[econ_grad]

So IF you are correct, then it shows Bush sold us out too.

I wasn't going to say that because I didn't want to get banned. This could have been a game all along.

Think how you would act if you were the President and you were just blind-sighted by members of your party? Would you mad at these "mavericks?" If you just blind-sighted the President, would you expect retribution coming from the White House. Under what circumstances would none of the above take place? One is if the White House is so weak that it couldn't do anything. Or, how about the alternative that it was orchestrated with the White House? Bush saves his face with conservatives by nominating ones he knows wouldn't be confirmed. The "moderates" save their's by blocking them. In the meantime, party die-hards get played.

[alwaysconservative]

Perhaps you could use the correct term "blind-sided" instead of "blind-sighted"; the latter term is imprecise and undercuts your arguments.

[Fledermaus]

It's possible. I share your cynicism. But I don't think any Senator has ever worried about retribution. It never comes.

And I really hate to think about your other alternatives because it would show 1) weakness is inherit with this party or 2) we've been played.

[hellinahandcart]

Oh for heaven's sake, it's "blind-SIDED" not "blind-sighted".

And the senators care more about getting along and getting reelected than they do about whether a second-term president likes them.

He really CAN'T do much to them, the legislature is not under his control.