Posted on 03/15/2005 11:37:42 PM PST by nickcarraway
When Senate minority leader Harry Reid held an impromptu press conference on Tuesday, reporters were somewhat stunned by his pleading tone and urgent manner. Reid pleaded for Republican Senators not to resort to the so-called "nuclear option" in changing parliamentary rules that would cut the necessary confirmation vote for judges from 60 to a mere majority.
Reid essentially threatened to shut down the Senate if the parliamentary tactic were used.
Reid's urgency may be the result of a closed-door -- what some Republican staff called secret -- Senate Republican caucus luncheon on Tuesday afternoon.
Rumors were circulating in the Capitol's halls and on K Street that the subject of the luncheon was when and how the nuclear option would be used in the very near future.
Senior staff for Republicans Senators were mum about the specifics of the meeting, but one staffer said "pending business" was a part of the discussion, "and the confirmation judges is certainly pending business."
The Senate staffer added, "We're expecting this thing to come to a head, and it appears that the Democrats are finally getting the message."
In his remarks before reporters, Reid pleaded with Republicans to come back to the negotiating table to discuss ways around the nuclear option.
To paraphrase President Reagan:
We won. The Democrats Lose.
LET'S ROLL, FRIST!
Maybe this will show Republicans that there is nothing to fear from those crybaby ninnies under Grandpa Reid and Crazy Aunt Nan.
we just have to make sure that the republicans follow through on their threat this time other wise us voters come election time will use the real nuclear option and they will be blasted out of the senate
now more than ever we can not lose site of the end result of having jurists not legislators serve on the judiciary
A threat roughly akin to that of telling a man who's just crawled from one end of the Gobi Desert to the other, on blistered hands and knees: "No, you certainly may NOT have a peanut butter sandwich -- !" :)
Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women!
Is this statement accurate? My understanding was that the Dems were threatening to filibuster if the Republicans brought up the judges for a vote. I thought the filibuster required 60 votes to break and then the judges required a simple majority for confirmation.
If I recall correctly the filibuster rules have been altered quite a bit over the years to make it easier to block votes.
I got an email from Howard "the Scream" Dean yesterday. It's pathetic!!!!!
It reads:
Dear -----,
Sometimes partisan politics gets overheated -- I know that as well as anyone. But when one party controls all three branches of government, and then seeks to change the fundamental principles and rules of our democracy, we need to talk about it soberly and seriously.
The Republican Senate leaders have decided to fundamentally alter the role of Congress -- they want to give George Bush unprecedented power to manipulate the legislative branch and the courts.
Today Harry Reid and the Democratic Senators asked us, the American people, to help them preserve the right of our elected representatives to speak their mind on the floor of the U.S. Senate.
We have to act. Sign this petition, which we will deliver to every U.S. Senator, asking them to protect the right to free speech in the Senate. If they don't, it is not only their voice that will be silenced -- it will be ours:
http://www.democrats.org/freespeech
Here are the facts: George Bush has appointed judges to lifetime positions at a better rate than any president in nearly three decades. More than 95% of his nominees have been approved. Only ten nominees have been refused -- all because they are unqualified and out of the mainstream.
But that's not enough. And on this issue, as on Social Security, it is becoming more and more obvious to everyone that the Republican leadership is out of touch with reality.
More Americans voted against George Bush than any sitting president in history. And that same day, across the country, the Democratic candidates for Senate received over 4 million more votes than Republicans.
Americans did not endorse the fringe agenda to dismantle Social Security. And they did not endorse dismantling the system of checks and balances that have served our country for over 200 years.
Please tell your Senator to stand up for free speech:
http://www.democrats.org/freespeech
This is not a partisan issue -- it is an American issue. And we all must act together in order to protect our democracy.
Thank you.
Governor Howard Dean, M.D.
Translation: If Republicans carry out their nuclear option we are going to use our doomsday option.
Sure Harry, there's a way around it:
Judge Janice Rogers Brown
Judge Miquel Estrada (renominated)
Judge Mark Pryor
etc.
Other then that? Nope.
what a load of crap
Judging by the squawking and bitching today, the lefties known the Republicans are going to turn the keys and initiate launch.
Onward!
Yep, like I said, pretty pathetic.
Where is Howard anyway?
Has he shown his face on any news program yet?
HOwie is in witness protection??? The face of the the New Demos, say it ain't so...they should take away his keyboard before he does some real damage to the "Party of Stalin".
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
A threat roughly akin to that of telling a man who's just crawled from one end of the Gobi Desert to the other, on blistered hands and knees: "No, you certainly may NOT have a peanut butter sandwich -- !" :)
Right up there with Hillary Clinton telling Bill Clinton she won't have sex with him if he cheats on her again.
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