh. Those once revered in a town of total political corruption are now jokers themselves. So who cares? Not me. I saw it coming.

Obama’s comments about the SCOTUS ruling truly showed his lack of class.
JCS and DADT? ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ is federal law, as well as having been instituted by BJ Clinton via Exec Order.

Good point. I guess that’s also a good question….why weren’t Scalia and Thomas there? Maybe a little shame? Nah….

A book that illuminates how Chief Justice Rehnquist came to the position is John Dean’s The Rehnquist Choice: The Untold Story of the Nixon Appointment That Redefined the Supreme Court. Here’s the B&N paperback, other editions are available, and it’s probably in your nearest public library. This book, and some others, make it clear that Presidents pick their nominees with great care!

TYGA,
“No class?” Oh–I believe the word you were looking for is “uppity.”
And was Reagan–your avatar, apparently–ALSO showing “no class” when he challenged the SC in HIS 1988 State of the Union?
http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2010/01/high-court-is-rare-topic-for-state-of-the-union-speeches.html?cid=6a00d83451d94869e20120a81c773b970b

TYGA,
As Andrew Cohen noted here ( http://bit.ly/9zxG0R ) the charge of “lack of class” has no merit. Since when can a President not take a position on a recent legal matter that so clearly impacts his agenda and how Washington functions? And his method showed respect for the “separation of powers,” as he mentioned, and asked that Congress look into legal methods of reining in corporate campaign spending in a manner that would pass Constitutional muster. He’s a Constitutional Law teacher, for pete’s sake. He clearly exhibits quite a bit more respect for checks and balances than his predecessor.
And regarding DADT: he’s asking Congress to repeal the federal law, which, as I understand it, is one of the powers granted to the Congress by the Constitution.
The problem with reactionaries is that they don’t know what they don’t know.

it’s not true.

Obambi Lies Again

Seriously? The guy didn’t pull a Joe Wilson and yell out.. He quietly shook his head and mouthed not true, which is what a lot of people would do if they were sitting in a room and someone at a podium started attacking a position they took with they believed was inaccurate information.
Grow up people, he did nothing out of line. The same people talking about breach of decorum aren’t complaining about the Presidents breach of decorum by attacking them during the SOTU.
Get over it.
Why don’t you spend more time talking about the actual issues instead of all of this BS which doesn’t matter. It’s a distraction and it’s just one more thing that you will use to avoid discussing anything of relevance to the problems at hand.
As for the issue, I think it’s a huge mistake that corporations can buy campaign advertising, I’m not sure I disagree with the decision however based on existing laws. Corporations should not be considered persons to begin with is the problem. I agree with Obama that it’s a mistake in concept, but from a legal perspective it may not be. That’s a case of working as designed vs working as desired, and both sides can be right from their perspective vantage points but still be wrong overall.
For those about to spite protections such as illegal search and seizure that would no longer protect corporations from the government if person status was revoked, those protections can be put in through laws, without giving them person status.

Alito knows, as do all lawyers who appear in court, that you don’t shake your head, mutter, or make crass displays while the judge or even the other side is speaking. State of the Union requires at least the decorum you’d display in a courtroom. Very unprofessional of Alito who should know better.

The same people talking about breach of decorum aren’t complaining about the Presidents breach of decorum by attacking them during the SOTU.
That wasn’t a breach of decorum. Unless you want to say that it was a breach of decorum when Reagan did it, too.
That said, I don’t find Alito’s behavior all that shocking, personally. But I guess I’m in a minority here.

I’m shocked, but not by his behavior at the speech. Getting all worked up about that is pretty nit-picky.
What I find shocking is that Alito doesn’t understand the implications of the decision he participated in. He’s a typical Bush appointee – the ones who aren’t corrupt are incompetent. (Good job, Sammy. Nice work, Robby.)

But Bush, Reagan, and countless Republicans’ constant demagoguery about “activist judges” – both in SOTU speeches and on the stump are “classy” – huh?

Ah – here’s the “class” exhibited by the right.

What’s not true?

Alito’s breach of decorum was as bad as Joe Wilson’s. The House, or the Lower Chamber, is known to have a rowdier atmosphere, to be a little rough around the edges, both in their interactions with each other and with the Senate and the Executive Branch. The Supreme Court justices, in keeping with their supposed self-possession and judicial temperament, are, especially in formal situations and on official occasions (and the SOTU address is one such occasion), supposed to conduct themselves in a manner which is above reproach and reflects positively on the character of the Court. Alito’s comportment throughout the SOTU was immature and reflected a degree of discomfort either with the Gang of Five’s recent decision or with having to attend the SOTU. His mouthed protestation added to his lack of grace and judicial restraint.