Three months to the day after he was nominated by President Bush, Samuel Alito has been confirmed as the newest Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. The final vote was 58-42
I supported the Alito nomination not because I am convinced that he will be a perfect Justice, in fact I am sure he will do things on occasion with which I disagree vehemently, but because he was clearly qualified for the position he was selected for and demonstrated to my satisfaction that he will have more respect for the idea of original intent than his predecessor. The left, led by Senator Ted Kennedy and, later, John Kerry, tried to turn him into a new Robert Bork and failed miserably because their allegations were demonstrably false. Even then, though, when they knew they had no chance of winning they tried to pull off their lame filibuster attempt, which even 19 members of their own party knew was the wrong thing to do.
And, as James Joyner points out, the Democrats aren’t the only ones who made this confirmation more difficult than it needed to be:
This has been an unnecessarily long process, mostly owing to poor leadership from Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, who unwisely allowed the minority to postpone hearings for months and then let it drag on at a snail’s pace.
Agreed. There is no good reason that these hearings could not have taken place in November or December, so that Alito could have been confirmed before the end of 2005. If anything, Specter’s delays only helped the Democrats.
Nonetheless, it is done. Congratulations Justice Alito.
Similar sentiments over at Michelle Malkin. And, Alexandra has a message for Kerry, Kennedy, and Kos: Watch and learn
Update @ 1:30pm: And now its official, Judge Alito is now Justice Alito
Samuel A. Alito Jr., who was confirmed by the Senate on a 58-42 vote this morning, was quickly sworn in as an associate justice of the Supreme Court today, completing a makeover that the Bush administration hopes will turn the nation’s highest court in a more conservative direction.
The oath was administered by Chief Justice John Roberts at the justices’ conference room at the Supreme Court building about 12:40 p.m. EDT, court officials told the Associated Press. Alito’s wife, Martha-Ann Bomgardner, was there, along with other members of the court and their spouses.
Alito is expected to take his place with the other justices at the State of the Union Speech tonight.
Again, congratulations.
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