Plan B

The new nominee for the Supreme Court is Judge Samuel Alito. He is a conservative Federal judge from the third Curcuit U. S. Court of Appeals. He is on record as being anti-privacy rights in relation to abortion, via a vote of dissent in PA on allowing women to chose abortion without husband consent.

I am not a conservative, and as soon as the word is mentioned, my back goes up. Conservative politics means to me: big business, no social services or very limited social services, limited individual rights for women, prisoners, and minorities, and liberal individual rights regarding guns and entrepreneurs.

Conservative politics to me means low taxes and high defense costs. It means bail-outs of big business, but no welfare for individuals. It means limited rights for the worker and bilking the American public any way business can - capitalism, after all, is the real government of America.

Where I get hung up is on trying to live within the confines of the clearly defined liberal/conservative stances. I am anti-abortion. I am anti-death penalty. I am anti-war as anything more than the last resort. I believe America should ban all assault weapons for public consumption and that obtaining and keeping a gun should be as difficult and as long a process as applying for and being granted Social Security Disability (approx. 2 years). I believe American business is nothing without its workers and consumers. Therefore, big business has a responsibility to its workers, to treat them with respect and to honor commitments for health care and pensions. It has an obligation to its consumers to be diligent in product quality, fair pricing, and safety for individuals and the environment. Actually, I’m liberal on everything except abortion, and yet I don’t find my stance on abortion to be a contradiction to my other views.

TV’s talking heads are speculating that nominee Alito is going to provoke a vigorous debate between democrats and republicans. I don’t think it’s going to be a debate, I think it’s going to be a brawl. A real debate, with informed, civil discussion would be empowering and refreshing. Instead I think it’s going to be a show of posturing, huffing and puffing of threats of filibuster, maneuvering, manipulation, whining and exhortations of righteousness and Godliness.

Whether Alito is confirmed or not, changes nothing. It will not make right the inadequacies and limitations of the person and president W, nor will it make his administration an honest one with the best interest of all Americans as its motivation. It will not make W a thoughtful, caring man who has made America and the world a better place. It won’t change anything for the better. Nor will a non-confirmation vote.