Alito nomination a sign of Bush's weakness

The Bush administration's decision to nominate Samuel Alito '72 to the Supreme Court is, to parrot the words of Democratic congressional leadership this week, a sign of "weakness." Bush was elected to office in 2000 by a minority of the electorate. Bush has consistently lacked the political strength, if he ever harbored the political will, to make good on his campaign pledge to be "a uniter, not a divider."

While Republicans control the legislative and executive branches of government, their electoral grip is not so firm that they have ever been able to disappoint the extreme right wing of their party. Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court — and that nomination's subsequent strangulation in the crib — is an excellent example of the Bush administration's weakness leading to lurches to the political right, in obeisance of extreme social conservatives.

The Alito nomination is one such lurch to the right. As arch-conservative commentators, pundits and special-interests yank on the leash they have fastened to this White House, Bush is left with little choice but to obey.

Who will support the President if he upsets the far-right-wingers? He long ago incensed many Democrats to the point of near-unreason. Independents and libertarians are freaked out by the recent ethics scandals that are tainting the past, present and future statements of Republican leaders. Bush's approval ratings are at Carterand Nixon-level lows. Indeed, one can understand why Bush is catering to his far-right constituency — he doesn't believe that anyone else will support him if he moves to the political center.

Judge Alito's unambiguous record as a conservative acolyte who opposes a woman's right to choose and would eviscerate the Family and Medical Leave Act — in stark contrast to the Justice he would be replacing — seems to be just what the Rove White House ordered: It is red meat for rabid conservatives to feast on, and it will be a colorful distraction for a national press corps finally beginning to suspect that the Emperor is, in fact, completely naked. Alexander Djerassi '06 is a Wilson School major from San Francisco, Calif. He is the speaker chair of the College Democrats.