Heads Up.."Sheets" coming up live on C-span 2 at 9:30 AM est to talk about filabusters...

C-span 2

[ken5050]

FYI..C-span 2 is airing at 9:30 this morning a live "forum" from the Center for American Progress, the new Dem "think-tank" on the topic of judicial filabusters.. JOhh Podesta, Clinton apologist, is the moderator. "Sheets" is a featured panelist, along with AEI fellow Norm Orenstein...

[YaYa123]

Did I miss the good stuff? Just flipped in to a C-span2 debate on Senate rules and debate on Judicial nominees.

Michael Gerhardt College of William and Mary Law professor,
is up, saying there has never been a time when senate rules were broken until now. In 200 years, there has NOT been a tradition of an up or down vote. Every president has had nominees who did not receive up or down votes. Abe Fortes' nomination was a filibuster. The nuclear option IS unprecedented. (He's saying a lot more, giving examples of nominations that were filibustered, but who gives a rip?) That's part of our history, he says. Offers a reminder of the importance of the Senate following its rules without amending it's rules: There are suggestions made for breaking the rules, for some kind of reason, like "because of abuse on the other side, it's ok to break the rules". I'm saying, "two wrongs don't make a right", as I would tell my children. (Condescending to the max!)

[syriacus]

Ultimate irony:

Michael Gerhardt, College of William and Mary, says he will not discuss the religious aspects of the judicial nominations, because "today is Passover."

[YaYa123]

Norman Ornstein says Byrd holds reverence for our government institutions. Ornstein says Republicans are using talking points, as if the republican senators say something enough times, it will become so. I find this whole episode dismaying, in it's scope and it's consequences. There's no doubt in my mind if President Bush had called Senator Reid to the White House shortly after the election, there's no doubt in my mind he could have said, I'm putting forth 10 nominees, and I want 6 of them, and an agreement could have been reached. (Ornstein is smoking something!)

[syriacus]

Norman Ornstein putting on his 20/20 perfect-hindsight glasses as he speaks.

Bush should have spoken with Reid about judicial nominees soon after he won the 2004 election.

[TomGuy]

Prof Gerhardt is doing the ole shellgame to defend his position. He is using generalities when he needs to gloss over specifics that would contradict his position.

The Prof lumps holding judicial nominees in committee with failure to bring a nominee, voted out of committee, to the floor.

Then The Prof implies that changing that would be precedent-setting. The Prof fails to mention that, holding a nominee voted out of committee, but filibustering the nominee to get to a floor vote, is itself precedent-setting and that precedent was set in the last session of the Senate when Dems held a 1-vote majority (thanks to Jim Jeffords, TC*-VT).

Regrettable, the GOP is doing a typical poor PR job on this issue. When push comes to shove, the msm will skewer the GOP who try to change this. Frist, by not stopping it when it first started with the Estrada filibuster 2-13-03, has painted himself into a corner.

[The GOP have set themselves up to lose this: either they will lose the actual vote to change the rules (now that precedent has been set) or they will lose the PR war in the MSM just like they did when Gingritch shut down the government during the Clinton administration. For the GOP this is a lose-lose now.]


*TC = turn coat

[jackbill]

Michael Gerhardt - gave $250 to Al Gore in 2000. Tells you what side he's on.

[LisaFab]

Sho nuff, for now. The usual bet?

[Eagle of Liberty]

Are you still listening to this cspan?

The guy on now is a moron!

Does he not remember that Reid said right after the election that the Senate Majority would have to find a new lapdog to get their agenda done?

The guy before him actually made this his final point:

Doing something simply because the other side did it already is kinda like telling my kids that two wrongs make a right.

I love how OUR side always has to take the moral high ground. One of these days, we will learn that we have to use trench warfare to win.

Just paints us into a corner. RATS - "We can do anything, but if you Republicans do it, you are just taking the low road and acting like immature children."

SICK OF IT!!!

