some (late) liveblogging the alito hearings

I realize that they've been going on all day, but I just tuned in b/c I had class all day...


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5:50, Schumer!

On Abortion:

Schumer: Do you still agree with your 1985 statement on abortion?
Alito: blah blah blah stare decisis blah blah blah
Schumer: That is not what we're talking about. We're talking about this, the Constitution. You said in 1985 that the Constitution does not protect a woman's right to abortion.
Do you believe that now?
Alito: I would address that issue in accordance with the process that I would be required to use. blah blah bullshit.

They go back and forth like this for a while, Schumer saying Alito can answer it because it's a question of Constitutional interpretatin, Alito running around the question like whoa.
A fun part, and why I love my Senator:

Schumer: I'm asking you about your view of the Constitution. It's important to know what your view of the Constitution contains.
(ooh burn: blahblahblah Which taught me something - I didn't know there was a word such as "inapt.")
Alito: You're asking me about a question- -
Schumer: I'm not asking you about a question! I'm asking about the Constitution!
Does the Constitution protect the right of free speech?
Alito: Yes, yes it does.
Schumer: Then why can't you answer the queston of whether the Const protects the right to an abortion as well?
Alito: Asking about the issue of abortion has to do with the interpretation of certain aspects of the Constitution.
Schumer: I take it that you're not going to answer the qustion, which I didn't really expect.
Your refusal to answer, I find troubling.

HAHAHAHA. Schumer TOTALLY just laid the smack down.
:)
Said that he could infer from Alito's refusal to answer the question that he would not uphold Roe.


On Stare Decisis:
Schumer: Stare Decisis doesn't mean that cases can't be overruled.
...
What do you think of Thomas' doctrine of stare decisis (who wants to overrule frickin' everything)?
Alito: I don't want to comment on all those cases.
blahdeblah
Basically, Alito gave nothing up on whether or not he thinks precedent is uber-important. Surprise surprise.

And Schumer's Big Finale:

First, greatly disturbing would be that you won't distance yourself from your 1985 view that the Const does not protect a right to a woman's right to choose...
Second, you told us you respect precedent & stare decisis, but we've seen that the stated respect for stare decisis hardly determines whether a Supreme Court justice will actually uphold precedent.
Finally, to top it off, we have seen that your third circuit record can hardly provide a great deal of comfort in this area either.
Taken together, these pieces are very disturbing to me.
We can only conclude that if the question came before you, it is very likely that you would vote to overrule Roe v Wade.

And Alito's condemning statement:

If I had an agenda to uphold abortion law, I would not have voted the way I did in the decisions I came across.

6:31pm Senator Cornyn of Texas is kissing his ass like crazy, and basically calling Schumer an idiot. Ugh. I'm going to claw my ears out.
And just essentially called Roe a mistake.
Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh.


6:59pm Oh, Jesus. Cornyn just called Alito "SCalito." The nickname us crazy liberals gave him. Oy.



7:01 Oh, good god. They just made light of domestic abuse. I think I might vomit.

7:03 And the parting shot: Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) blowing his nose. Attractive.