# World's smallest violin playing for Samuel Alito's wife. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 12, 2006, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-smallest-violin-playing-for-samuel-alitos-wife/339720 "2006-01-12T22:05:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-smallest-violin-playing-for-samuel-alitos-wife/339720/141 "2006-01-13T13:20:37Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Cite? Why the fuck are you asking for a cite? Your whole OP was based upon your interpretation of the motive someone’s actions and you have no factual basis for your accusations. If you want to dish it out, expect to take it. Sheesh, grow a pair you fat cow. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-smallest-violin-playing-for-samuel-alitos-wife/339720/142 "2006-01-13T13:23:11Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > Your “entitled” to hear only what the appointee wants to talk about. Yes, this is the imperial view of the powers of the executive branch and the privileges of their nominees. > [@](#): > > Your remedy is that you can not vote to confrim him (if you’re a Senator). And the “I ain’t talking” mode _guarantees_ that some waverers will vote against a nominee. I could potentially excuse anti-abortion views and even doubts about whether _Roe_ was a good idea, if a nominee was open about his/her views. Lack of candor is not excusable. Even Alito’s mother knows where he stands. “Of course he’s against abortion” she has said. You guys calling Alito’s mom a liar? > [@](#): > > We appoint jsutices to be impartial and to look at the facts before they make a ruling. “Trust me, I’m impartial. Don’t you dare ask me for particulars.” The people who in **Diogenes** ’s words should “grow a pair” sit in the Senate. The days of the gentlemen’s club and the Prez having a right to whichever nominees he wants (unless they are outrageously unqualified or hiring illegal aliens) should be completely gone. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-smallest-violin-playing-for-samuel-alitos-wife/339720/143 "2006-01-13T13:24:42Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > That made me laugh out loud. Was it deliberate? Very subtle, if so. Deliberate, but unoriginal; I heard someone refer to them in passing as this on the radio yesterday, and I got my own juvenile snickers from it, so I had to share. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Walter\_Windchill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Walter\_Windchill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walter_Windchill)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-smallest-violin-playing-for-samuel-alitos-wife/339720/144 "2006-01-13T13:28:43Z")
Maybe she was crying because she realized she and her sisters and daughters were about to lose their reproductive freedom. ---
**Author:** ![Walter\_Windchill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Walter\_Windchill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walter_Windchill)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-smallest-violin-playing-for-samuel-alitos-wife/339720/145 "2006-01-13T13:46:05Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > It wasn’t my intention to make a big deal out of the wife. Hmm… > [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > [Waaahhhhhh](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/11/AR2006011101802.html)☹ > > Did those mean old Democrats hurt your widdle feewings? Well **grow a pair, you fucking cow**. The only think more disgusting than the (probably staged) little stunt of **Alito’s crybaby wife** sobbing for the cameras and leaving the room has been the way the Republicans (and Fox News) have tried to to play this up and milk it as though it has the slightest bearing on the hearings. Jesus Christ. Whatever happened to shame? I don’t see how anybody could distracted from your main point and think this thread was primarily an attack on Alito’s wife. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-smallest-violin-playing-for-samuel-alitos-wife/339720/146 "2006-01-13T14:58:08Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Yes, this is the imperial view of the powers of the executive branch and the privileges of their nominees. No, that’s the constitutional view. There is nothing in the constitution that compels a nominee even to appear before the Senate. > [@](#): > > And the “I ain’t talking” mode _guarantees_ that some waverers will vote against a nominee. That’s the chance the nominee takes. > [@](#): > > I could potentially excuse anti-abortion views and even doubts about whether _Roe_ was a good idea, if a nominee was open about his/her views. Lack of candor is not excusable. > > Even Alito’s mother knows where he stands. “Of course he’s against abortion” she has said. You guys calling Alito’s mom a liar? “Trust me, I’m impartial. Don’t you dare ask me for particulars.” > > The