Specter: No evidence Alito belonged to CAP

Talk about a rock and a hard place: Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter claims that an overnight search of records in the Library of Congress revealed "no evidence" that Sam Alito was involved in the Concerned Alumni for Princeton. [Reuters]

CAP is the reactionary Princeton alumni group founded primarily to oppose the admission of female and minority students.

Alito claimed to have been a member of CAP in his job application to the Reagan Justice Department.

In in his questionaire for the Senate Judiciary Committee Alito disclosed that he had belonged to CAP. Later, during his confirmation hearing, Alito claimed under oath he couldn't remember anything about CAP.

"Other than that document, I have no recollection of being a member, of attending meetings, or otherwise participating in the activities of the group," Alito said.

So, according to Specter, Alito is lying about belonging to a hate group to appear more hateful than he really was in order to get a job?

Comments

[gordo]

In fairness to Specter, he appears to be asserting that Alito had no active involvement in the organization, based on the internal documents of the CAP.

That said, Alito's assertion that he knew little of the CAP beyond its efforts to return ROTC to campus is an obvious lie. If he knew so little of the organization and its agenda, it's doubtful that he would have elected to claim membership when he filled out his 1985 application to the Justice Department.

Ed Meese was a known quantity, and everyone knew that he would be looking for people who opposed aggressive enforcement of discrimination laws. Alito would have known that putting the CAP on his resume would help him, but only if he knew the group's agenda.

For Specter and the other Republicans to pretend that membership in a radical organization is of no consequence is simply disingenuous. The guy was a member of an organization that wanted to exclude women later ruled that a woman should have to check with her husband in order to get an abortion. It's really not hard to see a pattern.

Incidently, another member of CAP was the National Review's Dinesh Dsouza. It was he who set off the "political correctness" panic with his book, "Illiberal Education: the Politics of Race and Sex on Campus." It included anecdotes of leftist extremism, but his membership in CAP reveals, I think, the real agenda behind the attacks on "political correctness."

[Tom Head]

Here's what I don't get: According to a recent poll, 61 percent of Americans want Roe v. Wade to remain the law of the land, and yet 54 pecent want Samuel Alito to be confirmed.

So what am I supposed to think of the (bare minimum) 15 percent of the population who support both Alito and Roe v. Wade? Are they naive or just stupid?

And I sincerely hope the NOW pulls an NRA on any so-called pro-choice politicians who back this candidate, because a vote for Alito would do FAR more to actually criminalize abortion than any of the anti-abortion legislation of the past 20 years.

I feel like I'm in the twilight zone here, with Arlen Specter going to bat for a candidate who's going to try to set women's rights back 40 years. Never mind the other issues. In 2005, women's rights should be enough.

Cheers,

TH

[Tom Head]

(And in 2006, too, but you get my drift.)

[Squashed Lemon]

hmm........

what other things can't he remember next?

This guy seems to be typical Bushco liar who parse about evrything.

[j swift]

There is no evidence he was member. So if in fact he was he is a liar.

If truly was not a member of the group he just lied on his resume' and is still a liar

He padded it with an membership to a racist organization without knowing what the group really was. A liar and stupid

Lets see he is either a racist, a racist and a liar, or a liar, or a liar and stupid.

Well hell, I guess any of those qualities makes him a good choice for Republican SCOTUS.

[Trystero]

So what am I supposed to think of the (bare minimum) 15 percent

There really needs to be this option on every poll: (f) I can barely tie my shoes and remember to wear pants when leaving the house. Could you please not ask my opinion on important stuff?

[Trystero]

Or, as they put it on the West Wing: "Because nine percent think [foreign aid is] too high, and shouldn't be cut! Nine percent of respondents could not fully get their arms around the question. There should be another box you can check for, 'I have utterly no idea what you're talking about. Please, God, don't ask for my input.'"

[Joseph]

O.k. that makes him a liar. If you put it on a resume it has to be a fact. He should be disqualified for lying. That and who takes there wife to a job interview.

[gordo]

j swift--

He wouldn't have pulled an organization out of a hat to pad his resume. He knew what the organization was about. And he would have assumed that they would know if lied about being in CAP--there were lots of Princeton Old Boys in the Reagan Administration.

[Alon Levy]

So what am I supposed to think of the (bare minimum) 15 percent of the population who support both Alito and Roe v. Wade? Are they naive or just stupid?

When asked about what they think of abortion restrictions, most Americans support more restrictions than are permissible under Roe. If I'm not mistaken, about 60% of the American people say they support Roe, but 60% say they support restricting abortion more than current rulings permit.

[ghostcatbce]

What Spector declines to remember, is that the Democrats on the Commitee asked for copies of any papers having to do with Alito's stint in CAP. Guess what? They were refused.