Let the downpour begin!

Unexpected absence yesterday -- I took a day off, only to discover that techno-crap was keeping me from posting to blogs from home. grrrr!

You probably noticed that, um, we have a new Supreme Court nominee. "Scalito" must have gotten a third of the discussion on NPR all day, and this is only the start. Conservatives practically wetting themselves, but careful to say it's all about his credentials and intellect, not about his being to the right of any current court member (or a symbolic dissenter in critical case Planned Parenthood v. Casey). Liberals not fooled, predict major battle, possible filibuster and nuclear option.

From yesterday: Markos' summary of Alito the candidate, and of the prospects for a debate of ideas. Hunter thinks moderate Republicans are unhappy with the choice and the prospect of being pressured from all sides. And for a little over-the-top response, you can't beat the rudeness of the Rude Pundit, who opines that Bush only nominates motherfuckers:

And, yep, like a good motherfucker, Alito offers support for other motherfuckers: he's for abused wives being forced to tell their motherfucker spouses if they're pregnant, he's for non-whites to have the color of their skin used as a factor for hiring by motherfuckers, and he believes motherfuckers running colleges can discriminate against the disabled.

Good stuff. As a last note, here's something for the conspiracy theorists: did Bush nominate Miers as a bluff, to fill up the time until Fristmas was approaching, so that yet another SC nomination could be used to bury yet another Administration scandal? Only The Shadow knows...

Update: Slate offers a longer look at Alito (meaning a page or so), and People for the American Way have a 24-page PDF summarizing his career for those unsatiated by the media barrage...
(via Medley)