Posted on 05/24/2005 3:26:24 PM PDT by byablue
-Victory? [Kathrynn Jean Lopez 05/24 05:47 PM] From Hotline's "Last Call":
DNC Chair Howard Dean, on the filibuster deal: "I would be hesitant to say it's a win for the Democratic Party" (AP). MoveOn invited supporters "to a victory conference call" with Senate Min Leader Harry Reid (Last Call! sources).
-------------------------------------------
The Hard Spin [Kathryn Jean Lopez 05/24 05:12 PM] An e-mail out today from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee:
By now I'm sure you have heard about the last night's historic agreement that ended the Senate standoff over the use of the filibuster and protected our rights to filibuster a Supreme Court nominee. But if you ask me, the media has been missing the aspect of this agreement that will have the longest-lasting impact: Bill Frist lost today. Badly.
The Republican Leader put his reputation on the line. Pat Robertson, Gary Bauer, and the rest of the right wing fringe were counting on him to succeed in his effort to abuse his power and change the rules. They dreamed of the day when every right wing judge would get a spot on our federal courts every time. He has failed.
Frist's right wing allies are furious that he could not deliver on his promises. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, called the deal a "betrayal" and said that he and his conservative allies share "disappointment, outrage and sense of abandonment." He vowed that his followers would remember on Election Day those who "betrayed their trust." Bill Frist needs the right wing power brokers on his side to win the 2008 presidential primaries. His hopes for victory just took a serious hit.
It gets better. Seven moderate Republican senators abandoned Frist's efforts to change the rules to appease the right wing. His grip on power over Senate Republicans is slipping. For Bill Frist, the nuclear option has blown up in his face.
The bottom line of this entire affair is that we upheld our long history of checks and balances against absolute power and we held onto our right to block George Bush's nominees to the Supreme Court. Seven Republican senators have agreed to oppose any future attempts to trigger the nuclear option.
Besides, when Bill Frist tries to pull these kinds of shenanigans around a Supreme Court nominee, he'll look even more desperate and further out of the mainstream than he does now.
Bill Frist lost today. He lost his hold on his right wing base and he lost his hold on Senate Republicans. That sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Sincerely,
Anne Lewis
KJL: So they're saying Frist lost, right? Wish they had emphasized that point, just to be sure.
----------------------------------------------
L. Graham [Kathryn Jean Lopez 05/24 04:54 PM] Jon Adler just called — heard L. Graham on a radio show say that renominating Estrada would not constitute an "extraordinary circumstance." Also, Graham (a.ka. MIT) still believes he still retains the right to invoke the nuclear option on one of the seven if Dems filibuster and its not an "extraordinary circumstance."
----------------------------------------------
More Complaints [Kathryn Jean Lopez 05/24 04:03 PM] A Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice e-mail that just went out:
In the deal ending the Senate showdown over changing the filibuster rule, Democrats agreed to forego the filibuster on three of President Bush's most extreme nominees — Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown, and William Pryor. The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice will continue to vigorously oppose all three as unsuitable for lifetime judicial appointments and urges you to tell your Senators to vote against their confirmation.
The compromise forged by a bipartisan group of 14 Senators does two things: it shelves the Republican threat to eliminate the filibuster for judicial nominees and leaves open the possibility that the filibuster can be used in "extraordinary" circumstances.
The question now: if the Bush Administration nominates an anti-choice ideologue for the U.S. Supreme Court, will protecting women's rights and lives be considered "extraordinary?"
As people of faith, we must make it clear that judges who oppose reproductive rights and want to impose their own religious views are unacceptable.
The first Supreme Court vacancy that comes up and we will be right back at the place we were before this phony "deal" was strcuk. There is no honor in the Senate - just power-mongering. Those swine are trying to pull the wool over the eys of the citzens once again.
"Hell's comin' to breakfast"
The Demorats put on a good show, and the MSM is providing great cover, but in the end, when all the President's nominees get an up or down vote on the floor, everyone will know the "deal" was a sham.
You mean when 70% of the President's nominees are denied an up or down vote by the "deal" itself?
Might be back at the same place when the Myers nomination is brought up for business.
Meaningless, unbinding words on a piece of paper. Let's wait and see what happens.
Crock-o-Sheise Alert!
This is just a pure unadulterated buggering of conservatives by McCain and his Democrat allies.
Point number one: NOTHING at all has changed regarding the Constitutional Authority of the President regarding who he sends up to Congress. The only way that "authority" can be changed is for a Constitutional Amendment to be passed, and that has not happened.
Point number 2: As you all know, what Senator Frist was talking about all along was changing the Senate rule to prevent a filibuster on judicial appointments. The rule change would simply have been to require 51 votes for confirmation. The Democrats went ballistic didn't they?
Point number 3: What just happened? 7 Democrats and 7 Republicans, have banded together to do what? Yes you got it! They instituted a RULE CHANGE!
Point number 4: President Bush, Senator Frist, and the other 48 Republicans in the Senate are not bound by this side agreement.
Point number 5: The only way this side deal can be enforced is that the 7 Republicans would have to have pledged to support the Democrats whenever they object to a future nominee, and would have to have agreed IN ADVANCE, not knowing who the nominee might be, to support the Democrats! That, basically, is the only way this agreement, IMO, can be effective. Otherwise, it is not worth a cup of warm spit.
President Bush and Senator Frist need to do business as usual, and let the 7 Republicans put themselves under pressure, and put THEIR OWN CAREERS on the line. Let THEM face the continuing wrath of THEIR OWN CONSTITUENTS!
And oh, BTW - when you think of these 7 dwarfs, think of the term "cunning stunts."
Thats the deal! We have to turn the heat up on these rinos! I hope my brothers and sisters over in South Carolina let "pretty boy" know how they feel about him sideing with the party that supports gay marriage and is against all the things that made our country great.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.