BOLTON
John Podhoretz said all that needs to be said in his column today:
. . . (At) other times, a nominee becomes an occasion for a senator to perform a holier-than-thou tap-dance. Such was the case yesterday with John Bolton and the Republican senator from Ohio, George Voinovich, who insulted and attacked Bolton without ever having bothered to attend one of the committee hearings in which Bolton testified.
It was comic to hear Voinovich describe Bolton as a "bully" yesterday, because the only bullying in sight was being done by Voinovich — attacking somebody who can't attack back.
And Voinovich himself knows something about bullying. In 1995, when he was governor of Ohio, he had a temper tantrum at an airport because his plane was kept on the ground while Air Force One was in the sky.
He ordered his pilot to take off, screaming at air traffic controllers all the while and daring them to "shoot us down." In an unprecedented act, Voinovich was actually fined by the Federal Aviation Administration for his behavior.
He's still at it in the United States Senate. And why not? The Senate is paradise for bullies.
You can read the rest of the story at
http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/43882.htm
Before Boxer put a hold on Bolton's vote, the Senate planned to vote on Bolton Tuesday, the highway bill Wednesday, and then bring Judge Owens to the floor for an 'up or down' vote -- triggering the 'consitutional option' -- on either Thursday or the following Tuesday.
NOW, it appears that the Senate will focus on JUDGES next week -- FIREWORKS doesn't begin to describe what we should expect to see/hear from the unhinged/unprincipled DEMONcrats!
SENATE JUDGES' FIGHT APPEARS HEADING FOR SHOWDOWN
WASHINGTON (AP) — Setting the stage for a politically charged showdown, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist announced Friday he will press beginning next week for the first of President Bush's conservative court nominees long blocked by Democrats.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-05-13-frist-judges_x.htm
FROM http://www.powerlineblog.com/
Great expectations
"Senate vote counts, no matter how good the source, are unreliable. At least that's true when it comes to high profile issues like the Bolton nomination and the judicial filibusters. Moderate Sentors can tie themselves in knots over these kinds of matters, and that's not even taking into account the lure of a Washington Post or New York Times puff piece.
That said, I'm in touch with a very good source who tells me that the vote count among Republicans on the filibusters is as follows:
Republicans who won't vote with their party -- Snowe, Chafee, McCain
Republicans who might not -- Collins and Hagel
If true, this means that the Republicans have at least 50 and maybe as many as 52 votes. In other words, they win.
However, this assumes that Warner and Specter, as to whom there has been uncertainty, are committed to voting with their party (and, of course, that there are no other defections). I'm told that Warner and Specter are committed. As I said, though, no matter how reliable this information is, we cannot discount the unexpected.
UPDATE: I should add that with only 50 Senators in the "yes" column, and some of them unpredictable, one should not rule out the possibility of a deal, as bad an idea as that is."
Posted by Paul at 05:00 PM | Permalink
C-SPAN WILL PROVIDE A LOT OF MUST SEE TV NEXT WEEK!
Do you think that because of the controversy about Specter taking over the Judiciary Committee that he will vote for the constitutional option? I'm hoping that since he got the chairmanship, they made some kind of deal with him that he would vote yes.
Can you answer why Boxer gets to just put a hold on a nominee that has been voted out of committee? I don't get this.
I was listening to the Hugh Hewitt show yesterday or the day before when he had Sen.Kyle on. Hewitt asked him if the Republicans had the votes and Kyle gave a firm "yes"answer.
In case you missed it, pinging you to the first part of DrDeb's post, re Voinovich
at #123
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1402848/posts?page=123#123
excerpt:
" ... It was comic to hear Voinovich describe Bolton as a "bully" yesterday, because the only bullying in sight was being done by Voinovich — attacking somebody who can't attack back.
"And Voinovich himself knows something about bullying. In 1995, when he was governor of Ohio, he had a temper tantrum at an airport because his plane was kept on the ground while Air Force One was in the sky.
"He ordered his pilot to take off, screaming at air traffic controllers all the while and daring them to "shoot us down." In an unprecedented act, Voinovich was actually fined by the Federal Aviation Administration for his behavior."