Alito Hearings: Scripted Stage -Complete with Sobbing Wife

I listened to about 45 minutes of key questioning of Alito on January 11. I was stunned at by how many times Alito refused to answer a direct question, deflecting efforts to elicit a straightforward response on a variety of topics by changing the subject, answering a question that wasn't asked, or bringing in confounding issues that didn't bear directly on the question. Then there were the times Alito claimed to have, within a few years, completely changed his position on some issues. When Kerry's responses to questions were even a fraction as evasive as this during campaign 2004, the media lambasted him, called him "flip-flopper" "slippery," and other derisive terms. So how do they describe Alito? "Cool under pressure," "great equanimity," and "admirable calm." HUH?

Another sharp contrast between the media's treatment of Kerry and Alito - the "upset wife" syndrome. When Kerry's wife, Heinz, snapped emotionally at a reporter (the famous "Shove it!" outburst) - a reporter who was directly hounding her - the media went ballistic and harped on the "out of control" woman for days! The "Washington Post" used the outburst as "evidence" that Kerry's campaign of restoring a "civil tone" to Washington was hypocritical.

Yet when Alito's wife acted like a complete basket case, sobbing like someone in desperate need of some sort of medication because Democrats were being "meanies" to her poor hubby, the media was there to capture her the image with sympathy and indignation! Martha-Anne's pathetic and embarrassing performance was obviously designed - with cynical calculation, I might add - to elicit a sympathy vote. Check out the contrast between the Post's treatment of Heinz Kerry and its portrayal of hystrionic Martha-Ann.

The Post on Heinz Kerry: The incident was used to discredit John Kerry's campaign claim of a more civil Washington.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14390-2004Jul26.html

The Post on Martha-Ann: They didn't just run a photo of a tearful Martha-Ann - they replayed the whole WhiteHouse script deptartment screenplay! And they didn't try to tie Martha'Ann's emotional instability to Alito's stances in any way, either!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/11/AR2006011101802.html

If this isn't evidence of continuing Post Bush propaganda I don't know what is!

Worse still, there are already very credible rumors afloat that the entire "sobbing wife" episode was staged - a joint "production" by the White House and media. The evidence is there, for sure. Notice how poor little ole Martha-Anne was strategically positioned right behind Alito, but to the side a bit so the cameras would be sure to be able to capture the whole scene, movie-style. And notice how Linsday Graham was ready with his lines - and a dramatic little back-and-forth scene with Alito:

Graham (melodramatically): “Are you really a closet bigot?”

Alito: (with exaggerated meekness) "No."

Graham: (with Shakespearean flourish - no method acting here): “No sir, you’re not.”

Graham no doubt spent part of the evening before memorizing his lines and rehearsing them in front of his bathroom mirror, working hard to achieve just that note of "righteous indignation." He and Orrin Hatch probably drew straws as to who would read which lines - Hatch, being older, ended up playing the "sympathetic friend" role.

Hatch: “She’s sick and tired of the mistreatment of her husband." For added drama, Hatch also claimed that Martha-Ann was suffering from a migraine headache. (SOB!).

I mean, HOW DARE the Democrats demand that the Congress and American public have at least an inkling of how a potential Supreme Court Judge - a position that could last for decades - stands on upholding the values and laws of the nation? Why, it's enough to make a grown woman (at least a phony manipulative one) cry!

In any case, if the only way the White House can get their man onto the bench is through staged acts and sympathy ploys - while allowing him to slither out of every pointed question - then there MUST be something pretty darn sinister about Alito.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10818490/