Well Alito’s a sure thing and the Senate Dems should hang their heads in shame. There have been a number of great things written about the filibuster over the last few days that sum of my disgust with the Democratic establishment right now. This scenario from LiberalOasis perfectly sums up the beltway cowardice :

Senate Dems are perhaps heading into a worst-case scenario with the Alito nomination, at least, worst-case for the party’s reputation.

Achieving 41 “No” votes, yet not filibustering the nomination.
. . .
The Dem approach has the appearance of going through the motions — to give the allusion that a fight was waged, that principle was stood upon – in hopes that the base won’t be livid.
. . .
So if 41 or more Dems speechify as to all the damage Alito will wreak, yet choose not to do what they can to stop that damage, they will look like spineless idiots.

Walter Shapiro writing at Salon hits on the previous point with a look at how every side benefits from pretending to fight.

[A]s idealistic anti-Alito liberals rush off to sign petitions and phone their senators, I feel compelled to point out that some of the end-game moves in Washington have been motivated by (ssshhh!) self-interest. In hindsight, the battle was effectively over after the first day of the Senate hearings when the criminally verbose Judiciary Committee Democrats failed to sustain a clear and consistent anti-Alito argument with all those cable networks broadcasting live. When politicians and interest-group leaders know that they are going to lose, they automatically retreat to a can-I-get-anything-out-of-the-wreckage calculus. So moderate senators from red states like South Dakota’s Tim Johnson decide that they can buttress their independent credentials with home-state conservatives by supporting Alito, since the outcome would be the same no matter how he voted. Groups like People for the American Way realize that shrill calls for a filibuster might preserve their fundraising base even if their years of urgent appeals to prevent a right-wing Supreme Court takeover failed to change a single Senate vote. And Kerry — whose late entry into the anti-Alito fray can be partly excused by his not serving on the Judiciary Committee — is also aware that such dramatic gestures help him maintain an up-to-date, ready-for-’08 e-mail list of Democratic activists.

Matt Stoller writing at MyDD sums it all up pretty well and points out just how much we’ve been played :

Democratic insiders have failed at the art of politics. It’s that simple. Doing politics is not about saying the right thing at the wrong time, it’s about lining up a coalition to push the levers of social change. This they just don’t do. For instance, at no point has any insider pol or group leader laid out a strategy for victory. No one defined victory. No one laid out a path to get there. And no one communicated with various groups, including the netroots, on helping us be part of a coalition to win. The communications operation here is just atrocious. The insider groups have young communications staffers dealing with bloggers who collectively talk to 1 million people a day. These are talented people, but they aren’t setting strategy and they don’t have the juice to help us with this fight.

And don’t delude yourself, this is intentional. The attitude that the insiders have towards us is that we are a stupid ATM set up to feed their ineffectiveness. Witness uberinsider telling us the truth about where we fit in:

“The bloggers and online donors represent an important resource for the party, but they are not representative of the majority you need to win elections,” said Steve Elmendorf, a Democratic lobbyist who advised Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign. “The trick will be to harness their energy and their money without looking like you are a captive of the activist left.”

They are telling us, broadcasting to us, that they think we’re stupid. They think that having no campaign on Alito can easily be fixed by posting a diary on Daily Kos urging us to ‘fight’ a month after the fight has already been lost. It’s craven, it’s crass, it’s ridiculous.

As far as I’m concerned, my little ATM is closed. I’m throwing away every Democratic press release, no longer attending the blogger conference calls, ignoring the speeches, and no longer accepting any ads from any candidates or organizations directly affiliated to the Democratic party. This goes beyond the cowardly red state Dems or the craven panderers like John Kerry. The failure to work together is everyone’s problem and I can’t in good conscience support a party this party until there are some big, noticeable changes.

Their pathetic performance throughout this entire process has at times been enough to make me wonder if a Democratic majority would really be that much better than the status quo. Seriously Dems, why should people vote for you in November?? Because you’re willing to fight for…just kidding. Because you’ll kiss our asses instead of the religious right? No thanks. I don’t want my ass kissed, I don’t want a seat at the table, I just want to fight for progressive change. After today’s defeat, it’s hard to believe that the Democratic party has the ability or inclination seek that change.