Is He or Isn't He?

The news section at Backstreets now has a partial transcript of the Alito hearings from the New York Times. Backstreets links to the full transcript, by the way.

Here's the cut and paste:

ALITO V. THE CRUSHING HAND OF FATE

As reported below, Supreme Court
nominee Samuel Alito can be counted as a Springsteen fan. The subject of the
Boss actually came up in this week's confirmation hearings, in this exchange
with Senator Dick Durbin from Illinois on January 11:

DURBIN: Let me ask you, if I might, to reflect on a couple other
things. You're a Bruce Springsteen fan?

ALITO: I am to some degree, yes.
[Emphasis mine.]

DURBIN: I guess most people in New Jersey would be. They should be.

ALITO: There was a movement some time ago -- we don't have an official
state song and there was a movement to make "Born to Run" our official state
song. But it didn't quite make it.

DURBIN: We'll stick with Lincoln in Illinois, but I can understand your
commitment to Bruce Springsteen. They once asked him: How do you come up with
the songs that you write and the characters that are in them? And he said, I
have a familiarity with the crushing hand of fate. It's a great line. I want to
ask you about the crushing hand of fate in several of your decisions....

Yesterday, I thought Alito had at least 3 redeeming qualities.

#3: He likes cheesesteak.
#2: He likes firearms.
#1: He likes Bruce.

That mealy-mouthed response means we can cross the most important reason to like Sam Alito right off the list. Nobody is a Springsteen fan "to some degree." Either he is, or he isn't.

My guess: He's trying to appease the liberals. Sorry, Sam. It almost worked, but the folks at Backstreets caught you.

Next time, make up your mind. To some degree.

Adam