While the Senate voted yesterday in favor of cloture in the Alito nomination and will almost certainly confirm the nominee today, there is a small light at the end of the tunnel. For the first time in recent memory, the leadership of the Democratic party chose to side with the activist wing of the party and take a principled stand against the extreme right wing of this country that wishes to turn back the clock on civil rights and economic progress. If you have a moment, thank these twenty five brave Senators who voted against the extremist views of Samuel Alito:

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)

Atrios points out that five of these Senators are up for re-election this year. And Digby has a wonderful post mortem up. Notice that every presidential hopeful in ‘08 voted against Alito. The tide is turning.

Politicalwire reports today that Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) is preparing to lead a filibuster against the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito (RRR-NJ). Sen. Kerry promised back in June of 2003 that he would filibuster any nominee to the Supreme Court who would threaten Roe.

We’ll see how far he gets. Go Johnny Go!

“I am prepared to filibuster, if necessary, any Supreme Court nominee who would turn back the clock on a woman’s right to choose or the constitutional right to privacy, on civil rights and individual liberties and on the laws protecting workers and the environment.”

– Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), quoted by the AP, June 20, 2003.