Worst. Analogy. Ever.

January 11, 2006

I can appreciate that Samuel Alito’s allies are having trouble justifying Alito’s membership in the Concerned Alumni of Princeton, and the fact that he touted said membership in 1985 to help highlight his conservative bona fides. I can also appreciate the fact that Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has a tendency to be, shall we say, a little foolish.

But this defense of Alito and the CAP is the nuttiest notion of the entire confirmation process.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) sought to defend Alito on the Concerned Alumni of Princeton (CAP) issue, noting that Coburn was a member of the American Medical Association and certainly did not agree with everything it did and said. Thus, he said, it was unfair to associate Alito with various comments, some of them said to be racist, made in a CAP publication.

Look, we’re talking about a group formed for the express purpose of opposing the admission of women to Princeton. CAP then branched out in order to criticize Princeton’s minority admissions, “permissive social norms,” and nondenominational religious services.

This is similar to the American Medical Association … in no way in particular. Is Coburn’s point that the CAP may have had a few less-crazy positions on issues? Maybe so; I don’t know of any, but it’s possible. But anyone who’d join the group — then brag about it — has to bear some responsibility for endorsing the organization’s agenda. Saying “I only agreed with their sane ideas” doesn’t work. Neither does, “I don’t remember anything.”

And comparing Concerned Alumni of Princeton to the AMA is just bizarre, even by Coburn standards.

this excuse would make perfect sense, though, to most republicans. how many have said, “i’m pro-choice. i’m pro-gay rights. but i voted for bush for security reasons.” as if they could only take the frosting and not the rest of wretched little cake he is.

unsurprisingly, this is also bush’s attitude toward the law.

  • something’s changed.

    i’ve had this site marked for several months and read it, but not with much enthusiasm.

    now i find myself reading it with interest.

    there seems more fire here than before.

    maybe it’s just that as the world turns ’round, each web log master fins a subject that she/he is interested in and feels especially capable of commenting on.

    in any event, this site has done a great job of commenting on sc-alito.

    in my opinion, alito is the alan greenspan of the supreme court-

    a right-wing republican party operative skillfull in draping himself with the sheep’s skin of “even-handedness and moderation”.

    we recall what greeenspan did when bush set forth his absurd tax cuts in 2000;

    alito, if confirmned, will do the same on the supreme court.

    plus,

    do not doubt that alito’s nomination and hoped for confirmation has a lot to do with strategy for the imminent 2006 congressional elelctions.

  • I hear you orion…look what Greenspan is doing now and you should be even more scared. Finally today, the first word about perhaps managing interest rates with respect to asset prices. Problem is, it is far far far too late. Bigtime trouble is acomin…

  • Well, I’m glad you’re posting on the CAP stuff, Carpetbagger. If liberal commentators and politicians had it together a little more, we’d be hearing about this angle consistently throughout the confirmation hearings, exploring it bit by little bit.

  • Ok, ok….we’ve all known the type of person who would even be ASSOCIATED with this group…right? This guy proudly touted it as a gem on his resume. So what do you think it says about what was going on in his head 20-odd years ago? This point isn’t even worth arguing – it’s obvious to anyone who knows the danger of this type of thinking. The question is, how do we know, and what evidence is there, to show that this person has mature from him primitive views back then. If there isn’t enough, he should still be considered dangerous. Just denying that he had anythiing to do with the group, or (whatever) can’t remember, is NOT sufficient. This, IMHO, is a very serious matter, and to brush it aside as if it isn’t that important could easily come back to haunt this country. However, this brings up an important part – is the majority of this country now a bunch or bigots?

  • That’s kind of like someone saying he joined the KKK for the camaraderie and the bonfires. At some point, you have to take responsibility for the organization’s primary tenets.

  • but does any of it really matter or reach anyone? Watching the evening news, the story about the hearings was that the wife left in tears and graham apologizing for putting alito and his family through this. Through what? Like she didn’t know about his extreme beliefs/opinions?

  • This sucks even if Bush throws a dart to pick a justice, and let says for hyperbole its a bad choice (not saying Alito is a good choice), there will always be these elected nutjobs willing to suspend common sense to push something through no matter what. How would the republicans be reacting to a Democratic nominee who was once a member of a radical left wing group? I don’t think they would be using the same defense for Alito I will tell you that. I would love to hear Colburn comparing some radical left wing group of nutjobs to the AMA, and that we should just relax because he is sure that the canidate is not what we think they are.

  • Look, I’m a member of the NRA, but that doesn’t mean I agree with their stance on gun control. Come on, people!

  • Exactly, Homer. The big news was that the Democratic bullies on the committee made Mrs. Alito cry. And Lindsay Graham’s melodramatic apology made me sick.

    Look, Sam, you’re being considered for a seat on the highest court in the land, and the decisions you make will affect millions of people’s lives in any number of very real ways. So you’re going to be asked tough questions. You’re going to be asked to explain your membership in a club that sought to keep women and minorities off the Princeton campus. And if you make the impossible-to-believe claim that you don’t remember being affiliated with such a club, expect that claim to be greeted with healthy doses of suspicion, disbelief, and even scorn by some members of the committee. So suck it up, Mr. Alito, and tell your wife to stay home if she can’t stand to see her man on the hot seat. This isn’t your normal job interview, and I’m not paying the Judicial Committe to make nice with you. Feel free to withdraw your name from consideration if you feel you’re not being treated fairly. We’ll understand.

    As for Coburn – what can I say? The fact that both he & Frist are medical doctors makes me wonder if getting through medical school is a lot easier than I’d been led to believe.

    • Comments are closed.