The 60's Cultural Divide Still Pollutes America

John Leo has a good piece at RealClearPolitics.com on the 60's cultural divide, and how it was on display front and center during the Alito hearings. My favorite line:

Republican Lindsey Graham expressed alarm at the threat of terror. Democrats Patrick Leahy and Russell Feingold sounded alarmed by counterterrorism.

You can't say it any better than that. Here are some other gems:

We had some racial rhetoric, as well. Since the '60s, white ethnics have usually been denounced as crude and racist by the Democratic elites. This showed up in the rumor that Alito had made up a story about his father combating racism. The story was true. The rumor was false. Kennedy sounded the note of racism too, charging (falsely) that Alito had never written a decision on behalf of an African-American. He has written at least seven decisions supporting racial bias claims by blacks.

[...]

The Democrats appeared surprised that Alito opposed tailoring U.S. court decisions to those reached in foreign courts. U.S. elites chafe under the old-fashioned rule that federal judges should look to the Constitution for guidance rather than to elites in Britain, France or Canada.

[...]

Democrats also made clear that justices should rule in accordance with the size of plaintiffs -- "little guys" are always in the right, whereas big guys, particularly if they are corporate guys, are always wrong and frequently evil. As John Roberts said during his hearings, when the Constitution supports the little guy, I'll come down on the little guy's side. When it supports the big guy, I'll come down on the big guy's side. To sizeists, this is a revolutionary idea.

The Democrats spent a great deal of time fretting about abortion, even after Alito made clear that he had already said what he wanted to say. The technical term for the Democratic effort here is "fund-raising." Powerful pro-abortion groups like NARAL, NOW and People for the American Way channel a great deal of money to Democrats, who are thus heavily inclined to sing for their future suppers.

And finally, the ultimate violation of the liberal handbook:

The biggest news was that the Democrats made Mrs. Alito cry, a clear violation of the party's sensitivity rules. He will be confirmed.

Read the whole thing here.