Posted on 11/18/2004 8:14:45 PM PST by dangus
I think it conservatives need to remember the back hand they've been dealt by Republicans; We need to be able to say, "You owe us." At the same time, our efforts did yield significant rewards. If we're getting the truth, we may have simultaneously kept Specter in the GOP, established the legitimacy of the nuclear option, and made sure conservatives' nominations would get reported out of committee.
Here is what National Review contributors had to report:
SEN. CORNYN ON SPECTER FIGHT [KJL] From the Senate floor today: And I want to say something to my constituents and the people who may be listening who have contacted my office in very sincere concern for what they have seen played out here on the Senate floor and in the judicial confirmation process. I want to say to all of them, I appreciate your passion. I appreciate your concern. I appreciate your interest in the instruments of the government that ultimately the people of this country control. And we are going to need the involvement, the attention, the passion of all of the people.
And indeed, we are going to need to appeal to our better angels on the floor of the United States Senate and in the Senate Judiciary Committee when it comes to the next nominees for the United States Supreme Court. We all remember, whether it’s a confirmation process by which Judge Bork was blocked, by which Clarence Thomas was ultimately confirmed after going through a process that no one should have to go through, my hope is that we will have learned that that is not the way the Senate should conduct itself and that we will resolve among ourselves and resolve among the American people and to the people we represent that we will treat the President’s judicial nominees fairly, that we will treat them with dignity and that we will provide the up-or-down vote that the United States Constitution demands when it comes to the confirmation of the President’s judicial nominees.
I’m not suggesting for a minute that anyone violate their conscience. Indeed, any Senator with a sincere belief that an individual judge should not be confirmed should come to the floor, as no doubt they will, and explain to their colleagues why they feel so strongly, why they conscientiously object to this nominee and to vote their conscience. I think every Senator should do that, and I trust they will.
But no one, no Senator has a right, no group of Senators has a right, no minority has a right to tyrannize the majority of the United States Senate when we stand ready in a bipartisan fashion to cast a vote up or down for a judicial nominee. And I sincerely hope that we will not have only learned from the mistakes of the past when it comes to obstruction of the President’s judicial nominees, but we will conduct ourselves with the kind of dignity that the American people have come to expert from United States Senators and that we will conduct ourselves uprightly, with fairness and dignity and treat all we come in contact with exactly the same way.
KATHERINE LOPEZ: BY THE WAY [KJL] There's some important stuff in that Specter statement. Those Judicary Committee Republicans did some real work: --"I have already registered my opposition to the Democrats' filibusters with 17 floor statements and will use my best efforts to stop any future filibusters. It is my hope and expectation that we can avoid future filibusters and judicial gridlock with a 55-45 Republican majority and election results demonstrating voter dissatisfaction with Democratic filibusters. If a rule change is necessary to avoid filibusters, there are relevant recent precedents to secure rule changes with 51 votes."
And, important for FMA supporters: --"I have long objected to the tactic used in bottling up civil rights legislation in the Judiciary Committee when it should have gone to the floor for an up-or-down vote. Accordingly I would not support committee action to bottle up legislation or a constitutional amendment, even one which I personally opposed, reserving my own position for the floor."
Those committments would not have been made without people calling in and e-mailing. Good job, folks.
PEGGY NOONAN: I'll finish with Sen. Specter, whose sonorous "Ssssshhhhhhhh" was so satisfying. Arlen Specter was just re-elected by the people of Pennsylvania, a major industrial state; the Judiciary Committee chairmanship is his by tradition and seniority. Conservatives have been angry with him for a long time and for good reason. They have expressed their unhappiness. They have made their point. Mr. Specter has been chastened and warned; the leadership of his party told him to fight for himself. He knows the Republican Party will expect him to support the nomination of judges free of a Roe v. Wade litmus test, or any litmus test, including a religious test. Many believe, and with reason, that a practicing Catholic isn't allowed to be a federal judge in America anymore. Mr. Specter will have to be more open-minded, more supportive, than he's been in the past. But he looks like a man who got the message, doesn't he?
The on-the-ground conservatives who won this election for the Republican Party want to show their force. Understandable. They won. But there's a lot of force being shown lately, and sometimes it's conservative to step back, to hold your fire, to wait.
Give him the slot. If it doesn't work, revisit it later. There are enough battles going on.
Ya, it is a disappointment but he must have had to make a lot of promises!!
Just as Andrew Carnegie said " Put all of your eggs in one basket, and keep your eye on the basket". So let us keep our eye on this RINO.
Spector is a Republican in drag! Making him chairman defeats one of the most elements of the 2004 election. The
courts!!
"would you rather be the minority party who's right without power"
I would rather be on the side of right, even if it means losing "power"....
Maybe it's because I see Jesus Christ dying for the cause of right and not giving in to wickedness.
And when we all face the judgment seat, I want to be on the side of those who tried their best to keep innocent babies from being aborted--and NOT on the side of those who continued to let abortion be legal.
Yes, I'm so happy that Kerry is not President, and the Democrats lost Congressional seats. But, as has been noted throughout the Specter threads, one main reason we voted for them was to get more conservative (and yes, those who respect life) judges in the courts, including the Supreme Court. If this is accomplished, then we will be satisfied. If not, and Specter is part of the reason it doesn't happen (even by not giving the needed "push" for conservative nominees), then conservative/pro-lifers will no longer trust the Republican party "promises."
I hope I'll never want "power" more than I want what is right.
However said this (Specter??) has more spine than Hatch!!!
"I have already registered my opposition to the Democrats' filibusters with 17 floor statements and will use my best efforts to stop any future filibusters. It is my hope and expectation that we can avoid future filibusters and judicial gridlock with a 55-45 Republican majority and election results demonstrating voter dissatisfaction with Democratic filibusters. If a rule change is necessary to avoid filibusters, there are relevant recent precedents to secure rule changes with 51 votes."
... I think this may be a 'velvet fist' win for conservatives, in that the Senate has been served notice that THERE WILL BE DANGEROUS CONSEQUENCES IF PROMISES MADE TO THE BASE ARE BROKEN. This is better path to real power than breaking all the crockery to slam-down Specter. A Senator on the leash is worth two out of responsibility and on the sunday talk shows spouting venom.
cedar check your mail, we agree but our best chances of being right and doing something about is to be the majority party. Rome wasn't built in a day, and the only way to change a situation is to change the way people think about the subject, it takes time,(it took God 7 days to create everything, you think were ever going to change the world in a day? were only 1/1000th of his greatness if that) throwing the opposition overboard hurts our chances of changing minds and leading people toward our side. check your mail.
Thank You Brother
"the only way to change a situation is to change the way people think about the subject,"
To have a PRO-LIFE Chairman of the Judiciary would have been a bright, shining light of a statement for all the world to see.
(Thanks, I sent you mail in return.)
You are a loser, sir. Elections will never produce the kinds of results you want. Mostly, they just keep things from getting as bad as they otherwise would have.
If you don't consider that a worthy object, think about the 300 million American lives you're playing with by withholding your vote from the Republican presidential candidate next time.
If that doesn't wake you up, nothing will. FReepers aren't interested in reading this kind of crap. Kindly find another site in that case.
Coach of losing football team: "I'm proud of you guys. There is nothing to be ashamed of. You did your best." Etc., etc., etc.
(It's still a loss.)
Yes, but in football, it's all or nothing. Not so in politics.
Hope you're right. I'll be watching.
BTTT
It's only fair since he has been a noose hanging over our heads for the sum total of all his terms.
These Senate SOBs owe us and it's time for them to stand and deliver.
Deeds.
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