No “Nuclear Option”. Filibusters to Continue Apace.
Some US Senators have reached an agreement to prevent the so-called “nuclear option” and to prevent filibusters on judicial nominations except in “extraordinary circumstances”.
Here is the gist of the agreement. Nominees Rogers-Brown, Pryor, and Owen will get up and down votes. There is no such guarantee for nominees Saad and Myers.
The spin is unbelievable. Senator McCain has essentially said that this agreement was a “win” for the Senate and for America.
On CNN, Joe Johns is claiming that the agreement preserves “debate” and said that “as long as I’ve been alive” the Senate has been a place for debate where a single Senator could effectively hold up any matter. Ummm…Joe, a Senator holding the floor and refusing to allow ayone else to proceed is exactly the opposite of “debate”.
Harry Reid is now speaking and has turned up the rhetoric to eleven. He says this agreement ensures that “checks and balances have been protected. The integrity of the Supreme Court has been protected form the influence of the vocal, radical right wing”. “Abuse of power will not be tolerated…grant[ing] absolute power is over”. Can you spot all the things factually wrong in just those couple of quotes?
“We have a Republic tonight. It’s been protected”.
About the President, “[He] should have a little more …humility is the word, I guess”.
He further says that “Michigan nominees will be approved…except for Saad, of course”. Well, of course.
He also says that Democrats will definitely filibuster Judge Myers. Let’s hope he wasn’t a signatory to the agreement. If he is, then it lasted not even an hour before he violated it by committing to filibuster both Myers and Saad.
B. Status of Other Nominees. Signatories make no commitment to vote for or against cloture on the following judicial nominees: William Myers (9th Circuit) and Henry Saad (6th Circuit).
What was that Senator McCain said about “good will” (as caught here, with plenty of good links, by Michelle Malkin)? The key words in the agreement are “extraordinary circumstances”. I honestly don’t know that that means, except for “any nominee the Democrats don’t like”. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon (or any other doctor, for that matter) to recognize that when the other side has been painting your President’s nominees as “extremists” and “out of the mainstream”, you’re already dealing with extraordinary circumstances.
Republican Senator Lindsay Graham made the most incomprehensible statement of the night. He said that he believes that filibustering judicial nominees is “unconstitutional” but that “in a time of war” it was more important for the Senate to proceed to do other things. So, apparently, Senator Graham believes that the Senate being allowed to proceed on things like the energy bill is more important than the Constitution? Well, enjoy your time as a Senator, because you just ended it tonight.
This agreement is simply horrible. Senator Frist basically rolled over, showed his belly, and relied on the hope that Reid wouldn’t savage him. That hope lasted just as long as it took for Reid to get in front of some reporters. Frist got less an one whole hour of happy faces from the Democrats. In exchange, he lost a significant part of the Constitution, any leverage he had as the leader of the majority party, and, very likely, the Republican majority by 2008. Well done, Senator. I hope your bowl of pottage tastes great.
UPDATE: Some very good reaction is coming by way of Patterico who says:
The next time John McCain runs for any elective office, I pledge to support his opponent. I will use my blog to encourage others to vote for his opponent.
I am singling him out because of his fascist campaign finance law, which will not stop me in any way from using this blog to oppose John McCain for the rest of his days.
That is my solemn pledge to you.
I’m with him all the way on this.
This, in short, has been a clear victory for the Democrats and a massive failure for the GOP and the White House. The GOP just endorsed the filibuster, and will have no intellectual capacity to argue against its use later on. They sold the Constitution just to get less than half of its blockaded nominees through, and the result will be much less flexibility on future Supreme Court nominations.
Yeah…that bowl of pottage. I wonder if it tastes faintly of ashes.
The Democrats claim they will not filibuster again under any except “extraodinary circumnstances” — but judging from the left-wing advocacy groups’ ability to convince Charles Schumer et al. that a mainstream conservative is a threat to the very foundations of the Republic, I have a feeling that any conservative nominated to the Supreme Court will be deemed an “extraodinary” circumstance justifying a filibuster.
John McCain is in full peacock mode.
Others speak of “trust” ensuring the compromise holds. There is no trust. Democrats will not honor the agreement. It’s that simple.
Reid’s already broken it. Remember in the future that you read it here first.
UPDATE: Oh dear, the GOP has riled The Anchoress. When you’ve done that, you’ve done a bad, bad thing.
It’s gonna be a long cold day before the GNP sees a dime of my money. A long. Cold. Day.
…
Again. I’m staggered. I only joined the GOP because of W. This is really making me think I’m going to re-register as an Independent.
Senator Frist, President Bush? That’s your base right there, walking away from you. Want to get them back? GROW A FREAKING BACKBONE!
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Category: The Good Old US of A
