WHY would the Democrats have even compromised? The only reason for them to compromise is that they KNEW they didn't have the votes.
Why don't our Senators ACT like we have a majority?
Captain Ed summarizes:
What does all this tell us?
1. Saad got tossed under the bus, although it may come from a failed confirmation vote rather than a filibuster, no matter what Reid says. If Reid demands a filibuster and all seven Democratic signatories support it, it will qualify as "bad faith," resulting in a resurrection of the Byrd option. I think all seven GOP signatories agreed to oppose Saad in a floor vote.
2. Myers may also have been tossed under the bus, although it looks from this that it may still be left to the individual conscience of the Senators.
3. Other than that, it appears that we have returned to status quo ante with an implicit admission from the GOP that filibusters are legitimate, and a matching one from the Democrats that they abused it. "Extraordinary circumstances" will probably be deciphered as ethics problems and not ideology, although the language after Part II-B seems to warn the White House about nominating strict ideologues to the bench from now on.
What we don't know is how this affects the rest of the nominees in the pipeline. One has to assume that the agreement explicitly names all those considered to have issues, and that all other nominees will be treated in accordance with the new rules from the centrists. That will prevail for as long as they can remain united in defense of their agreement.
In short, this could be merely objectionable and not a debacle, depending on how the GOP signatories interpret "extraordinary circumstances". One must suspect that this has already been defined confidentially within the group, and like Sean Rushton surmises, ideology doesn't play a part in it any longer. Under no circumstances can this be seen as a good deal for the Senate majority or for Constitutional rule. The net effect is that an even smaller minority in the Senate has hijacked the confirmation process than we saw during the filibusters -- and like all tyrannies, we can only hope for benevolent despotism rather than disaster.
And we can thank Bill Frist for his lack of leadership and resolve for taking a majority and turning it into a minority. Not One Dime for the NRSC as long as Frist remains majority leader, or for the Seven Dwarves ever.
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/004545.php
"Why don't our Senators ACT like we have a majority?"
Because we don't. These 7 Senators are not real Republicans, so the Demorats have as much control as we do.
The only solution is to nominate conservative Senatorial candidates in EVERY state and take our chances. I'm sick and tired of operating under the illusion that we have a Senate majority when we really don't.
For starters, the 'RATS NEVER compromise on anything. They have the Media behind them 150++++%.
...The Beltway Republicans, on the other hand, want the 'RAT Media to like them, so therefore they go on the Sunday snooze shows and suck up to the likes of Tim Russert and Wolf Blitzer. They also clamor to get a quote or two in the New York Times, Washington Post, or any other 'mainstream' publication that will print anything dinegrating about the Bush Administration. And the really sad and disgusting part about it all is, as Rush Limbaugh has said many times on his show, it makes little or no difference to the Liberal press: no matter what these RINOs do or say, they STILL...DO...NOT...LIKE...ANY...KIND...OF...REPUBLICAN...PERIOD.
Until these fools get this through their thick skulls of mush, we'll keep getting the same garbage over and over. They'd sure as heck had better wake up.
-Regards, T.