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Alito Shuffle

Here's our bit of Halloween horror from the White House.

Well, the Miers confirmation hearings would have been fun, both as she stumbled through the process and in seeing the conflicted looks on GOP senators. With his second stab at a replacement for this slot the Shrub's chosen a pay-off nominee for the hardcore Right segment of his base. Now we're going to go through the ordeal with Samuel Alito.

I don't have the time for details here on a Monday morning, and it's likely better to wait as the most detailed summaries of the man's judicial record will be coming later in the day; much of it's already spilling out, as this is a candidate reported to have been among the top three choices for at least one conservative Christian group.

He's already being whisked off to shake hands with Bill Frist and begin his introductions around the senate, so "swift" is being underlined in the call for action from the White House on this nominee.

This is the situation that'll raise the "nuclear option" among the GOP again concerning the filibuster rules. Hopefully the Democrats will at least find the spine to force the issue rather than caving. In the run-up we're going to be hearing all the too-familiar GOP spin about "partisan obstructionism" and the need for a "fair" "up or down vote."

I look forward to the day when the balance is reversed to see just how "fair" they find the rules to be, and how they regard the filibuster option.

Update: As anicipated, SCOTUSBlog is the prime clearing house for information on the nominee.

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