Taranto: Animal Senate

James Taranto from Opinionjournal.com

"I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part," said Eric "Otter" Stratton in the classic 1978 film "Animal House." Today's lead editorial in the New York Times advocates just such an approach. The "situation" in this picture is the imminent confirmation of Justice-designate Samuel Alito:

It is hard to imagine a moment when it would be more appropriate for senators to fight for a principle. Even a losing battle would draw the public's attention to the import of this nomination. . . .

Senate Democrats, who presented a united front against the nomination of Judge Alito in the Judiciary Committee, seem unwilling to risk the public criticism that might come with a filibuster--particularly since there is very little chance it would work. Judge Alito's supporters would almost certainly be able to muster the 60 senators necessary to put the nomination to a final vote.

A filibuster is a radical tool. It's easy to see why Democrats are frightened of it. But from our perspective, there are some things far more frightening. One of them is Samuel Alito on the Supreme Court.

The Times is right about one thing, though: If there is to be a really futile and stupid gesture, Senate Democrats are just the guys to do it. Here are some of the highlights of the Democrats' floor speeches in opposition to Alito's nomination:

Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York: "Judge Alito also holds a harshly limited view of what the government can or should do to help ordinary Americans. Judge Alito said it all in 1986, when he was a young lawyer in the Reagan administration. He wrote that in his estimation, it is not the role of the federal government to protect the health, safety and welfare of the American people. Well, I guess that explains the inept, slow and dangerous response to Hurricane Katrina."

Does Mrs. Clinton really think Alito's memo had any influence on disaster-response policy 19 years later? Nah, this is base-baiting, like her Martin Luther King Day remarks. Anticipating a presidential run in 2008, she is desperately trying to ensure that black Americans remain on the Democratic plantation.

Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts complained that Alito was nominated because "the president was under fire from his conservative base for nominating Harriet Miers, a woman whose judicial philosophy they mercifully attacked."

The Democrats' adopting Miers as a liberal martyr--and the false claim that conservative opponents of her nomination objected to her on grounds of "judicial philosophy" rather than qualifications--was a frequent theme. But we cite the Kerry quote for another reason: Is there any doubt that if President Bush said "mercifully" when he meant "mercilessly," the media would mercilessly make fun of him for his inability to speak?

The most appalling quote, though, came from Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, opening this morning's session: "This is a time of unprecedented governmental intrusion into the lives of ordinary Americans. The president has attempted to justify secret, warrantless wiretapping of Americans, and the evasion of legal bans against torture, and the detention of American citizens without due process of law."

Leahy apparently regards Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Jose Padilla as "ordinary Americans." The rest of us are lucky he has only one vote.