[syriacus]

I'm saying, "two wrongs don't make a right",

Did you ever notice that people who abuse you will say, "Two wrongs don't make a right," as soon as you fight back.?

[Sun]

I received this by e-mail from the Center for Reclaiming America:

"+ +ACTION ITEM #2--Contact the Key Swing Vote Senators

The Center has identified seven key senators whose votes may well
decide the fate of the filibuster rules change. We are asking all
member of our online team to contact these individual senators,
urging each to FULLY SUPPORT THE FILIBUSTERING RULES CHANGE.

Even if none of these seven senators is your own senator, please
invest the time needed to call each right now.

Here are their names and contact information:

Sen. Lincoln Chafee (RI) 202-224-2921
Sen. Susan Collins (ME) 202-224-2523
Sen. Mike DeWine (OH) 202-224-2315
Sen. John McCain (AZ) 202-224-2235
Sen. Olympia Snowe (ME) 202-224-5344
Sen. John Sununu (NH) 202-224-2841
Sen. John Warner (VA) 202-224-2023"

[syriacus]

The Dems sure know how to hide the truth.

Norman Ornstein talking about Abe Fortas, leaving out important facts.

1. Fortas was already a Justice,
2. Fortas had been nominated by Johnson as Chief Justice
3. Fortas was filibustered for about one week
4. Fortas was filibustered because of ethics problems
5. Fortas eventually resigned from the Supreme Court because of ethics problems.

[Eagle of Liberty]

Republicans want to break the rules.

They just don't want to win, they are already winning.

They want to win all the time.

[syriacus]

next time try "Sheets"..It ALWAYS shows up..LOL

Just now, I had to explain to my 20-year old why Byrd was called "Sheets."

She thought, maybe, he had a problem with bedwetting.

[syriacus]

Republicans want to break the rules. They just don't want to win, they are already winning. They want to win all the time.

Ornstein saying that Republicans don't seem to realize that they may eventually be out of power, so they think that changing the rules won't affect them.

What a bunch of hooey.

Republicans do realize they will eventually be out of power, and this might be their only chance to get "originalist" judges.

[Dad yer funny]

yeah ,...that is at the top of The Talking Points , said over and over these last few weeks ,...BTW anyone know what the latest estimate vote count would be??

[YaYa123]

What fun! A question about Byrd's KKK past. Ornstein and Podesta belittle the question.

Michael Gerhardt says we've got to respect the rules, the rules of law. Ornstein says this isn't a big conspiracy to turn us into a theocracy, then quotes McCain as saying we've got to think about the time when we aren't in power. We've got to think of the larger danger, that we will sweep away the rule of law. Tom Delay came close to that over the Schiavo case. We mustn't allow passions to take over, which is what happened in Schiavo. We've got to have checks and balances.

Podesta asks for one last question, but one isn't asked so he asks for closing statements.

Gerhardt says he's upset how this is covered.

Ornstein says I love congress even when it gets frustrating. What I find most dismaying, and many share it, those of us who are dedicated to the congress, is how it's harming the senate, the lack of respect for rules....the senate is under seige right now, because they have the rings of power. We all ought to be concerned with regular order disappears. These abuses are now being taken to a new level, it's not a good development. Plenty of republicans are uneasy, like George Will. I hope more of them will step forward, he says.
Podesta is head of a Soros funded organization, I forget the name...which explains why this little whine fest was one-sided, with the other side not represented.

[syriacus]

Thanks for starting this thread. I've bookmarked it so I can use it in the future, as raw material to illustrate leftist half-truths.

[Dad yer funny]

yeah ,...except for that guy from the audience whose question started to meander , Podesta ,"QUESTION"

[syriacus]

You did a great job of summarizing the last minutes of the program. Thanks.

Gerhardt: we will sweep away the rule of law.

Question for Gerhardt, "Are Senate rules really laws."

[YaYa123]

The following is interesting too:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1390521/posts