Alito sworn in as Supreme Court justice

From the AP via the Houston Chronicle:

The swearing-in came only hours after the Senate voted 58-42 to confirm Alito — a former federal appellate judge, U.S. attorney, and conservative lawyer for the Reagan administration from New Jersey — as the replacement for retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who has been a moderate swing vote on the court.

All but one of the Senate's majority Republicans voted for his confirmation, while all but four of the Democrats voted against Alito.

That is the smallest number of senators in the president's opposing party to support a Supreme Court justice in modern history. Chief Justice John Roberts got 22 Democratic votes last year, and Justice Clarence Thomas — who was confirmed in 1991 on a 52-48 vote — got 11 Democratic votes.

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I already knew it, but now I'm more sure than ever: the Democratic Party is absolutely useless. This kind of thing is supposed to be the entire point as far as progressives voting for Democrats goes. "Vote Democrat or we'll lose abortion rights." Well, I've been supporting Democrats, and it pretty much looks as though they've failed. I'm pretty convinced that with a little more arm twisting they could have gotten a filibuster together. But they didn't. And now we're fucked. Things won't change overnight, but, trust me, they will change. I'm disgusted. Not by the Republicans; they're simply being true to who they've been for decades. No, I'm disgusted with the Democrats. Sure, they may be liberal, but so what? They're clearly not willing take any risks when push comes to shove. Liberals and progressives have been played for suckers. The Democrats do not represent them. And now we're all totally screwed.

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