Today, the senate voted 72-25 in favor of cloture, or ending debate on the confirmation of radical right-wing Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. Democrats did an incredibly poor job of exposing Alito for who he really is. During Alito's questioning in front of the Senate, Democrats did a terrible job of exposing all of Alito's beliefs (which were easily deduced from his past decisions and writings). Of course, the Republican noise machine painted Alito as mainstream, which the media happily ate up, and the Democrats who are afraid of their own shadow were too scared to hammer Alito on his beliefs. This confirmation was not just about Roe v. Wade (although everyone should be able to see that Alito will vote to overturn Roe v. Wade at the first opportunity), but about Alito's 19th-century views on the rights of individuals, minorities, women, etc. Even worse are Alito's views on the power of the executive branch, which should have been under even more scrutiny given the recent news of illegal warrantless wiretapping by the current administration.
Getting back to Roe v. Wade, there is one important point to note… Any senator who claims to be pro-choice but voted FOR cloture (i.e. to end debate and allow a vote) is VOTING FOR ROE V. WADE TO BE OVERTURNED. Make no mistake about it… if the right to choose is important to you, those "pro-choice' senators who voted for cloture should be held accountable at the ballot box the next time they are up for re-election.