people who in **Diogenes** ’s words should “grow a pair” sit in the Senate. The days of the gentlemen’s club and the Prez having a right to whichever nominees he wants (unless they are outrageously unqualified or hiring illegal aliens) should be completely gone. Just because you couldn’t be impartion doesn’t mean others can’t. I haev no religious inclinations, and would love to have a complete wall of separation between church and state. But, if on the court, I would have to allow a certain amount of religion in the public sphere because the constutition does not construct that “complete wall”. You can be personally against the death penalty but recognize that the constitution doesn’t forbid it. Frankly, it’s folks like you, who want to politicize the SC nominations process, who guarantee that questions about \*Roe \*won’t be answered. Me, I’m more interested in how a justice looks at cases and what his broad judicial philosophy is rather then have him pronounce in advance how he’d rule on any given case. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-smallest-violin-playing-for-samuel-alitos-wife/339720/147 "2006-01-13T15:07:23Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Someone’s who has gotten as far in his legal career as Alito, has had ample time to digest _Roe_ and its implications, has a track record on abortion rights and the wholehearted support of the Bush Administration, cannot expect reasonable people to believe that he has no leanings whatsoever on _Roe v. Wade_ and no idea whether he might vote to overturn it. This is just dumb. The whole idea of these hearings is to determine weather or not the nominee can make his decisions based upon the law and not his personal bias. I don’t expect judges not to be human, I do expect them to vote in accordance with the law as they understand it regardless of their personal feelings. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-smallest-violin-playing-for-samuel-alitos-wife/339720/148 "2006-01-13T15:35:59Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > **Diogenes** : Good on you for seeing the light. Now, quit watching so much FoxNews!!! Fuck that shit. Dio’s OP, and his continued line of bewildering defense for it, was blantantly out of line. So much so, that any rational person should have easily recognized it for what it was while the thought was forming and he was typing the goddamn thing. And any of those rational persons, who wasn’t such a dick, would have refrained from posting it to begin with. **And** any of _those_ persons who wasn’t [it]relishing] being such an utter contemptible asshole, would have backed off long before post #84. I ain’t buying the apology as sincere. If he actually regrets anything, it’s that got caught showing his ass. His apology is simple expedience, nothing more. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-smallest-violin-playing-for-samuel-alitos-wife/339720/149 "2006-01-13T15:36:16Z")
[QUOTE=JackmanniiSomeone’s who has gotten as far in his legal career as Alito, has had ample time to digest _Roe_ and its implications, has a track record on abortion rights and the wholehearted support of the Bush Administration, cannot expect reasonable people to believe that he has no leanings whatsoever on _Roe v. Wade_ and no idea whether he might vote to overturn it. If someone running for Congress said that he could not answer questions about his support for abortion rights because it would depend on what abortion-related proposal might come up for a vote, the derision would be overwhelming. Supreme Court Justices, as we know full well, are not impartial godlike arbiters of the law but have political and philosophical leanings. We’re entitled to know about those views as much as possible before appointing nominees to lifetime terms.[/QUOTE] Alito has personal views on abortion, I’m sure. I also believe, with some evidence, that he can truthfully say that he will decide any case, even one concerning abortion, based on the law and on the arguments in the case. He did so in a way that might surprise you in one abortion case. [Alito Says Pennsylvania’s Pro-Life Law On Medicaid Abortions Too Strict; Didn’t Allow “Physical, Psychological” Exceptions](http://www.theamericanview.com/index.php?id=473) > [@](#): > > Pro-abortion attorney Linda J. Wharton of the Women’s Law Project in Philadelphia said, in the “Philadelphia Daily News” (7/26/95), about Alito’s prevailing view: “This is a victory for abortion rights, absolutely.” And the “Christian Science Monitor” (11/02/05) quotes University of Pennsylvania Law Professor Seth Kreimer as praising Alito saying: “If he has anti-abortion philosophical leanings he did not let them warp his judgment in this case.” ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-smallest-violin-playing-for-samuel-alitos-wife/339720/150 "2006-01-13T15:41:20Z")
