Byrd Droppings ("Have the Democrats Already Lost the Filibuster Fight?")

Weekly Standard.com ^ | 3/4/05 | Hugh Hewitt

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

WHEN DEMOCRATIC SENATOR ROBERT BYRD rose on the floor Tuesday to compare the tactics of his Republican colleagues in the battles over judicial nominees to those employed by Hitler in building the Reich, you knew two things.

First, that the Democrats would never abandon their extra-Constitutional position that nominees to the federal courts could be required to receive 60 as opposed to 51 votes for confirmation.

Second, that the Democrats had already lost the battle. When the captains are named Leahy, Kennedy, Schumer, Boxer, and Byrd, the outcome is not in doubt.

If you missed the Byrd outburst, you can read it here . Radioblogger did a survey of the mainstream media on Wednesday morning and found little coverage of the meltdown, though by Wednesday afternoon some cable news shows began to address Byrd's astonishing comparison.

Senator Byrd is anticipating that, faced with continued obstructionism, Majority Leader Frist will force through a rules change that provides for up-or-down votes on any judicial nominee that emerges from the Judiciary Committee. The GOP base, the thinking goes, will demand nothing less, and any Republican senator who refuses to support the change will be finished as a significant force in 2008 presidential politics.

But Byrd's outrageous objection is doubly offensive because during his stint as majority leader, Byrd himself pushed through rules changes that benefited his party. Here is Byrd, from the Congressional Record, January 15, 1979 (courtesy of the blog Beltway):

"This Congress is not obliged to be bound by the dead hand of the past. . . The first Senate, which met in 1789, approved 19 rules by a majority vote. Those rules have been changed from time to time . . . So the Members of the Senate who met in 1789 and approved that first body of rules did not for one moment think, or believe, or pretend, that all succeeding Senates would be bound by that Senate . . . It would be just as reasonable to say that one Congress can pass a law providing that all future laws have to be passed by two-thirds vote. Any Member of this body knows that the next Congress would not heed that law and would proceed to change it and would vote repeal of it by majority vote."

IF THE GOP sets up the confrontation with care, it could set the Democrats back another ten years. The American public knows that a simple majority is the essence of fairness, and that the number "40" does not appear anywhere in the Constitution. They also know that Democrats have raised the bar highest for nominees with orthodox religious views; their campaign against Catholic judge David Pryor is especially offensive. Imagine the handicap newly announced Democratic Senate candidate Bob Casey--the pro-life Treasurer of Pennsylvania--will face in his race against incumbent Senator Rick Santorum given his party's bigotry towards devout Catholics like Pryor. Is Casey serious about making the argument that the rights of the unborn will be better off with another Democratic vote added to the caucus of obstruction? And if Casey promises to be open-minded about judges, will the GOP hesitate to point to newly elected Democratic Senator Ken Salazar of Colorado--who took less than two months to reverse his campaign position that all judicial nominees should get an up-or-down vote?

The Democrats have insisted on calling people of faith "extremists." Last weekend Howard Dean went so far as to brand his opponents on abortion issues as "evil." This is the sort of extremism that brings forth not only anger but also resolve.

An epic political battle will begin within weeks, and it is one which the Democrats have lost before it has begun.

[ETERNAL WARMING]

LOL Love the title. Kudos to Hugh Hewitt.

[goldstategop]

When the KKK Grand Keagle compared us to Hitler, it set them back five years. It was a low blow across the solar plexus. Robert Byrd crossed a line. I really can't wait to see the Mother Of All Senate Blowups. Any Republican Senator who heads for the tall grass will not get the '08 presidential nomination, period. Now let's get those judges confirmed!

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[river rat]

This slapdown of the mouthy Democrats is LONG overdue...
They have been afforded far too much "consideration" for their foolishness and extra Constitutional behavior...

Semper Fi

[doug from upland]

Because of his foreign success, the president is in a very good position to get the nominees slammed home. Do it now before the winds change. I think that Frist knows what is expected. If magic bullet man does not want to do his job, they had better throw his Pennsylvanian butt out of leadership in judicary.

[carumba]

Hitler's specter has faded to the point were comparison is made in a frenzied state of leftist righteousness. Never mind that a real monster like Il-jong lurks. The sad part of this disproportional comparison is that the historical perspective is warped. The rising generation has no idea and will have none until another monster is loosed upon the masses.

[kingattax]

spector should never have been allowed to be the chairman in the first place, but with that said, Sis Frist better show some testicular fortitude on this.

my sense is that Repub supporters are all out of patience and rightfully so

[Soul Seeker]

Given my mood, I have no intention to consider any Senator for any high office.

