Judging Alito

By -
I don't usually write on National Level stuff, as I'm just a humble South Dakota boy. But did any of you see the Mercer article that appeared recently in several of South Dakota's daily newspapers?

It was an interesting article with two of South Dakota's top legislators (and possible candidates for Governor in 2010) publicly coming out in favor of Judge Alito. Matt Michels and Lee Schoenbeck both stood very publicly in support of the nomination.

While it also appeared in the Mitchell newspaper, this article is from the Watertown Public Opinion (Registration Required):

Support sought for Alito

By Bob Mercer, Capitol Bureau
Friday, November 18, 2005 11:41 AM CST

Four Republican lawyers, including the South Dakota Legislature's top House and Senate members, made a public pitch Thursday on behalf of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito.

They asked that U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson, a Democrat, vote for President Bush's choice to succeed retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Their efforts might have been two months premature. Johnson isn't budging from his position of wanting to wait for the Senate confirmation hearing on Alito. The hearing is scheduled to start January 9.

“He truly doesn't announce any position until the hearings are concluded. He did that with (Chief Justice John) Roberts and he will follow suit with Alito,” said Julianne Fisher, the senator's communications director.


The panel of Republicans lawyers Thursday included state Sen. Lee Schoenbeck of Watertown, who is Senate president pro tem, and state Rep. Matt Michels of Yankton, who is speaker in the House of Representatives.

Michels and Schoenbeck participated in a teleconference for reporters. The event was organized by Progress for America, a conservative group working on behalf of the Bush White House for Alito's confirmation.
Read the whole article here and support the Watertown Public Opinion with a subscription - it's worth it.

My favorite part of the article? The part where Senator Thune notes - "After the president's announcement of Alito's nomination, Thune issued a statement calling for an up or down vote on Alito “not left or right.”

I suspect you'll see the Republican Senate Caucus hold a little tighter on this nomination then they did the last one. He certainly has the support of someone you might be calling Governor in the next five years.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Weird. I don’t remember Thune calling for an up or down vote on Meirs. I wonder why that is? Huhmmmmmmmmmmmm
5:34 PM
Anonymous said…
Good to hear the state senators don't need to actually hear any testimony before making up their mind. I'm sure the opinions of these great constitutional scholars will carry a lot of weight.
8:32 PM
Anonymous said…
PP,

duh, they support Alito. these guys are conservatives...
9:24 AM
Anonymous said…
When is Turnow going to run for statewide office?
9:52 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A note from Benedict Ar... Sorry. A note from Stan Adelstein why he thinks you should vote Democrat this year.

By -
Image
(Click on letter to enlarge) And while it may not be printed at taxpayer expense, I don't see a disclaimer, either. When they hold the special session (supposedly at the end of November) , since he's left them already, I think his colleagues should expel him from the caucus. Sure. At that point it's only going to be symbolic. But since he's already said he's running again in the near future, sometimes symbolism is enough.
Read more

Corson County information on Klaudt Rape Charges

By -
Here's some of the information on the Corson County Charges: COUNT I That on or about December of 2005, in the County of Corson, State of South Dakota, Ted Alvin Klaudt did commit the public offense of SECOND DEGREE RAPE (SDCL 22-22-1(2)) in that he did accomplish an act of sexual penetration with his foster daughter, A.M., through the use of force or coercion; and as to COUNT II That on or about July or August of 2006, in the County of Corson, State of South Dakota, Ted Alvin Klaudt did commit the public offense of SECOND DEGREE RAPE (SDCL 22-22-1(2)) in that he did accomplish an act of sexual penetration with his foster daughter, A.M., through the use of force or coercion; and as to COUNT III That on or about July or August of 2006, in the County of Corson, State of South Dakota, Ted Alvin Klaudt did commit the public offense of SECOND DEGREE RAPE (SDCL 22-22-1(2)) in that he did accomplish an act of sexual penetration, separate and distinct from the act alleged in Count II, with...
Read more

It's about health, not potential promiscuity.

By -
As the only South Dakota blogger out with 5 daughters, I feel I need to weigh in on the whole discussion that's occurring with regards to the HPV vaccine, and Governor Rounds' proposal to make it available. My family (including my three oldest girls) watched my mom, their grandmother, succumb slowly and painfully to cancer which spread throughout her body. If a similar fate from a different type of cancer was preventable through a simple shot, why wouldn't anyone advocate for it? At the age most of my kids are going to be getting it, they're still playing with barbies, and negative influences such as most of the programming on MTV, and other assorted trashy television is verboten in my house. All they're going to know about this vaccination is that it's a shot, just like for teatnus or measles. They'll go "Ow, I don't want a shot," and that will be it. Just another mark on their vaccination record. One check box for DPT, one for HPV, and so on...
Read more