> [@Evil One](#): > > It’s too bad Senator Kennedy had to hurt her feelings while he was showing his ass. I guess the constant quest for ever-elusive political relevance is making him cranky. Yeah, I loved the way he totally lost his way on his prepared script full of invective and had to be correted by Boxer. Apparently, there was a key phrase that he had to say to catch the sound bites, and they were booked on talk shows right after the hearing to discuss that sound bite. And Ted nearly drowned them by going off-script. Oops…did I say that? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-smallest-violin-playing-for-samuel-alitos-wife/339720/151 "2006-01-13T16:18:41Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > Just because you couldn’t be impartion doesn’t mean others can’t. I haev no religious inclinations… Nor an inclination to proofread your posts, it would appear. > [@](#): > > Frankly, it’s folks like you, who want to politicize the SC nominations process, who guarantee that questions about \*Roe \*won’t be answered. Me, I’m more interested in how a justice looks at cases and what his broad judicial philosophy is rather then have him pronounce in advance how he’d rule on any given case. The Supreme Court nomination process has been politicized for a very long time thanks to both liberals and conservatives. It’s only when one side’s perceived champion faces a bit of tough questioning that his supporters whine about politics. As to strict adherence to legal precedent, funny how that breaks down when someone on the Right wants something. We don’t know for sure if Alito will concur in a complete overturn of _Roe_, or more likely, generally concur in the “death of a thousand cuts” approach to whittling away its protections. We should not have to guess about intentions. It is interesting that on the one hand, we have Alito supporters shocked, _shocked_ that anyone could conceive that their guy is being evasive about his views, claiming that he must be accepted as a model of candor, and then with a straight face saying that opponents couldn’t face the truth if it were presented to them. Sorry, can’t have it both ways. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-smallest-violin-playing-for-samuel-alitos-wife/339720/152 "2006-01-13T16:43:47Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Nor an inclination to proofread your posts, it would appear. Pffftt. > [@](#): > > The Supreme Court nomination process has been politicized for a very long time thanks to both liberals and conservatives. It’s only when one side’s perceived champion faces a bit of tough questioning that his supporters whine about politics. > > As to strict adherence to legal precedent, funny how that breaks down when someone on the Right wants something. Who said anything about “strict adherence to legal precedent”? What does that mean, anyway? If strict means unwavering, I would hope we’d never nominate any justice to the SC who held that view. > [@](#): > > We don’t know for sure if Alito will concur in a complete overturn of _Roe_, or more likely, generally concur in the “death of a thousand cuts” approach to whittling away its protections. We should not have to guess about intentions. > > It is interesting that on the one hand, we have Alito supporters shocked, _shocked_ that anyone could conceive that their guy is being evasive about his views, claiming that he must be accepted as a model of candor, and then with a straight face saying that opponents couldn’t face the truth if it were presented to them. No one is shocked about his evasiveness. That is SOP, thanks to partisans on both sides of the aisle. If you don’t want to see \*Roe \*attacked, then get legislation passed that prevents it. But to hide behind something called “strict adherence to legal precedent” is laughable on the face of it. ---
**Author:** ![New\_Iskander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/db5fbb/32.png) [@New\_Iskander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Iskander)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-smallest-violin-playing-for-samuel-alitos-wife/339720/153 "2006-01-13T17:10:41Z")
I know **DtC** has apologized and withdrew his ‘cow’ remark, but I feel kinda merciless this morning, so I throw two more weeping bovines on the altar: One bull: [A decorated Vietnam veteran, he choked back tears during his remarks to reporters.](http://apnews.myway.com/article/20051117/D8DUG8207.html) And one cow: [A Mother’s Tears](http://realvoices.org/rv/cindy.html) ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-smallest-violin-playing-for-samuel-alitos-wife/339720/154 "2006-01-13T18:38:17Z")
