A few quick comments on the Senate's deal on the "nuclear option."
My guess is that the regular press commentariat will gush over it. The press corps loves examples of "bipartisanship."
On the down side, I hate to see Priscilla Owen and Janice Rogers Brown get to come to a vote, because it means they will almost certainly be approved. And both of them are bad judges.
But it seems that the Democrats come out of it better politically than the Republicans, at least in the short run. The main thing is that they've shown some real fight, on this and on Social Security. So far, Harry Reid is looking like a strong and effective Minority Leader.
And, for what it's worth, theocrat-in-chief James Dobson is upset that his heretofore good and faithful servant Bill Frist didn't push it to the all-out confrontation. Dark Lord Dick Cheney is also probably sad that he won't have the chance to take yet another bite out of the Constitution today.
This really means that the confrontation is postponed until Bush's first Supreme Court nominee comes up. That's why I'm not ready to get excited over the Republican "moderates" backing off the nuclear option right now. We'll see what happens when the Supreme Court fight comes to a head.
5 comments:
I'm with you, the real "dirty work" won't start until then. We'll see what happens. rich
Unless some secret deal has been cut, I think the Dem's have just cut their own throats, and Harry Reid held the knife.
I don't see how you can filibuster a nominee now that you have just made it clear that it would only be acceptable under extraordinary situations, and even then you will be hampered by the fact that you have bargained it away once before -- the pressure to compromise will be intense, and when you don't give in you will be the problem -- the unreasonable obstructionist.
I don't see how the Democrats will be able to stand up again -- having folded this time, I doubt very much that they will find the resolve to resist the pressure again.
This was no victory for the opposition. Bush got what he wanted, and he will be back for the rest. And now that the Democrats have backed down, it will be easy to get them to back down again.
Just as they have for five years running, they will back down and Bush will get what he wants.
Neil
I kind of feel like it was a cave in too, but I guess you have to choose your battles, and maybe there is some Supreme Court nomination pending that we need to be able to fillibuster? None of these judges will be good for regular Americans, and so in that respect the whole country loses, but maybe there is a larger battle coming up. We have limited options, we are without representation in the law making process, so maybe we need to save our amunition.
Fight the fights that we can win? I don't know. How many of these judges will be confirmed, and what will the damage be? These are desparate times, where you have to choose between the lesser evil. It's unfortunate and immoral, but it's reality.
Neil, I hope you're wrong. But "hope" is about as strong as I can make it at this point.
On balance, based on what I've heard so far, it sounds like the Democrats gained more than the Reps on this one. I even saw a suggestion somewhere that there was an understanding involved that at least one of the judges that are going to a vote will have enough Republicans voting against so that he/she won't be confirmed. It's a toss-up to me whether that one would be Brown or Owen.
The Republicans also seem to be floating the idea that the Democratic moderates involved in this deal may also be willing to break ranks on Social Security. In my mood at the moment, I think any Democratic Senator that does that should be formally kicked out of the party.
I hope that's just Republican wishful thinking. - Bruce
Bush is a man-shark reaching under our blouses -- compromise with him and the outcome will be complete surrender and ignominious defeat.
There is an old joke about the man who asks a woman if she would sleep with him for $100,000; when she agrees, he offers her $100. Indignant she asks "what kind of a girl do you think I am?" To which he replies "We've established that much - now we are haggling over the price".
Bad joke I guess, but it captures how I feel about this deal. We have let down our defenses. We feel safe swimming in the same tank as the man-shark -- even though his allies hold a majority in both houses. We have ventured out of our citadel and stand on a slippery and steeply pitched roof -- don't look down.
I think the public will grow tired of our protests next time. they will say -- we have heard it before, and even your guys thought the right answer was to give in rather than obstruct the business of the nation.
The public might have supported our resistance to over-reaching and extremism -- but by making a deal we have endorsed the Republican claims to legitimacy and reasonableness. This was a huge mistake, born of fear and weakness and a lack of savvy.
This is not how you win a fight.
Things will get worse from this point forward. I feel very sick.
Neil
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