Sometimes You Just Have to Shake Your Head And Turn The Page
Here's part of MSNBC's coverage of the controversy in today's hearings over Sam Alito's past
membership in Concerned Alumni of Princeton (CAP):
Alito, for his part, reiterated earlier statements that he had no recollectionLet's see: Alito says he doesn't remember being a member or being actively involved in CAP. But the student newspaper reports that he was a member. That report is "at odds" with his lack of recall. So this means . . . what, exactly? I guess it means . . . he doesn't remember! He did not say he was not a member; he said he didn't remember being a member or participating actively in CAP.
of his membership, which he listed on a job application. “If I had been involved
actively in any way in the group, I’m sure that I would remember,” Alito said.
Alito's lack of recall is at odds with a Nov. 18 report in the Daily
Princetonian newspaper. The story states that Alito, in the process of
completing a “Personal Qualifications Statement” as part of an application for a
job in Ronald Reagan's Justice Department, wrote that he was “a member of the
Concerned Alumni of Princeton University, a conservative alumni group.”
Then MSNBC throws in this valuable information:
Interviews with alumni who were contemporaries of Alito at Princeton told the Daily Princetonian they recalled the group “as a far right organization funded by conservative alumni committed to turning back the clock on coeducation at the University.”Oh, please. This is news reporting?
posted by Lowell Brown at 6:43 PM
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1 Comments:
Please don't be offended, but why are you such a pollyanna? Seriously. Not everything is rosy on the right side of the fence. It seems that new scandals appear almost daily. But you blog like their shit don't stink and like everyone on the left runs around with blind, unreasonable hatred for the GOP.
All I'm asking is for you to dig a little deeper before you blog. You may find that the dissenting opinion has some merit. Such as with Judge Alito and CAPgate. This is what I know about it...
Once upon a time, Samuel Alito applied for a job as White House counsel under Ed Meese. Pretty big job to apply for, eh? And on this application he remarked that he belonged to the Concerned Alumni of Princeton.
I recently applied for a job. I made sure to put everything I was proud of on there, everything that I thought would help me get the job. Resumes are carefully crafted documents and they should contain only things you are proud of and should not contain any lies.
Back in the 80s Alito remembered joining the CAP. He was certainly proud of it, or at least he thought it would be an important item to make the Attorney General aware of. But now, 20 years later, he can't recall whether he joined that organization or not?
Come on, Lowell. If he joined the CAP he should be a man and admit it. You guys were all over Clinton for his wishy washiness over "not inhaling" pot and his remark about what the definition of "is" is. But this guy gets a FREE PASS on everything?
I stated yesterday in comments that I'm not convinced either way on Alito yet. I know the right-wing loves him, because they think he'll overturn Roe vs. Wade. And I know the left-wing hates him, because of the same issue. I listened to about an hour of the hearings on NPR today, and between latin words I didn't understand, I managed to glean that Alito is a very bright individual who knows his business as lawyer and judge. But I also have heard things pointed out by the Senators and Bloggers and Newspapers that he supports dangerous ideas, but won't come clean on any of them.
We're talking about a supreme court justice here. If he belonged to a racist, sexist, bigoted group in college, I'd like to know about it. You, on the other hand, seem to be already dismissing it as case-closed, despite the rumblings in the Blogosphere about a Pandora's Box of documents in the Archives that will reveal his participation in CAP if allowed to be opened.
And on other issues, if he really does believe in the superiority of the elected branches and would actively undermine the Court's power, I'd like to know more about that, too.
If he really did think that defeated extremist nominee Robert Bork was the one of the most outstanding Supreme Court nominees of the 20th century, then that alarms me. I don't know a heck of a lot about Bork other than that he views were considered too extreme to be confirmed.
These are all serious issues and I think the way you brush them off is irresponsible. Just because it's a student paper making a report, doesn't automatically mean the report is wrong. Little guys get things right, too, including yourself.
Imagine someone using YOUR blog as a source. "Lowell, who?" they'd ask, and laugh at them. But you believe your blog is worthwhile and honest, don't you? Why shouldn't someone be able to reference material that you assemble in one of your posts?
The other thing I wanted to comment on was the way you poo poo the whole bit about "well he doesn't remember, and anyone is allowed to forget something" as an excuse to justify something pretty extraordinary to forget about. It reminded me of the anger Utefans felt when Urban left for Florida. As you will recall, Urb had made many, many, many comments leading people to believe that he was going to be the coach of Utah for many years to come. I've got an archive of them here . But if you read them carefully, he never actually PROMISES to stay at Utah. Therefore, he's exonerated for never actually lying.
Whatever.
I do appreciate your blog and it gives me pause when I read things, and you make me look things up I haven't thought of before, because Law is your profession and I only play a lawyer in the Blog.
Go Utes,
Chris
Posted by Chris Evans
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