Alito clear for take-off

Senate Clears the Way for Final Vote on Alito Confirmation:

Mr. Kennedy said Judge Alito's decisions "demonstrate a systematic tilt toward powerful institutions and against individuals attempting to vindicate their rights."

"How can a clear record like that possibly justify a lifetime position on the Supreme Court?" Mr. Kennedy asked.

Mr. Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, said the Judge Alito had shown patterns that "demonstrate a hostility to the disadvantaged and the poor."

These are the heroes:

• Bayh, Evan (D-IN)
• Biden, Joseph R., Jr. (D-DE)
• Boxer, Barbara (D-CA)
• Clinton, Hillary Rodham (D-NY)
• Dayton, Mark (D-MN)
• Dodd, Christopher J. (D-CT)
• Durbin, Richard (D-IL)
• Feingold, Russell D. (D-WI)
• Feinstein, Dianne (D-CA)
• Jeffords, James M. (I-VT)
• Kennedy, Edward M. (D-MA)
• Kerry, John F. (D-MA)
• Lautenberg, Frank R. (D-NJ)
• Leahy, Patrick J. (D-VT)
• Levin, Carl (D-MI)
• Menendez, Robert (D-NJ)
• Mikulski, Barbara A. (D-MD)
• Murray, Patty (D-WA)
• Obama, Barack (D-IL)
• Reed, Jack (D-RI)
• Reid, Harry (D-NV)
• Sarbanes, Paul S. (D-MD)
• Schumer, Charles E. (D-NY)
• Stabenow, Debbie (D-MI)
• Wyden, Ron (D-OR)

Americans got one last reminder of the problems with Judge Alito, and why they deserve better. It'll be a few years until we can nominate better people, but hopefully there will be a few more votes for sensible, mainstream jurists within a year.

Getting 25 votes on this long-shot was a victory not just for the Democrats, but for the blogosphere, which put persistent pressure on the leadership in Congress to stand up for themselves, to go down fighting if they must go down.