REMEMBER CLINTON AND THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN AND GIVE US OUR FILIBUSTER!

AP says Alito confirmation assured.

I haven't commented much on the Alito hearings because I've been so frustrated, I begin to boil every time I think of them.

But dadgum it, where's our promised filibuster? If the Democratic Senators are so spineless because they fear some kind of backlash from the electorate they should remember the results of Newt Gingrich's gambit to shut down government in 1995. Most of the media and pundits expected that, in the flush of the successful 1994 Republican takeover of Congress, Bill Clinton would either back down over his budget disagreements with Gingrich or, if he let the government shut down, he'd take a powerful hit in the polls. Well, Clinton didn't back down, he shut down the government, and the exact opposite of what was expected happened. The electorate demonstrated their support -- haven't we got it yet that the American people LIKE a guy who stands tough, when the stakes are important and the cause is just?

If the Dems would band together and send a clear message to the American public that we are fighting the last battle to preserve our Constitution and the institutions it established (separation of powers, checks and balances, NO "unitary executive") to protect us from a despotic government, the people would support us.

And if they don't, it's still a battle worth fighting. What good will it do to re-elect 44 weak-kneed Democrats back to a Senate that has no power to oppose the king?

Tags: Bill Clinton, government shutdown, filibuster, Samuel Alito