Thursday, February 02, 2006

"Scalito" -- No?

Call a new Supreme Court Justice a "judicial trog" and what does he do first thing? Side with the majority of the Court in staying an execution in Missouri!

Gotta say, Alito's already giving me fits.

Now, yesterday was only the first day of the rest of his Supreme Court life, so there are many many more big votes to come, doubtless some bad ones (he's a Federalist, after all). And while Alito's vote didn't swing the Court's decision (6-3), it should be applauded by death penalty opponents everywhere. Well, maybe some slow, sarcastic clapping, like a certain family in Southampton, Long Island. Again, we've got a loooonnnng way to go with this guy.

Cynical Son believes that Alito voted against Missouri's death machine simply to cross people up. "Ha! You thought you knew Sammy A! Thought I'd barge RIGHT IN and kick the police state into high gear! Well, how's it taste now, muthafuckas!" Practical Son thinks that Alito may be "pro-life" across the board -- that he opposes the death penalty (at least in specific cases) and the right to an abortion (in all cases?). We'll see. One thing's for sure: new Chief Justice John Roberts won't disappoint. He joined Scalia and Thomas in pushing for immediate lethal injection. Good. With the midterm elections coming up, Democratic scare groups will need a reactionary poster boy to frighten shaky libs into voting for any and all Dem candidates, in order to stem the fascist tide before it's too late. Of course, many of those elected Dems may vote for reactionary measures down the road, but that's a problem for another day. At least we know that Roberts can be counted on to play his nefarious role. Alito -- the second coming of David Souter?