Judge Bobblehead to be confirmed

First impressions are sometimes correct

These are words I wrote to a family member following the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court:

November 2, 2005--I was reading more on Alito last night and this morning. Comments like this one in the LA Times piece, "He is an honest conservative judge who believes in judicial restraint and judicial deference," don't give much indication of how he will perform.

I get the feeling that once Alito has achieved his ultimate career goal, a seat on the Supreme Court (per his undergraduate yearbook), his ideological side may prevail. If his ideology, political agenda or legal philosophy led him, while on a lower court, to become the lone dissenting vote to numerous decisions, what can we expect when that single vote, added to four like-minded justices on the nation's highest court, could roll back rulings that we assumed had become settled law?

As for his supporters saying he's a "nice guy," that in itself doesn't mean much if Alito has an agenda. Associates of Pat Buchanan, even some gays who know him, say Pat is a great guy on a personal level -- yet he would deny rights to many of his fellow citizens. We have heard people say that George Bush "doesn't have a prejudiced bone in his body" --yet he uses anti-gay rhetoric and support for anti-gay laws to win elections. We've all known "nice guys" who have no comprehension of their own prejudices or lack of compassion for others.

I hope that my gut reaction is wrong. Either way, Alito will likely be confirmed. If we want moderate judges, we'll have to win more elections.

As for the "opposition" party . . . .

• Just fire the Democrats, please. All of them.