Well said. Nothing really has changed beyond the fact that the Dems have avoided being clobbered for stonewalling three superbly qualified candidates - a victory for them - and the Pubbies have managed to get them past the stonewall, a victory for them. The rest is still very much in play under essentially the same rules. Anyone who thinks this settles anything isn't paying attention.
I agree. This deal postpones the showdown, while immediately putting on the bench 3 judges who might be nominees for the Supreme Court one day. If the Dems continue to stonewall judges because they are women or because they are minorities, or just because they're too darn smart, the Republican Seven are free to declare the original commitment in breach, and vote for the nuclear option. Meanwhile, the Democrat Seven are bound by their word to try to be selective in filibustering judges. Maybe the smarter play would have been going for broke, but who knows how that scenario would have played out. The two parties pulled back from the precipice because they perceived risk in going forward with a confrontation. Now, maybe this group of 14 can try to address other contentious issues, like Social Security.