YOU SAID..."I am beginning to wonder if the rats got themselves caught in a very clever trap."
When I hear this, I immediately ask...just who hatched this secret plan...and who was in on it? Were Rove, Frist and McCain secretly working behind the scenes to pull this off? Frist should win the Academy Award. If Rove is this clever...and has the RINO accomplices to pull this off...why not just do the simple direct thing and push for a vote to end the filibuster...wait...McCain said he doesnt want to end the filibuster...but this secret plan eventually leads to that, unless of course the dems play fair and never filibuster again...hmmmm....McCain and Reid both got rolled by Rove apparently...
YOU SAID.."It looks to me like the Republicans have come out on top in the public relations department by shedding the image of frenzied "extremists" who want to nuke the Senate, etc. As far as I can tell, the Democrats gained nothing from a public relations standpoint."
I disagree. The dems gain from a public relations standpoint because they can be spun by the MSM as both victorious and concilliatory...saving our Constitution from the ravages of those 'extreme' Republicans. However, if those wascally wepublicans get too 'extreme' in the future ("extreme circumstances")...they retain the right to retaliate...to once again save the Republic... they give up nothing in the way of PR.
The Republicans dont shed the extreme image either...it got reinforced...because McCain and company have painted themselves as the only sane, rational, responsible Republicans in the party...this was a deal done by THEM...not by the party as a whole. The MSM of course laps up the dissident pub angle...and McCain gets lots of face time to look presidential (or so he thinks).
Finally...if you find yourself on the opposite side of an argument from Rush, Bennett, Laura, and Sowell...think very carefully....is your Occams Razor a butter knife?
McCrazy was not in on anything. He's just the chump. It's possible that Rove hatched the plan, but I doubt it - - but I do think that the GOP leadership has been taking notes. It's all about political "judo".
I happen to believe that Graham is in on the scheme, and I am fairly certain that the last-minute, out-of-the-blue arrival of DeWine was part of the play. Sending in DeWine was a masterstroke!
Somebody posted on another thread that they thought part of "the deal" was that the conservatives had to act like they lost. There may be more truth to that bit of sarcasm than meets the eye. The irony is that many conservatives DO think they lost - - and it's no act! But of all the people who were apparently fooled by "the deal", Rush is the most disappointing. Rush, of all people, should understand that the act being played out is not for the benefit of any "base" - - it is for the benefit of that huge mindless chattering class of people who get the sum total of their news from top-of-the-hour CBS sound bites on their car radios during the drive home from work.
Think for a minute about the ramifications of calling for a vote to go nuclear and LOSING that vote.... Rush and some other conservatives sound like they were willing to take that risk as a matter of PRINCIPLE! No thanks. In this game, winning is the ONLY thing. Losing while proving that you are "principled" is like being a good driver who gets killed in a car crash that was the other guy's fault.
The fact is, Frist DID NOT HAVE the votes to go nuclear. A few fence-sitting Senators needed cover - - they needed a stronger reason to "nuke" the Senate than a distaste for a Democrat filibustering tactic that had been successfully sold to the masses by the dying socialist "mainstream" media as the only weapon "the little guy" had against "the tyranny of the majority". Add to that all the baloney about the "staid tradition of the Senate", etc., and it was easy to paint the Republicans as bullies. The Democrats were winning the PR war, plain and simple, thanks mainly to their allies in the liberal newsrooms.
But now, thanks to "the deal", the fence-sitting "moderates" have all the cover they need. Any frivolous filibustering of nominees who are NOT as conservative as Priscilla Owens will be viewed as a breach of contract - - a betrayal. Not only have Graham and DeWine stated that they will have little tolerance for Democrat obstructionism, but now EVEN SUSAN COLLINS has joined in with that same refrain! Thanks to "the deal", Frist now has the votes. In the bag.
And it will now be much tougher for the rats and their allies in the press to paint the Republicans as unreasonable bullies - - they "compromised" didn't they?
Game, set, match.
It is a beautiful thing.