Justice Scalito

Manifesto

Well, President Bush has nominated a right winger who seems intent on overturning Roe, Judge Samual Alito. I'm not going to parse through his record here. Others can and will do it better. Instead, I'm going to make a statement to all those moderate Republicans out there who still vote Republican. In conversations over the years, moderate Republicans (Christie Whitman, Arlen Specter, Rudy Guiliani, etc.) always supported the Bush administration despite their disagreements over key issues (global warming, abortion, size of the federal government, etc.) Whitman even wrote a book about this phenomenon.

I've never understood this. If the party you are a member of espouses multiple beliefs that are completely contrary to what you believe, how (or better, why) are you a member of that party? The only issue that these moderate Republicans seem to be in agreement with the modern Republican party is stated desire to limit government. I say stated because it is apparent from the Bush years that limited government now means limited revenues (low taxes for the rich) but bloated expenses (more spending on the military-industrial complex).

The modern Republican party is supposed to be the party of values. But it is apparent that many moderate Republicans value their wealth over their expressed beliefs. They have completely allowed the radical Republicans to dictate extreme beliefs that they supposedly don't believe in. Yet, they keep voting with the Party. Their excuse is that they don't believe that the radicals will ever be able to implement their beliefs.

Well, moderate Republicans, your years of complicity with the radical Right has led to where we are now, about to appoint a Supreme Court Justice who not only doesn't believe that the Constitution protects the right of women to have an abortion, but also doesn't believe that the Constitution forbids the state from criminalizing birth control.

So thank you, moderate Republicans. You stood by your party as it drifted further and further to the Right. Through thick and thin you were loyal soldiers, expressing doubts and reservations, but never reserving your vote from the G.O.P. And now, your loyalty to the G.O.P. is being rewarded in a way completely contrary to your expressed beliefs. Well, at least you still have your tax cuts. You can use that money to buy yourself something nice when your sons and daughters hold you responsible for what the radicals have done to the nation.