Posted on 05/26/2005 4:15:33 AM PDT by Molly Pitcher
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Drat. The battle royal I predicted last week is off in the U.S. Senate. The battle was to be fought between the Democrats and the Republicans over what conservatives call "the constitutional option" and liberals call "the nuclear option." That it was reported throughout the media as "the nuclear option" is still more evidence that the media are liberal. Obviously, the argument over whether or not the media are liberal is another of America's unnecessary debates.
The argument over whether the president's judicial nominees are "activist" is an unnecessary debate, too. What distinguishes the president's nominees from what in the recent past have been the Democrats' nominees is that the president's nominees pledge that their judgments will be restrained by written law, and the Democrats' nominees make no such pledge. Obviously the judicial nominee who pledges to be restrained by the law cannot possibly be an "activist." The Democrats' nominees can be as "activist" as they want.
The very term "activist" historically was first used in the legal sense to apply to liberal judges, mostly Democrats. So far from judicial restraint have liberal judges wandered that now many take into account not only the Constitution, but also social trends. In fact, the latest fashion among these judges is to take into account international law. Recently, Justice Anthony Kennedy, in his majority opinion abolishing the juvenile death penalty, invoked the "overwhelming weight of international opinion." Now that is activism compounded with cosmopolitanism.
Again, the debate over whether the president's nominees are activists is clearly unnecessary. Another way of putting it is that the debate is dishonest. The real "activist" judges are the liberals. Truth be known, Democrats have usually had no complaint with activist judges. Democrats are so weak in the legislatures of America that they can no longer make law. Consequently, they rely on their activist judges to make law for them. But if the debate over the term activist is unnecessary, this is not to say that the struggle over the president's nominees is unnecessary. This week, the White House and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist blinked during one of the most important political battles of our time. It is a battle to decide who makes the law: legislators or unelected, unaccountable judges.
The White House was feckless in influencing wavering Republicans in the Senate. Sen. Frist was incompetent in allowing seven of his senators to break ranks. Now there is calm in the Senate. There is drift. Yet the storm will come anew. The compromise worked out by Sen. John McCain and seven Democrats cannot possibly hold. According to the compromise, the Democrats say they will filibuster future presidential nominees only for "extraordinary circumstances." Thus all will depend on what the Democrats deem "extraordinary." As we have seen, the Democrats already claim that a judicial nominee pledged to judicial restraint is an "activist." Can people who so willfully twist the meaning of a word be relied upon to abide by the meaning of the word "extraordinary"?
Republicans were hoping to eliminate the judicial filibuster this week so that they could confirm judicial nominees with a simple majority -- 51 votes rather than the 60 votes necessary to shut down a filibuster. They had their eyes not only on the judicial nominees who have been languishing unconfirmed for years because of the Democrats' filibuster threat, but on the Supreme Court openings that are likely to develop this summer. With Chief Justice William Rehnquist's health in doubt, such an opening will probably come before the summer ends. Then does one really think this week's vaunted compromise will hold?
By almost anyone's interpretation a Supreme Court opening can be described as "extraordinary." When the opening occurs, the Senate will be right back to the brink of a battle royal. Little has been gained in this compromise, save perhaps a proper appraisal of Sen. Frist. He is not a leader. The battle royal will come when the president nominates Rehnquist's successor. The Democrats will be even more desperate and their character assassination of the president's nominee will be even more reckless and damaging to the nominee and to the court.
A terrific read and I agree; the Agreement will not hold.
I think so. But also, that Memorandum of Agreement only pertains to judicial nominees.
Today should be pretty interesting.
It is that the Senate has achieved nothing. It has merely kicked the can down the road, so it will face the exact same question again, shortly.
The stakes will be higher when a seat on the Supreme Court is at issue. So the fighting then will be more vicious. And John ("Turncoat") McCain will not be able to find a (false) way out, that time.
Congressman Billybob
"That it was reported throughout the media as "the nuclear option" is still more evidence that the media are liberal. "
Sorry, Emmett. You'd have a case here, but Trent Lott, who actually coined the term "nuclear option", is the ijit who started that mess.
Qwinn
Oh, that's right. Thanks. And you're right about today being interesting. It'll certainly be interesting to see how much further the Dems are willing to stick out their necks for those snakes at the UN.
It will be especially interesting if Senator Voinoivich continues to meltdown and has another crying jag on the floor of the Senate. LOL
The verdict of history is that in any "compromise," whoever give up something tangible (votes on even three judges) for something intangible ("promise" not to break a filibuster) loses. You may not like that it isn't the firebreathing answer that everyone here wants, but it is what happened in 1991, in 1850, in the Versailles talks and in Israel's "land for peace" exchange. Whoever gets ANYTHING tangible always ends up winning. GOP wins.
I still can't get over the fact that Sheets voted to confirm Owen. D'ya 'spose the old guy just pushed the wrong button, then was too embarrassed to take it back?
LOL! That could be because nothing else makes sense. And he's so senile...
My fear is that most American people who don't pay close attention would not have been angry if we'd invoked the Constitutional Option. In fact, the Gallup poll posted last night on FR confirmed that. 69% of Americans thought judicial nominees deserved an up or down vote and didn't agree with the filibuster.
But now, since this Agreement does not contain language carved out for instances under which we can institute the Constitutional Option, if/when we do, it will be blamed on Republicans.
Republicans have never defended themselves vigorously, imo, and the media is all too willing to portray problems as "our" fault.
It is interesting to note the Democrats DID carve out ambiguous language to cover when they can filibuster judicial nominees. We should have also carved out language for a timely vote on the nominees.
"Battle Royal" sounds like a Tag Team Wrestling Match.
I hadn't thought that but I'm starting to think you're right. How embarrassing for him. Hah!
My theory on why Sheets and the LA senator voted for Owens is that the dems wanted the talking point that her confirmation was a bipartisan vote. (BTW aren't both senators going to be up for re-election soon?)
2) The problem with a "vigorous" defense, is that the rules of the senate are too archane and removed from ordinary life as to be properly "spun." It all comes down to power, which is why the Republicans should never have even started this game in the first place and just had a rules change vote on day one. Now, all that means is that we can (and, IMHO, still will) have this rules chage after the Dems break their word. We still win. In the meantime, we keep getting the judges appointed that we can. It's Lenin's philosophy, take a step forward, consolidate, another step forward, give a promise . . . .
How do we expect the Democrats to define "extraordinary circumstances" when for eight years they couldn't tell us what the meaning of "is" is.
"How do we expect the Democrats to define "extraordinary circumstances" when for eight years they couldn't tell us what the meaning of "is" is."
Simply beautiful.
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