BTW, for all my fellow political junkies out there, here's a little tidbit for you. It's said by many talking heads and pundits that only recently has the level of anger, indeed political bitterness, risen to such levels in Congress..well, here's a gem of an except ( and one of MY all time fav political quotes) from Sen William Borah (R-Idaho) from his speech on the Senate floor during the 1940 debate of FDR's Lend-Lease bill...
Borah was passionately against American involvement in the war in Europe, and was convinced FDR was secretly scheming to get the USA involved. He said that Lend-Lease, if passed "..will PLOW UNDER every FOURTH American boy.." As pure political vitriol, it's hard to top that...
For those of you old enough to remember the great American political novel of the 60's.... Alan Drury's "Advise and Consent"....( and, sadly, the lousy movie they made of it) during the interminable quorum calls and Dem rants, it might be fun to see which characters from the book and movie have present-day namesakes. My take so far..
Sen Seabright B. Cooley ( played brilliantly by Charles Laughton in the film...this is an easy one...Robert "Sheets" Byrd
Sen Fred(erica) van Ackerman..the hard left, Senate troublemaker, and the evil villian in the book.......Barbara Boxer...and..
yes folks..one of the characters in the book is a senator from Utah named......"Orrin" Knox...who knew?
I'll be in a meeting for a few hours..(darn it!!)..will rejoin you all about noon...Rush should be a blast today..
One suggestion for those who miss it live. C-span will most likely rerun the debate several times tonight. Their practice, fortuitously, in re-showing long Senate sessions..they cull all the quorum calls,the extranious fluff, and even those speeches that are boring..( can you say Lautenberg, and Jeffords..Hello?) So you can probably catch the good stuff...
So, what to expect today?
Frist is playing his card close to the vest, and rightly so. Keep the Dems off balance. The tone of the debate will be set in the opening remarks by both leaders. Will Reid continue to be nasty? It's expected that Frist will call up the nomination of Owens, and allow for 100 hours of debate, then invoke cloture, ( which ytakes 2 additional days) and if that fails, then move to change the rule. However, if the dems are really petty and obstructionist, he may well move for the rules change immediately.
What I'd love to see today..first thing..a warning shot across Reid's desk...have Cheney in the chair today as presiding officer... the Dems would go bananas..
Enjoy....
Live Thread Ping
FYI..this is the place to be..please ping your lists, and apologies in advance if I missed anyone...
Or as Schumer said yesterday: "Cheney,Cheney,Cheney,Cheney,".
Ken, thanks for the thread. I understand that today will be debate but we may not see any decisions before Friday. Let's hope things move forward and that those who are wrong are shown for who they really are.
I don't believe anything will happen except the GOP RINOS caving to the dems and media hacks. The so called "nuclear option" will fail. With or without Cheney. We will have some GOP primaries to take care of this '06.
Don't get frustrated -- Remember, Joe Six-pack will just be tuning in and we want them to see that the nominee is being fully debated (forget the fact that her nomination has been pending for 4 years.
Be patient!
I like the way you think.
The Senate convened at 9:45 a.m. and adjourned at 6:33 p.m. Three record votes were taken.
Next Senate meeting: Wednesday, May 18, 2005 9:30 a.m.: Proceed to Executive Session to begin consideration of the nomination of Priscilla Owen to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Fifth Circuit.
Good job. If they fail to act, then they actively fail.
Laundry finished - check
Crockpot filled and cooking - check
Vacuuming done - check
Radio set to Rush - check...
Thanks for the history lesson and for the thread. Very interesting!
HONK Honk beep beep ahhhOOOOOOgah-h-h-h , ...hey , we're all out here [in a hot rod] Waitin' , we're goin' fo'a RIIIde
Right you are ken.
C-span1
09:15 AM EDT
0:45 (est.) LIVE
Call-In
Senate Judicial Nominations Debates
C-SPAN, Washington Journal
Patrick J. Leahy , D-VT
Orrin Hatch , R-UT
Good morning, Ken, Carolinamom, Cboldt, Howlin, Sweet Caroline, AnniegetyourGun, and everyone!
Thanks for the thread, Ken and, do tell: what is the name of the lovely man who leads the Senate prayer? Isn't he also a fine baritone?
Cheers!
.."If you're waiting for the nuclear option today, you will be disappointed"...."It won't happen until next week".....??????
Anyone else hear this?
bttt
Our Senator's better show up with testosterone today... or else they'll be putting on a skirt for Her Heinous Hilliary! in 2008.
How 'bout KKK's Robert "Sheets" Byrd playing Mississippi's notorious Sen. James K. Varnaman?