Say Anything Blog

WASHINGTON - Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., says he does not expect he will support a filibuster if Democrats attempt to block the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.

"I think it is unlikely, absent some new information, some bombshell that comes up in the process, that I would support a filibuster," Conrad said Wednesday, after meeting with Alito in his Washington office.

He said he has not made a final decision on whether he will vote to support Alito, though, and will wait to decide until after the judge testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in January.

Conrad's comments may signal that moderate Democrats from conservative states will be unwilling to spend political capital on blocking Alito, who has served as a judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals since 1990.

"I found him to be very impressive, I found him to be a very thoughtful person," Conrad said. "He got off to a very good start with me."

Alito definitely leans to the right, but that does not disqualify him from the job, Conrad said.

"Absolutely he is conservative, but I believe in the broad mainstream of American jurisprudence," Conrad said. "It is healthy to have different views on the court."

No, Senator Conrad, it's healthy to have different views in the legislature. Justices, comprise the non-representative Judicial wing of our government, should have only one view: A dedication to ruling on law as written.

As Thomas Sowell has said:

...the only view that really matters is a judge’s view of the role of a judge. If a judge sees his role as applying laws passed by other people, then his own personal views on issues are irrelevant.

This "conservative/liberal" stuff has got to stop when we talk about judges. Either a judge is an originalist who rules on the law as written or he/she is an ideologue incapable of impartiality and wholly unqualified to sit on the bench.