Some Quick Hits

Some things I would blog more about if I were a better blogger:

• This scares me. I'm glad it seems everyone is basically okay, but, speaking as a teacher, that doesn't ease all my worries.
  
  
• I will never, ever, ever blog something like this. Ever. I promise.
  
  
• Kathleen Falk did the right thing, even if she was not required to by law.
  
  
• The WE Energies bill we got this week was 25% higher--on the budget plan!--than last month's bill. That was before WE Energies got a sweet rate hike today.
  
  
• The tire-slashing trial is intriguing, especially with the defendants claiming the idea came from Kerry's national campaign. If true, that means two things: One, Kerry national was stupider than I thought; and two, they lied to me when I asked to be in their conspiracy, by saying there wasn't one, and it turns out that they just didn't want me in their clubhouse. (For the record, I don't think Kerry national really was that stupid.)
  
  
• I'm not writing about Alito, mostly because others around the 'sphere are carrying the "Vote No" water pretty well. In particular, the ACLU, NARAL, and Armando are doing a good job. I especially like (via maha) the take from AmericaBlog's Michael from New York:

  Why Is Alito So Ashamed Of Himself?
  
  The far right wants us to believe that Supreme Court nominee Alito is similar to Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Even though everyone knew Ginsburg was a liberal, she was passed by a vast majority in the Senate. They are both in the mainstream of judicial philosophy, the far right says. So Alito deserves the same treatment because he's "qualified."
  
  So why is Alito so ashamed of his entire career?
  
  Ginsburg IS in the mainstream of judicial philosophy, even though she's clearly a strong liberal. But she never pretended to be anything else. And everything on Ginsburg's resume was something she was proud of. Every group she belonged to, every organization she worked for, every position she staked out on the issues of the day and every promise she made reflected who Ruth Bader Ginsburg was, what she stood for and what she believed in.
  
  Did she insist you shouldn't read anything into her work for the ACLU? Of course not; she was proud of that work. Did she insist you shouldn't read anything into her activism over the years, her push for equality among the sexes? Don't be absurd. Did she break her word on solemn pledges made before the Senate? Never.
  
  Nothing could be further from the truth for Alito. He is apparently ashamed of everything he's ever done. Alito boasted on an application for promotion in the Reagan administration about belonging to the racist, Neanderthal-ish Concerned Alumni For Princeton. Now he pretends he can't remember ever belonging to them at all.
  
  Alito said he wanted to become a lawyer because he was so distraught about Supreme Court rulings that led to "one person, one vote," a cornerstone of our modern democracy. Now, he says we should ignore his consistent, persistent attacks on affirmative action.
  
  Alito also cannily helped to devise the incremental approach to dismantling Roe v Wade that has been the very tactic the far right has used. Now Alito says to ignore all that.
  
  Alito has repeatedly proven he believes the president is more like an emperor -- someone who deserves almost unlimited deference from the Supreme Court, especially during a time of war.
  
  Finally, Alito pledged to the Senate that he would recuse himself under certain situations as a federal judge. He repeatedly broke that pledge. His excuses vary: he forgot, the computers shouldn't have assigned him those cases in the first place, he never HAD to recuse himself, and finally he never promised he would recuse himself forever. The reasons change, but the fact remains: Alito gave his word and then he broke it. He can't be trusted.
  
  Since Alito is so clearly ashamed of himself, shouldn't we be ashamed of him and keep him off the Supreme Court?

  And mad props to Russ Feingold for keeping the pressure on, in particular about civil liberties.