Dear Alito Opponents,

You’re in the friggin’ minority. Get used to it.

Best, Jim

PS: Say, have you heard anything about the health of Justices Stevens or Ginsburg? Just asking.

At an earlier time in his life, President Bush would have had a less polite response to the Kennedy-Kerry attempted filibuster.

Cam: “Screw ‘Em” strikes again. By the way, this is his expert advice on how to change the Senate.

We need more Dems, and we need more good Dems.

Gee, you think if you get more Dems in Congress that the Dems might be able to win votes? That is stunning political punditry. I can’t wait to hear what our resident political consultant has to say about that.

Marshall: It’s not overstating it to say today’s vote is a complete and total repudiation of a six-year strategy by Dems in the Senate (and a twenty year effort by liberal legal thinks like Laurence Tribe) to make ideology fair game in judicial confirmations. It’s also a total repudiation of the filibuster strategy. With any luck, we’ve seen the last of the filibuster’s use to block judicial confirmations — at all levels.

Politically, the Dems who opposed the filibuster and voted to end the debate are the smart ones. They understand that voters have repeatedly rejected the Democrats’ obstructionist tactics over the last two elections. They also understood that a return to the failed strategy of obstruction would harm them at the ballot box this fall. In that way, the impending election actually worked to smooth the way for Judge Alito’s confirmation — a fact that runs counter to normal conventional wisdom.

As for the Kossaks bemoaning the Democrats who wouldn’t toe the line — they’re right. Their strategy failed. They lost. The only way to make it succeed is to elect more Democrats. But the thing that the Kossaks don’t understand is that confirming Judge Alito is better for their party long term (and will be more conducive to electing Democrats) than obstructing his confirmation.

Marshall again: Here’s a question to comtemplate…

A lot of people like me spent years getting ready for this fight. Three years ago when I first started paying close attention to Supreme Court nominations, the propsect of getting Sam Alito on the High Court was a pipe dream. Now it’s a dream come true. Why?

Experts — myself included — expected this to be a pitched battle, on the order of the Thomas or Bork nominations. But in the end, Americans met this nomination with yawn. With the exception of the most vociferous partisans on the right and, especially, the left, most Americans just didn’t get into it. Why?

Jim, I bet you have an idea…

Cam: Ooh, ooh! Mistah Kottah, Mistah Kottah!!! I’m guessing it has something to do with the fact that there are people out there that are actively trying to kill us?

Jim: Marshall, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of the filibuster on judges, particularly Supreme Court nominations. The Democratic base now expects it. How will Reid or any other Democratic leader explain not using a filibuster on the next nominee? The Kossack/Deaniac/angry base never sees any result as a reason to stop a particular tactic; like a feedback loop, the answer is always, “Get angrier! Fight harder!”

On the question of, why did Americans generally react with a yawn? Three big reasons. One, it ain’t 1987 anymore, and Borking is dead and buried. Ted Kennedy can’t define a nominee within minutes of his naming by bellowing “segregated lunch counters” from the floor of the Senate. Amazingly, the Democrats attempted the Borking tactic against Alito, as if there had been absolutely no changes to the media, political and technological environment since the 1980s.

Two, Alito really is in the mainstream of American political thought, or at least he’s way closer to the middle than Kennedy, John Kerry, Chuck Schumer, Barbara Boxer, etc. These deep-blue state Dems walk around with a wildly exaggerated sense of how popular their views are.

Three, Alito himself, particularly as he appeared in the hearings, is a boring, milquetoast guy. Both parties have activist groups that feel really, really intensely about the judiciary. But at the end of the day, these activist groups can only persuade the American people so much. When a guy who is as smart, well-regarded, and let’s face it, dry and dull as Alito comes along, the American people are not going to look at him and say, “Oh yeah. Definitely the second coming of Torquemada.”

Cam, hate to spoil your “Horshack moment”, but this is the one case out of 100 where I won’t say, “Everything in today’s politics has been affected by 9/11″ and then blatantly plug the book.

Cam: Ah, but Jim… you’re forgetting that Sam Alito has been nicknamed “Machine Gun Sammy” by the folks at the Brady Campaign. This has all been part of a plot to drop Alito deep into the wilds of Afghanistan, armed to the teeth. The last words Osama bin Laden will ever hear will be… “Justice is served.”

Okay, maybe not. I just wanted to give you a chance to plug the book.