The Plank - "Orrin Hatch is reviving his delightful role as the Senate's prime enforcer of ethnic sensitivity. Last year, you may recall, the Mormon-American standard-bearer accused Democrats of opposing judges out of their rampant anti-Catholic bigotry. He spent much of yesterday delivering friendly warnings to Democrats to keep their hatred of Italian-Americans to themselves. At first, on NPR, he tried to be subtle:
Well, I hope not. I hope our friends on the other side have figured it out that, look, here's a really outstanding person, you know, an Italian-American person who basically has all the credentials that you would need, but albeit is conservative.
The senator further spelled out his plea on Fox News:
[They] think they own the Italian-American vote all up and down the East Coast. They don't, but they think they do. If they become offensive against somebody with the qualifications of Sam Alito, Judge Alito, then I think it's going to be held against them.
When asked to describe evidence of Democratic bigotry, which hadn't yet made its inevitable appearance, he told Fox that his warning was "a Sicilian message."
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