The media is universally declaring that Alito is headed towards con- firmation. I've been bothered by the spin from reporters that Alito will be confirmed because the Democrats failed to challenge him properly at the hearing. The burden was never on Democrats to grill Alito until he cracked. Alito was coached for months, including by Lindsay Graham, a committee member. So this notion that the Democrats "failed" to put a kink in Alito's armor is ridiculous. There was no armor to begin with.
The burden, from the start, was on Alito to counter his record as a idealogue. Alito walked into that hearing room saddled with a record as one of the most pro-government Republican judges in the nation. He walked into that room with his objective memorialized in black and white: overturning Roe. He walked into that room already having established his contempt for our system of checks and balances.
The burden was on him to explain his record. And he didn't. Because there's no explaining away the fact that he believes the government can do whatever the hell it wants when it comes to stripping of our rights. To succeed in these hearings, Alito had to counter record, and he didn't.
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