Courting Conflicts?

For the sake of my own sanity, I maintain a certain intellectual and emotional detachment from the issue of George W. Bush’s nominations for the Supreme Court. Whoever gets appointed by this president and confirmed by this Senate is not going to be someone I agree with on much past the possible exception of where to order lunch. And I have to make my peace with that, because heck, these are the folks that got elected. I can’t quite figure out where the dividing line between an objectionable level of near-total disagreement and an acceptable level of near-total disagreement lies.

On the other hand, when it comes to Samuel Alito, there’s something about this story from the Washington Post that concerns me. Some Senators have raised questions about Alito’s decision not to recuse himself from two cases involving the company that manages his mutual funds and the company that serves as his broker, despite indicating that he would do so in his Senate questionnaire during his confirmation to the apellate court. Alito explains it by saying that he was “unduly restrictive” with his questionnaire answer. It may well be that there’s a harmless explanation for this, but right now, it’s one of those things that chips away my faith in the cofirmation process. So I figured I would write a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, who also happens to be my Senator. I’m posting it up here as part of the So Now What? collection.

Dear Senator Specter,

I recently read the letter that you sent to Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. regarding his decision not to recuse himself from two cases involving Vanguard and Smith Barney, as well as Judge Alito’s response to you. I appreciate you making an effort to get these questions cleared up for the benefit of your fellow Senators and the American public. I do hope that you will pursue this issue further at Judge Alito’s confirmation hearings. Anything that raises the likelihood that a nominee’s responses to the Senate are not truthful gives me pause, especially in the current atmosphere of high politicization and partisanship. Faith in the confirmation process is necessary for us to have faith in our institutions, and I urge you to continue your work to ensure that that faith is earned.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

David W. Thomer, Jr.

About Dave Thomer

Born and raised in Philadelphia. Studied philosophy at Fordham University in the Bronx, where I made many great friends and met my wonderful wife. We moved back to Philadelphia, where I studied philosophy some more and became a teacher. Online and off, I'm looking for ways that we can be better citizens and build stronger communities.

November 15, 2005 @ 2:04 am

So Now What?