This is it - happy Hallow’een!
Well folks, this is it. Bush has nominated a firebreathing conservative to the US Supreme Court, just like we all feared. His name is Samuel Alito, and guess what? He was the lone dissenting voice on the court that struck down a law in Pennsylvania requiring women to tell their husbands before they could get an abortion.
And he’s no better on any other issue. His decisions have protected racist employers discriminating against black staff; allowed disability discrimination to continue; struck down the right to maternity leave and sick leave; and authorised the strip searching of a ten-year-old.
So Happy Hallow’een. You’d better be frightened. (A year ago, it could have been so different).
This strikes me as a big gamble, given the ongoing debacles for the Bush administration. While I can see why they would try to galvanize their socially conservative base, the real threat to the Republicans, both now and in 2008, is fractiousness within the party - notably between small government fiscal conservatives and the evangelical sort who are in charge. Personally, I hope very much that the former camp will win out. A shift towards greater centrism, from both parties, would be more than welcome at this point.