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January 13, 2006
The Bramble Bush
by Kevin Morford

Alito Bad News

     Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their country. The U.S. Senate has recently held hearings on the nomination of Samuel Alito to serve as an associate justice on the Supreme Court of the United States, and will vote on that nomination in the near future. If you care at all about the freedoms we enjoy in the United States, and you should, you will do everything you can to oppose this nomination. Samuel Alito is bad news for all of us.

     Why do I say this? Let’s start with his record. While the corporate media are calling him a conservative, he is nothing of the kind. He has a lengthy and proven track record which puts him squarely in the extreme reactionary end of the political spectrum. Based on his record, he does not want to preserve the status quo; he wants to judicially enact laws that will turn back the clock on cherished political freedoms.

     As a judge on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, he has repeatedly and consistently upheld the power of the president to do what ever he wants to do, without any checks or balances from the other branches of government. At the same time, he has acted to limit the power of Congress to pass laws that protect worker safety, health and the environment. These are not conservative positions; they are a reactionary attempt to return to the days of absolute monarchy.

     This judicial philosophy is very dangerous on many different levels. For example, it fits right in with the Bush administration’s recent assertion that the U.S. Constitution directly gives the President the power to torture prisoners. President Bush claims that he can bypass both the Courts and the Congress, and kidnap, imprison and torture anyone he designates without ever having anyone review those decisions. Bush reasserted this power just a few days ago, after signing a federal statute that prohibits such practices. Based on his track record as a Circuit Court Judge dealing with issues of presidential power, Alito is likely to side with Bush on that issue. If you don’t want to be locked up, you better learn how to genuflect and say “yes your Majesty.”

     You have probably already heard about Alito’s record on Roe v. Wade, so I won’t belabor that point. Here’s another issue. If you value your right to worship or not worship as you please, Alito is not the Justice for you. He has a track record of supporting the right of government to advance religious political agendas. If a religious majority wants to use government to help their church, he has shown little if any inclination to say that there are constitutional limits on the majority’s powers. This again is a reactionary effort to return to the days when the government decided what the official religion was, and heretics could be dealt with severely.

     Alito also has a history of lying when it serves his personal interests. Last month, he claimed his earlier written statement that the constitution does not protect a woman’s right to choose an abortion should not be believed. Why? Because he only said that in order to get a job in the Reagan administration. In other words, he should not be believed when he is applying for a job.

     But that is not all. When he was seeking to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate to his current position as a Circuit Court Judge, he promised the Senate in writing that he would not rule on cases if he had a personal financial stake in them. That was not an extraordinary promise; it is a basic principle of jurisprudence to which all judges in the United States are required to adhere. Despite that principle, has broken that promise repeatedly.

     Alito is the worst type of judge, an activist reactionary who reaches out to overturn long established precedent in favor of legal changes he favors for ideological reasons. This is a nomination that will have profound and disastrous consequences for the lives of every citizen and resident of the United States for many years to come.

     Our only chance of stopping this nomination is to have millions of concerned citizens flood the offices of the U. S. Senate with their principled objections to this judicial monster. In Alaska, we have virtually no chance of convincing Torture Ted to vote against Alito, but we do have a chance with Lisa Murkowski. On the Patriot Act, she showed that she was willing to buck the Republican leadership when important freedoms were at stake (and when large numbers of Alaskans had registered their objections). As an attorney, she understands how important the Supreme Court is.

     I encourage every reader to write or call Senator Murkowski, explaining how important the defeat of this nominee is to freedom loving Alaskans.








Kevin Morford is a political activist and an attorney in private practice in the Anchorage area.  He can be reached at kmorford@insurgent49.com.
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Editor's Desk
by Aaron Selbig

Red Alert
by Soren Wuerth

Alaskan In Exile
by Neil Zawicki

The
Bramble Bush
by Kevin Morford





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in-sur-gent (in sur'jent), n. 1. a member of a group which revolts against the policies of its leadership.