The theme of the morning was abortion, with Alito studiously not saying that he would roll Roe v. Wade back at the first possible instance. No surprises there.
What does kind of amaze me, though, is that the questions have already begun on the limits of presidential power. And what’s really surprising is that he didn’t prevaricate: he views the Consitution as absolute, and that personal freedoms are especially important during wartime, because that is precisely when the tempation to violate them is strongest. These could of course be lies, but it’s the first time that any of Alito’s positions has coincided whatsoever with my own.
Elsewhere on the Alito Watch, Scott at Lawyers, Guns and Money has the best “concise” take on what happens to reproductive choice if Alito gets confirmed that I have yet read.
UPDATE: Over lunch, I managed to watch a few minutes of C-SPAN. I turned it on just in time to see Sen. Kyl basically asking what Alito thought of the tyranny of the atheist minority. Alito thinks it’s very difficult to decide cases in which two groups have incompatible rights, i.e. the atheist freedom of expression and the Christian freedom of expression are at loggerheads in the case of “under God” in the Pledge. Except this isn’t a speech issue, it’s a separation issue, and having a teacher lead a classroom in saying “under God” is establishing a religion. Period.