i haven't blogged about alito much. partly because almost everyone else is. it probably doesn't come as a surprise that i'm against the nomination. i think he will make a horrible justice.
my opposition is entirely based on his judicial philosophy. i make no bones about that and i see no need to dress it up in some kind of faux-objective "qualifications" issue. except in the extreme case (e.g. a nominee who can't read), there is no objective way to measure the qualifications of most nominees without setting the qualifications bar too low. the constitution requires that nominees be approved with "advice and consent" of the senate, that implies a cooperative process between the president and senate. so if the president picks a nominee based on ideology, i see no reason why the senate can't reject a nominee based on his ideology. it's certainly happened before. the idea that the senators are limited in what they're allowed to consider is simply a myth.
that being said, i think cenk uygur is right. the scariest thing about alito's nomination is not his abortion vote,* but rather his endorsement of the theory of unitary executive power. that theory cuts right to the heart of our system of checks and balances, effectively eliminating many of the checks on the executive branch.
unitary executive power is dangerous. it is also ultimately "unamerican" because it destroys the separation of powers that is the basis of our constitutional system. personally, i don't understand why conservatives aren't also concerned with this issue. even they must realize that some day there might be a president they don't like in office. they should all be going apeshit over the prospect of a president hillary clinton or howard dean (or whoever the current rightwing bugaboo is) who is unchecked by any laws passed by congress.
UPDATE: see also this editorial (via cursor)
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* don't get me wrong, i think that's also scary. but the threat is less immediate than you may be led to believe. even with alito on the court, there would not be enough votes to overturn roe.
