![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
primroseburrowsI've got a question, because y'all are pretty smart people.
So this Judge Alito guy has the Left up in arms. There's even a petition from moveon.org to stop him.
My question is--is there any legal or disqualifying reason he needs to be stopped? I'm not talking about his stance on disabled/gay/womens'/workers' rights. I'm talking about any reason outside of his politics that would make him unqualified to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court? With Harriet Meiers, my gut feeling was that I didn't want her up there because she sounded like the president of Dubya's fan club. But I figured that was a pretty stupid reason to (pardon the pun) judge her. As I heard more about her, it became clear to me that she isn't qualified on the basis that she doesn't really understand the Constitution very well, and doesn't know much about being a judge in general. I don't think she's stupid, but she's certainly not Justice material. Lack of training, lack of experience, those seem to be pretty good reasons to me, and even the lack of experience didn't bother me that much, because freshness often adds to a person's outlook. It was just that she was incompetent as an interpreter of the Constitution. The fact that Dubya's fangirl didn't work out was a mere fringe benefit for me. I mean, come on, Dubya's not qualified to be President, after all. IMO, of course.
As for Chief Justice Roberts, I've yet to see any non-political reason he shouldn't serve, and I think we bleeding hearts just might be surprised at some of his votes.
So. This Alito guy. He'd not be my first choice politically (nor would ANYONE Dubya nominated, most likely), but. Can anyone give me a reason that's not related to how far over on what side of the aisle he sits that would make me want to sign a petition like this?
I'm not asking why I shouldn't like him or why I should. Just...is he qualified, and if he is, what's the sense of petitioning anyway?
This is a nonpartisan question, BTW. It's just a (possibly dumb) question.
And another question: Is it possible to even keep politics out of a decision like this? Maybe we shouldn't. I really don't know.
ETA: It's getting better, but at the end of the day (to use an already overused saying), the country is still primarily run by rich white guys. It's time to work harder on changing that.
So this Judge Alito guy has the Left up in arms. There's even a petition from moveon.org to stop him.
My question is--is there any legal or disqualifying reason he needs to be stopped? I'm not talking about his stance on disabled/gay/womens'/workers' rights. I'm talking about any reason outside of his politics that would make him unqualified to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court? With Harriet Meiers, my gut feeling was that I didn't want her up there because she sounded like the president of Dubya's fan club. But I figured that was a pretty stupid reason to (pardon the pun) judge her. As I heard more about her, it became clear to me that she isn't qualified on the basis that she doesn't really understand the Constitution very well, and doesn't know much about being a judge in general. I don't think she's stupid, but she's certainly not Justice material. Lack of training, lack of experience, those seem to be pretty good reasons to me, and even the lack of experience didn't bother me that much, because freshness often adds to a person's outlook. It was just that she was incompetent as an interpreter of the Constitution. The fact that Dubya's fangirl didn't work out was a mere fringe benefit for me. I mean, come on, Dubya's not qualified to be President, after all. IMO, of course.
As for Chief Justice Roberts, I've yet to see any non-political reason he shouldn't serve, and I think we bleeding hearts just might be surprised at some of his votes.
So. This Alito guy. He'd not be my first choice politically (nor would ANYONE Dubya nominated, most likely), but. Can anyone give me a reason that's not related to how far over on what side of the aisle he sits that would make me want to sign a petition like this?
I'm not asking why I shouldn't like him or why I should. Just...is he qualified, and if he is, what's the sense of petitioning anyway?
This is a nonpartisan question, BTW. It's just a (possibly dumb) question.
And another question: Is it possible to even keep politics out of a decision like this? Maybe we shouldn't. I really don't know.
ETA: It's getting better, but at the end of the day (to use an already overused saying), the country is still primarily run by rich white guys. It's time to work harder on changing that.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
A hijack in progress...
Date: 2005-11-08 02:10 am (UTC)You are the Low-Fidelity All-Star. You were born
with your cool, and it's totally natural. You
run the gamut from Hipster Supreme (only they
can ingest as much coffee as you) to the geeky
hipster (Mario Kart, anyone?).
What Kind of Hipster Are You? (http://quizilla.com/users/cowgirlbebop319/quizzes/What%20Kind%20of%20Hipster%20Are%20You%3F/)
We now take you back to the previous program, already in progress...