Pam at The Democratic Daily has links to Kennedy’s official statement confirming he supports a filibuster:
Other than voting to send our men and women to war, there is no more important vote in the Senate than our vote on a Supreme Court nominee. This is a vote of a generation and a test of conscience. Judge Alito does not share the values of equality and justice that make this country strong. He does not deserve a place on the highest court of the land.
We owe it to future generations of Americans to oppose this nomination. If Judge Alito is confirmed, he will serve on the court long after President Bush leaves office, and the progress of half a century on the basic rights of all Americans is likely to be rolled back. He’s the wrong justice for justice and the rule of law in America.
Previously, CNN reported John Kerry’s support of same. Kerry had earlier posted a call for support asking that Americans support his effort to filibuster…
He then asks for folks to sign this letter in support.
AP has more on the GOP pushing back.
UPDATE: Kerry’s office makes it official:
…
The President has every right to nominate Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. It’s our right and our responsibility to oppose him vigorously and to fight against this radical upending of the Supreme Court.”
FURTHER UPDATE: Pam now has a Guest Blog from Kerry on the matter…
Here’s how to do it.
http://constantpated.blogspot.com/
Then Impeach the bastards!
I am hoping that they fillibuster the nomination of Alito. We can not live in a free country unless our constitution is interpeted as giving us all freedom. We might be living in a fascist-like country if all of the right wing conservative Justices were named to the Supreme Court. Giving most of the rights to the states as the Republicans and conservative Justices want to do is more and bigger government control, not less government control because it destroys the checks and balance system of government that we have. The constitution of the United States of America gives the rights to the people, not to the states or any form of government and the 14th ammendment expressively prohibits the rights of the states. The Republicans talk about judicial temperment and other such nonsense that is all frosting and no cake. The Republicans arguments are all talk, but in reality they have no real substance. The reason that the Republicans vote for the Democrats nominees to the Supreme Court is because our nominees do not destroy civil rights and individual freedoms like their conservative nominees do. Vote Democrat in 2006, and lets win back the Whitehouse in 2008!
I called every Dem after reading about hte announcement. Earlier, I called all of the Judiciary Committee before the committee vote. I think a lot of us must be active, and it’s having an effect.
I tried to sign the letter using the link above
("sign this letter in support.") but it wouldn’t go through.
It didn’t work on Kerry’s website either. 🙁
Does Kerry have dozens of lawyers ready to assist the fight of the century, as he did for the election of 2004?
Will Kerry be for the filibuster before he’s against it?
I’m rapidly losing faith in any of the Dem senators and I’m downright ashamed of Byrd’s vote (he’s one of my senators).
WayneMadsen.com has a bit of an interesting story about money and corruption related to the Bush family, the Saudi family and maybe 9/11 ‘terrorists’. I still, however, wonder what the evidence is that there were any ‘terrorists’ on those planes. To assume too much is to make a big mistake.
I know one thing.
If no real effort is made on a filibuster by the Senate Democrats, and they get only a token handful voting with Kerry and Kennedy, it’s over for me. I will in fact root for utter failure in all their future endeavors for those who cynically run for cover on this vote, as they did on the Iraq invasion vote.
I will have NO reason to further advocate anything via the Democratic Party. This is absolute proof that my future efforts are guaranteed to be as futile as my efforts here (and I’ve never made more, including in the build-up to the Iraq vote) are threatening to be.
It doesn’t matter if we are WRONG in thinking Alito is unfit and it turns out he IS honest, if he is blocked, because IT IS FAR, FAR MORE DANGEROUS if we are wrong in thinking he IS fit, and don’t block him, if it turns out that his record doesn’t lie, and he proceeds to try to turn a President into a King. [Think capital punishment here. The stakes are at least that high.]
In other words: WHY RISK IT??!! Bush has a giant talent pool to draw from (including many – gasp – qualified women) if we block Alito, but no matter what, OUR CONSTITUTION MUST BE PRESERVED AT ALL COSTS. Even at the cost of WAR.
Yet we can’t even get the Senate Democrats to unite to PRESERVE our Constitution here, on the homefront… Meanwhile they’ve sent men and women off to Iraq to DIE for the IRAQI Constitution. It is so sickly ironic, that words cannot do it justice.
PLEASE, Brad — try to keep this up as an action item all weekend. We MUST try to prevail over the forces arrayed against us.
Demacrat Senators that Will Not Support The Filibuster Of BENITO ALITO
Will be Automatically Entered The Following Hallowed Fraternity. "List"
. . . "THE ORDER OF THE EMPTY SCROTUM" . . . or BRA (for the Ladies)
. . . . . . . ROBERT C. BYRD . . . . U.S. Senator West Virginia
Keep thinking that the courts are not being compromised by the same people who are compromising our voting? And our democracy and country?
Judge Walton Keeps Getting "Randomly" Assigned To Connected Cases
It doesn’t accept government e-mail addresses, either: nothing from a .gov address.
Very good site. You are doing great job. Please Keep it up… .!