Deals

Well, it looks like some Senators have come together to make a deal on filibusters of judicial nominations.  It looks like President Bush's most "controversial" nominees will get their up-or-down votes from the full Senate and democRats won't be able to filibuster.  Furthermore, enough democRats now pledge not to filibuster future nominations outside of "extreme circumstances," whatever that means.

This sucks.

Why?  Don't we want up-or-down votes?

Yes, in the short-term, this is good.  We will see the confirmations of Priscilla Owen, William Pryor, and Janice Rogers Brown.

What sucks is that we have taken a step BACKWARDS when it comes to minority groups running the Senate.  Before today, it took 40 members to stymie the majority.  Now, only 14 members from both parties, acting together, have the power to dictate the outcome of the Senate.

We have gone from having 55 Republicans and 45 democRats (including the "independent" Jim Jeffords) to having 86 useless partisans and 14 all-powerful moderates.

And just what does this "deal" actually mean?  Well, the two most well-known nominees, Owen and Brown, will get their appointments.

They would have gotten them anyway.  Republicans had the votes to change Senate rules to prevent filibusters on judicial nominations.  But now, democRats can claim the moral high ground and say they are working with Republicans to save the Senate.  And now, having made this concession, they have made it possible to go on filibustering all the remaining nominations under the umbrella of "extreme circumstances."  But because they have made the important step of conceding the "controversial" nominations, the democRats have positioned themselves in such a way that it will now be far more difficult for Senator Frist to assemble enough votes to change the rules. 

In other words, by throwing us a bone, a bone we could have taken for ourselves, they have succeeded in ensuring that they can continue to filibuster every other nomination they choose.

This is what happens when moderate Republicans take it upon themselves to "build unity" or "consensus" with moderate democRats.  We went from getting all of our nominations to getting three, with a guarantee that filibusters will not go away this session.

What really ticks me off is that John McCain (M-Media, the M stands for "Maverick," which is apparently the party he has chosen, and the Media seem to be his favorite constituents) is taking the credit for this.  McCain cares more about looking good in the media as a consensus builder, all the better for his 2008 Presidential bid.  He has sold out his party, and sold out the Senate, to consolidate power among 14 of 100 Senators.

I hope real Republicans remember this when the primaries come.

Thank you, John McCain.  You have guaranteed the continuation without chance of stopping Senate filibusters of judicial nominations until after the 2006 elections.  And what did we get in return?  Votes on three nominees that we would have had anyway without your damn meddling.

I feel like a Scooby Do villain: we would have gotten away with it if it weren't for that meddling John McCain!  Great way to win support, there, John.  You might have the media in your pocket... now.  But you'll never be the Republican nominee.  And if somehow you do end up on the ticket, you will be in for a rude awakening: no matter how much the media kisses your ass today, the moment you are the nominee, they will stab you in the back and give Hillary their all.  The day your name appears on the general election ballot, every skeleton in your closet will be thrown out on live television for all the world to see.  Every favor you ever granted will be forgotten.  The media will do everything in their power to destroy you.  Right now, they are happy to act like your friends, because you are the "maverick" Republican, the anti-Bush, and, most importantly, the one who is NOT running against someone named Clinton, Kerry, or Gore.  Once your status changes, you will become the target of their wrath, and their hatred of you will make their hatred of Bush look like a kindergarten dispute.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Comments

[W.C. Varones]

Another possibility: Cool Hand Frist.

http://wcvarones.blogspot.com/2005/05/filibuster-poker.html