It’s not just his sleazy, dodgy past “stands” on women’s rights… it is the fact that he supports rubber-stamping executive actions and seems to believe that the president and executive branch are above the law. That whatever he (or she) does is legal by virtue of the Presidential office. With the current scandals over Abramoff, domestic spying, and pre-war intelligence manipulation, all of which basically center around an administration viewing itself as above the law, the LAST thing we need is a justice on the Supreme Court that would uphold that.

NO branch of our government is meant to be a yes-man to another. That’s the whole reason for the time-honored phrase “checks and balances.” It’s why we have three branches of government instead of a dictator, it’s why we have a huge system of investigative committees and courts and standards for due process of law. Executive privilege is not what America is all about.

I support the filibuster 100 percent. Go Kerry, Kennedy, Durbin, Boxer, Feinstein, Reid, yes, Hillary (although I question her motives), and anyone I may have left out. You guys are heroes and will ultimately be regarded as such, no matter how the short-term-thinking pundits and party operatives may disdain you now. You put principle above imagined short-term political benefit… besides which, the man is still in the doldrums, he is not a popular president, so what’s the point of placating him? People do not want the Democratic Party to be “Bush lite” anyway; they want a real opposition party, and this stand is a fine example of that. Kudos to you. *applauds*