A President has to lead. In War he has to be able to stand up to the world body. He (or she) must be able to stand against the terrorists without blinking. Our President must be able to protect our troops from a Congress that would seek to micro-manage the battle and lose the war. The President must understand polling date is secondary to defending our nation.

I have no faith in current Senators to succeed in any of this. They cannot stand against irrelevant Democrats. They cannot stand against a weakened MSM, one they had no part in bringing to its knees. No, the American people have brought down the MSM. Rush, cable, conservative publications, forums and blogs brought them down. They cannot stand against Reps enamored with their own power as "mavericks". If they cannot take the lead for the benefit of our country in reforming S.S., if they cannot take the lead in protecting our constitution, if they cannot allow judges to that would honor that constitution to be passed, if they cringe from any significant reforms...

They do not deserve the Presidency. I'm not even entirely convinced they deserve my vote as Senator. At this point their only claim to remain in power is that the Dems are now rooting for the terrorists, and most of the Reps haven't yet crossed that line.

The GOP had better start listening to those that elected them. I don't like spineless representatives that cater to the MSM and cower before those unworthy of fear. I don't fear H. Clinton. I don't fear Kennedy. I don't fear Pelosi. I don't fear Moveon.org. They shouldn't either.

[river rat]

I believe the "monster" you fear, has already arrived..
It is the new "Democrat Party".....cowardly, leftist America destroying lunatics, masquerading as "democrats"...

Semper Fi

[txzman]

I say 'Keep it Comin'" The Dems are digging their graves for not only this generation, but the next.

After reading 'Generation Kill' - about the Marines in Iraq - a great read about First Recon and young men I have deep respect for - I know there will be a new generation of parents who will think differently about their country, their freedom and their constitution.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

And nearly all of the Leftist in Academia and Politics are members of the:

***********************************

Unholy Alliance
by David Horowitz
Regnery Publishing, Inc.; ISBN: 089526076X
Hardcover - 256 pages (September 2004)

In this tour de force on the most important issue of our time, David Horowitz, confronts the paradox of how so many Americans, including the leadership of the Democratic Party, could turn against the War on Terror. He finds an answer in a political Left that shares a view of America as the “Great Satan” with America’s radical Islamic enemies. This Left, which once made common cause with Communists, has now joined forces with radical Islam in attacking America’s defenses at home and its policies abroad. From their positions of influence in the university and media culture, leftists have defined America as the “root cause” of the attacks against it. In a remarkable exploration of the “Mind of the Left,” Horowitz traces the evolution of American radicalism from its Communist past to its “anti-war” present. He then shows how this Left was able to turn the Democratic Party presidential campaign around and reshape its views on the War on Terror.

Horowitz’s Unholy Alliance, writes John Haynes, the noted historian of American Communism, “is an insightful, brilliant examination of the mental world of the radical left. Horowitz shows how today’s radicals, unwilling to reflect on the internal flaws that destroyed Marxism-Leninism from within, have embraced an all-consuming nihilism in its place. This has led them to a hatred of American institutions and a solidarity with Islamic terrorists that makes the radical left more properly regarded as dangerous than loony.”

Unholy Alliance is an eye-opening book that should unsettle conventional assumptions and reveals why intellectuals and political leaders who applaud Michael Moore are no laughing matter. As Harvey Klehr, author of Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America, writes, “The world Communist movement may be moribund, but its habits of mind and ideological fantasies have not disappeared. This is a fascinating and depressing account.”

Price: $19.01 - Click here to order:

[thelastvirgil]

Mr. Hewitt makes a good point well. The only flaw is that he assumes that Frist has suddenly grown a pair. I seriously doubt it, but there seems to be a ray of hope. We should know soon, and if Hewitt's assumptions are correct, this is going to be hilarious.

[Elkiejg]

The GOP had better start listening to those that elected them.

EXCELLENT post - we should all send this to every GOP member in Washington.

[freeangel]

Saving--thanks.

[EQAndyBuzz]

"Any Republican Senator who heads for the tall grass will not get the '08 presidential nomination, period."

Nor will he get any RNC money come reelection time.

[pookie18]

Click on the detestable KKK Byrd below:

[geedee]

Wow! Great commentary!

[Malesherbes]

Byrd then: "the dead hand of the past." Byrd now: the palsied hand of the present. I think with the onset of senility he has lost his mind.

[jmaroneps37]

Real Americans have the American Eagle. The rats symbol is the Keagle. The Keagle is an ugly vulture that eats taxes and spews anti Americanism.