[Congressman Billybob]

Wrote this at the suggestions of Freepers on the all-night Senate filibuster & debate thread. Zell Miller's speech at 1:30 a.m. deserved to be in the lead of the story.

This was originally put up in that thread, post #3041. However, nagigating back to find it is now quite difficult.

[Howlin]

FYI.......reference material.

Congressman, you have Freep mail.

[OldFriend]

Thanks for posting this information on Zell Miller. My old dial up has a very hard time loading these huge threads and I know I have missed much.

So, again.....thank you for this and ALL you do.

Jan

[Congressman Billybob]

That's "navigating." Please ping this so folks can find it. It was published today on ChronWatch. (They liked it well enough to publish it on receipt. Zell's office has also seen it, and I'll post their/his response, when received.)

John / Billybob

[abclily]

Thanks for this insight into the senate debate.

[Gumption]

Senate was established as a calming influence in the federal government. This was accomplished in two ways in the Constitution.

It was three ways. Senators were also appointed by state legislatures rather than the easily swayed masses.

[kylaka]

What was that mullarky that Hillary put up about 39 judicial nominations by her husband that were thwarted by the republicans. So far as I know, only one was thwarted, Ronnie White, by an up or down vote in the full senate, who just happened to be voted down by majority vote.

[onyx]

Wrote this at the suggestions of Freepers on the all-night Senate filibuster & debate thread. Zell Miller's speech at 1:30 a.m. deserved to be in the lead of the story.

We were up LATE, weren't we? I've been paying for "that" all day.

Your essay is pure excellence. I think I'll bookmark it.

[rdb3]

Very well stated, Billybob.

[AZLiberty]

I've semi-watched about 15 hours of the debate. Zell Miller was definitely the highlight. For the first few hours I was disappointed in the Republicans -- Charles Schumer seemed to have a much better handle on the debate than any Republican. Orrin Hatch was a huge embarrassment early on, with laryngitis! But Barbar Boxer made up for him. I caught part of Hillary's presentation this morning. She looked like she had actually been up all night, and was about as incoherent as we expect from her, except that I don't remember her saying "you know" even once. John Warner has been very good in at least two appearances.

This has been a great educational experience. I've had a chance to "meet" many senators for the first time, and I've learned some new things about Senate rules and history, as well as constitutional history.

Last night I thought the Democrats (with Schumer) had the upper hand, but their repetition of "3 million jobs lost" and "168 to 4" have become simply annoying. I'm looking forward to the Republicans applying the nuclear option at 9 am Friday, when the President of the Senate will simply declare that there is no Senate rule that requires a supermajority for judicial confirmations.

[Bigun]

Spot on target! Well done! VERY well done in fact!

[mcenedo]

Perhaps you should consider running for the Senate instead of the House.

I always enjoy your insight and your ability to express yourself in a concise, yet elegant, manner.

[mrsmith]

James Monroe TUESDAY, June 10, 1788 Virginia Ratification Convention: "He is to nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint, ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States.
The concurrence of a bare majority of those who may be present will enable him to do these important acts, It does not require the consent of two thirds even of those who may be present."

James Madison did not dispute Monroe's criticism of the method of advise and consent.
Because it was a true and accurate statement.

Hey, but what was the Constitutional knowledge of the likes of Madison and Monroe compared to that of Schumer and Daschle?

(Did any of those Dem Senators who spoke of Madison mention that he wanted only a 1/3 vote of the Senate to approve appointments? I didn't think so LOL!)

[Scenic Sounds]

Very nicely done.

Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution provides in part: "Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings . . ."

If the Senate wants to, it can change its own rules and eliminate the filibuster altogether. I'm not sure either side really wants to do that, though, and I doubt very much that either side would be happy with any court that tried to interfere with the Senate's ability to make its own rules.

I've been hearing this same debate about the Senate's role in judicial nominations for decades. It's just inherently very political.

Again, good job!! ;-)

[JohnBovenmyer]

Isn't the practice of letting a single senator place and keep a 'hold' on a judicial appointment even more unconstitutional or can holds be overturned by less than 60 senators?

[GeorgeWashington777]

Bump!

[Ferndina]

I must say that I was very disappointed in the senior senator from Texas, Kay Hutchinson, where she said that the president has a constitutional right to " appoint " judges. The demoncrats jumped on that slip immediately and in my opinion embarrassed us. I demand an up or down vote!

[Gritty]

my wife said with great accuracy, before going off to bed, “Anyone who wants to watch that is deeply warped.”

Great article!

However, I must vote with your wife. I went to bed rather than stay up with the chance to watch the likes of Chuck Schumer at 2 AM. Besides, my wife already knows I am warped so I didn't need to prove it!

[Mother Mary]

Thanks, Congressman. Love your Clarity. I was annoyed/amused by the Dem's circular reasoning about these judges being so far OUT OF THE MAINSTREAM. When everyone knows that a majority of current senators stand ready to vote to approve the nominee, the Dem's must convince all of us that the senate majority itself is OUT OF THE MAINSTREAM. So the Dem's are here to protect all of us from the dangerous results of having an OUT OF THE MAINSTREAM (OOTM) judge, nominated by an OOTM president, and approved by the votes of an OOTM majority of senators, to the detriment of "THE REAL AMERICAN MAINSTREAM" of the DEMOCRAT MINORITY.

[Mo1]

BTT

[thoughtomator]

What needs to be made clear is that the Democrats are deliberately creating a Constitutional crisis.