Who does this woman think she is?

Turns out Cindy Sheehan has threatened to run against Senator Diane Feinstein if Feinstein does not filibuster the nomination of Samuel Alito. I guess that Sheehan, on top of enjoying "absolute moral authority" on the issue of Iraq, also has moral authority on Constitutional Law.

Turns out that she is against Alito because:

Sheehan is the grieving military mother whose vigil outside President Bush’s ranch in Crawford last summer focused the nation’s attention on the human cost of the Iraq war. Her son Casey was killed in Iraq in April 2004.

Judge Alito has an extensive paper trail documenting the right-wing political agenda that he has actively advanced, not only as a high-ranking official in the Reagan Administration, but also as a judge. He has publicly supported the "Unitary Executive" theory, a radical notion that the President holds exclusive and inherent authority to execute all federal law. He has supported efforts to curtail privacy rights, including not only privacy from government surveillance and arbitrary arrest, but also other constitutional rights based on privacy, such as reproductive liberty for women. Alito has outspokenly sought to restrict Congress' power, limiting the scope of the Commerce Clause of Article I of the Constitution. In addition, he has consistently applied his discretion as a judge in favor of certain interests and against others. He rarely votes against big business, police or prosecutors.

But how she feels about Alito's opinion's or the implications of them is of no importance. Justices are there to interpret the Constitution. There are strong arguments for the way that many purport him to feel (and for an excellent response to those feelings, read this, and for a great response to that, read this).

Regardless, this is a woman who has spent a little too long hanging out with hero worshipers. It is ridiculous for her to think that she will win any election. The best she will do is hand a Republican a Senate seat by diverting Democratic votes, or by forcing Feinstein to turn left. And turning left is just what the Democrats need to do to start winning elections.

Well, I'll tell you that if they do, they might gain Sheehan's vote, but they will quickly lose mine because there are some people in this country who don’t really give a shit about the difference between big and small business, especially when big business is more efficient. There are some people who stand for free trade and for market solutions to problems, not because they are cold or heartless, but because they actually make peoples lives better.

There are some people who are against the disgusting self-interest of public sector unions, most notably teachers unions, whose work against merit pay and longer employment before tenure is holding our education system behind the rest of the world. There are some people who are for a robust defense force, and for fighting a war on terror. [If you haven’t noticed, I am ranting…gar!]

As one of those people, I feel sorry for Ms. Sheehan’s loss, but people die in wars; that doesn’t mean they should never be fought. If Ms. Sheehan has reasons for withdrawing from Iraq outside of, “My son died, and we were lied to,” then I don’t really care much for her opinion (not like I ever have). If her reasons against Alito are nothing but, “my son died and Mr. Alito’s interpretation of the constitution might necessitate that in the future,” I also don’t care.

Here is to hoping Ms. Sheehan disappears, much like she did this summer. The country only stands to gain when people with inane opinions like her own are ignored.

-Mr. Alec