Boo hoo

Oh boo hoo! The Democrats are "glum," "disheartened," "frustrated" by their inability to stop the juggernaut that is Samuel Alito. As this New York Times piece points out, there are lots of sad facts, and self examination, and hand-wringing, and conspiracy theories among Senate Dems about just what went wrong in their campaign to torpedo this dangerous SCOTUS wannabe.

And it's the same hapless litany of things we've come to expect from Congressional Democrats each time they've failed to effectively communicate a vital message to the American people. You know - the usual "we could've done better" whining. And immediate analysis of the GOP media strategy, so we can use it next time. And bitter talk about the "crying incident" getting round-the-clock coverage, including one strategist who blubbered, "Had she not cried, we would have won that day."

Bwaaaaaaahhh...

Jeezus! Was the case against Mr. Alito really that fragile to begin with? Seems to me, boys, that had you been framing the debate correctly, we might have won more than just "that day." Why, if you'd asked clear, concise, revealing questions of the nominee and insisted on answers, instead of confirming our suspicions that you're just really mediocre orators, Mrs. Alito's crying jag could even have been taken as an old-school admission of hubby's complicity in some nefarious, power grabbing scheme - instead of the Hallmark moment it immediately became.

An' evwybuddy wuvs a Hallmark moment...

With a dozen vital points that could have been made about Sammy's integral role in the march toward an Imperial Presidency, our beloved D's focused, Queeg-like, on the CAP, and kept at it, and at it, and at it... Good grief, kids - why waste time wondering what you did wrong this past week. The short answer is "everything."

With Alito's support for an expanded Executive a matter of record, and Mr. Bush's continued abuses of power grabbing headlines daily, Democrats had a real opportunity to focus attention on the potential danger this nominee presents to the very foundation of our democratic system. They could have built an unshakable case that might have swayed moderate Republicans to their side of the aisle, and shown the American people the reasons Mr. Alito should not be entrusted with this particular lifetime job.

Instead, they've made convoluted speeches and focused overzealously on aspects of the Judge's past which, while suspicious, are a lesser part of the Alito threat. And by doing so, Senate Democrats have succeeded only in redirecting the public's scrutiny and indignation toward themselves.

Bottom line? Despite last week's dog and pony show, Mr. Alito wins easily, by a score of at least 59 to 41. What - you thought the Republicans would show some concern over the long-term implications of a Supreme Court supportive of the Unitary Executive, and risk breaking ranks in an election year?! Fat chance. And we know we can rely on at least four Democrats to go along with the Majority Party, sucking up to potential November "undecideds", instead of trying to represent the views of their Progressive constituencies by actually standing for something.

What a tragic and wasted plate appearance by our Liberal team in Washington, when what we really needed from them was a game-saving home run. David Corn has a few similarly exasperated thoughts here.