News of the world, pt. 1

It seems like a "huger" news day than usual. First, Sammy "Davis" Alito Jr. was confirmed this morning, but was the process done "easily," as the conserv-o-tron LA Times reports, or "sharply divided"? Well, when your 58-42 vote is the second closest out of the current crop of Justices, second only to Mr. Pubic Hair Coke Can Clarence Thomas' 52-48, you should maybe sweat a little. Oh, but all is over and done with, and the confirmation has "put the issue to bed," in language similar to that used by Time magazine in describing Bush's supposed defusing of the NSA debate. Prepping for a rah-rah SOTU, are we? In a related note, I'd never checked the stats on Supreme Court Justices until today. For those interested, here's the skinny:

Stevens 99-0, Ford '75, Segal-Cover score: -0.5
Scalia 98-0, Reagan '86 S-C: -1.0
Kennedy 97-0, Reagan '88 S-C: -0.27
Souter 90-9, Bush '90 S-C: -0.34
Thomas 52-48, Bush '91 S-C: -0.68
Bader Ginsburg 96-3, Clinton '93 S-C: 1.0
Breyer 87-9, Clinton '94 S-C: -0.05
Roberts 78-22, Bush '05 S-C: -0.8
Alito 58-42, Bush '06 S-C: ??

[info: Wikipedia--ain't skeered to cite it.]

(The "Segal-Cover" score is a number ranging from -1.00 to 1.00, from most conservative to most liberal. The score is based solely on editorial opinion and given evidence gathered before confirmation, not on judicial rulings or opinions, so it's a little shady. But given the myth of judicial activism and SCOTUS liberalism run rampant, it's a bit strange to see such negative numbers.)

For those keeping score, that's 7 conservative appointees (many of whom, of course, turned out to be more "liberal" than their appointers expected) to 2 Clinton picks. The fact that the two most contested appointments voted their dissent together in the recent right to die case and will most likely be joined very soon by Alito, another contested Justice, makes me think that far from being out of touch for the past 30 years, the Court is actually moving now into a brand new era of fuckedupitude. Wait, I just became the People for the American Way incarnate...

I think perhaps Tuesday will be my designated "Daily Kos-esque liberal talking points day." Does that work for everyone? I have to scoot now, but I will be back later for more coverage of all stuff huge in today's news; be ready for the gay Pinko Oscars, pissing off the Prophet, British tongue-biting, and Silvio "that's not an Italian sausage in my pocket" Berlusconi.