All the President's Pissboys

The weasels at the Washington Post have spoken...

Confirm Samuel Alito

THE SENATE'S decision concerning the confirmation of Samuel A. Alito Jr. is harder than the case last year of now-Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. Judge Alito's record raises concerns across a range of areas. His replacement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor could alter -- for the worse, from our point of view -- the Supreme Court's delicate balance in important areas of constitutional law. He would not have been our pick for the high court. Yet Judge Alito should be confirmed, both because of his positive qualities as an appellate judge and because of the dangerous precedent his rejection would set.

In short, even though we don't really like Sam Alito and think he may turn out to be a rabid statist, he should be confirmed. The breathtaking illogic of the editorial reminds me of a bit of verse penned by Franklin Adams of the New York World. His brief poem summed up the findings of the 1931 Wickersham commission, which tore Prohibition a new one but concluded it should not be repealed:

Prohibition is an awful flop.
We like it.
It can't stop what it's meant to stop.
We like it.
It's left a trail of graft and slime
It don't prohibit worth a dime
It's filled our land with vice and crime,
Nevertheless, we're for it.

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