> [@New Iskander](#): > > I know **DtC** has apologized and withdrew his ‘cow’ remark, but I feel kinda merciless this morning, so I throw two more weeping bovines on the altar: > > One bull: [A decorated Vietnam veteran, he choked back tears during his remarks to reporters.](http://apnews.myway.com/article/20051117/D8DUG8207.html) > > And one cow: [A Mother’s Tears](http://realvoices.org/rv/cindy.html) What the bleeding fuck is this shit supposed to prove, dickwipe? Some people have good reason to cry, some don’t What the fuck is your point? ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-smallest-violin-playing-for-samuel-alitos-wife/339720/155 "2006-01-13T19:01:47Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Some people have good reason to cry, some don’t What was Judge Alito’s wife’s reason for crying? Or are you the all-knowing arbeiter of when people should release saline? Can people cry at weddings? Funerals? When the national anthem is played? At pictures of kittens? When they have a hissy fit? ---
**Author:** ![light\_strand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a6a055/32.png) [@light\_strand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/light_strand)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-smallest-violin-playing-for-samuel-alitos-wife/339720/156 "2006-01-13T19:06:56Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > …Can people cry at weddings? Funerals? When the national anthem is played? At pictures of kittens? When they have a hissy fit? no, yes, no, no, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-smallest-violin-playing-for-samuel-alitos-wife/339720/157 "2006-01-13T19:08:09Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > What was Judge Alito’s wife’s reason for crying? Or are you the all-knowing arbeiter of when people should release saline? Can people cry at weddings? Funerals? When the national anthem is played? At pictures of kittens? When they have a hissy fit? I know her husband wasn’t being “abused” or “mistreated” as the Republicans claimed. I know she was given no legitimate reason to cry by the process itself. The reason I backed off her was because I was convinced that she might have been crying for other reasons than the questioning by Democrats, but I was just following the Republican line in making that assumption. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-smallest-violin-playing-for-samuel-alitos-wife/339720/158 "2006-01-13T20:08:22Z")
> [@light strand](#): > > no Why do you hate kittens? ---
**Author:** ![light\_strand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a6a055/32.png) [@light\_strand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/light_strand)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-smallest-violin-playing-for-samuel-alitos-wife/339720/159 "2006-01-13T20:10:41Z")
I’m a dog person ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-smallest-violin-playing-for-samuel-alitos-wife/339720/160 "2006-01-13T20:27:10Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Apparently none of you watched the rest of the hearings. It turned absolutely awful. Martha Ann Bomgardner lost it again and had to calmed by the same people questioning her husband. > > The official transcript hasn’t been released yet but through my job I have an RSS of the transcript before it’s made public. > > **SENATE FLOOR, 12 JAN 2006 > ALITO CONFIRMATION HEARINGS FOR THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES** > **CHARLES SCHUMER, D-NY** > While the process is not yet over … the evidence before us makes it very hard for us to vote yes on your nomination. I just have to tell you that I remain very troubled, not by anything in your personal history, so much as by your judicial views… > > **MARTHA ANN BOMGARDNER** > Let him go! Let him go! I’ll blow your fuckin’ head off! I’ll kill ya! I’ll kill ya! You’re gonna die, you’re gonna fuckin’ die bad! > > **ROBERT BYRD, D-WV** > Tell that bitch to be cool! Say, bitch be cool! Say, bitch be cool! > > **JUDGE SAMUEL ALITO** > Chill out, honey! > > **MARTHA ANN BOMGARDNER** > Let him go! > > **DIANNE FEINSTEIN, D-CA** > (softly) > Tell her it’s gonna be okay. > > **JUDGE SAMUEL ALITO** > I’m gonna be okay. > > **JOSEPH R. BIDEN, D-DE** > Promise her. > > **JUDGE SAMUEL ALITO** > I promise. > > **ARLEN SPECTOR, R-PA** > Tell her to chill. > > **JUDGE SAMUEL ALITO** > Just chill out. > > **CHARLES SCHUMER, D-NY** > What’s her name? > > **JUDGE SAMUEL ALITO** > Martha Ann. > > **ROBERT BYRD, D-WV** > So, we cool Martha Ann? We ain’t gonna do anything stupid, are we? > > **MARTHA ANN BOMGARDNER** > (crying) > Don’t you hurt him. > > **TED KENNEDY, D-MA** > Nobody’s gonna hurt anybody. We’re gonna be like three Fonzies. And what’s Fonzie like? > > (No Answer) > > **TED KENNEDY, D-MA** > C’mon Yolanda, what’s Fonzie like? > > **MARTHA ANN BOMGARDNER** > (through tears, unsure) > He’s cool? > > **TED KENNEDY, D-MA** > Correct-amundo! And that’s what we’re gonna be, we’re gonna be cool. can I share this? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-smallest-violin-playing-for-samuel-alitos-wife/339720.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worlds-smallest-violin-playing-for-samuel-alitos-wife/339720.md?page=9)