Feingold on Alito; Republic of Vermont?

More linkage.

Feingold: Alito Would Be "Dangerous Addition" to Court

Not to be lost in the reporting on Tuesday's Senate Judiciary Committee vote to endorse the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to serve on the Supreme Court is the fact that U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wisconsin, has voted for the first time in his Senate career against a Supreme Court nominee.

More than any other vote by a member of the committee -- which split 10-8 along partisan lines, with all Republicans backing Alito and all Democrats opposing his nomination -- Feingold's vote stands out.

While the seven other Democrats on the Judiciary Committee had all voted against one or more Republican nominees for the high court, Feingold had, until Tuesday, voted to confirm every Supreme Court nominee, Republican or Democrat, to come before the panel.

This break in pattern by the man who is arguably the Senate's most adventurous thinker and independent player ought to serve as a basis for rethinking strategies with regard to blocking the nomination as it now moves to the full Senate -- up to and including the prospect of a filibuster. [more...]

Please Throw Vermont Out

[...]

I'm ashamed to be represented by a government that feels free to intimidate and torture - as in the recent trial of Chief Warrant Officer Lewis Welshofer, who put a severely beaten Iraqi prisoner in a sleeping bag, wrapped him with wire, sat on him, poured water on him, and held his hand over his mouth until he died, and only received a letter of reprimand, two months restriction to base, and a $6,000 fine.

I'm ashamed that my country uses military force in the name of empire and oil. That it tries, with Medicare Plan D, to dupe the elderly out of medicine. That it knows the world is running out of oil and smells its own flopsweat. That it pollutes the air and water with abandon. That it spies on its own citizens. That it embarks on a war against the first and fourth amendments of the Constitution. That it subverts the electoral process with rigged voting machines. That it tries to corrupt science and democracy in the name of religion. That it is bowing under the weight of its own corruption.

The tone of the nation is set at the top. Is anyone surprised that the newest fad for teenage boys in Florida is hunting and beating to death homeless people? [more...]