The more I think about this deal the more I see it as a defeat for the Democrats instead of us:
They have shown themseleves to be hypocrites. These three judges were so "out of the mainstream" they needed to be filibustered. But we're willing to allow the vote as part of a deal. Democrat Senators, we've settled what you are, now we're talking price.
The vote on these three judges was in return for being able to filibuster someone else? They already had the right to filibuster someone else. We got something for nothing.
The nuclear option can be invoked under the same conditions as the filibuster. We gave up nothing.
This squabble made the Senate look like a bunch of twerps in need of adult supervision. The Democrats will look like spoiled brats if the subject comes up agains. That means up or down votes.
If the Democrats declare the next judge to be "extraordinary" and threaten to filibuster, it will look like they're going back on their word. They can try to explain it but, in politics, if you're explaining you're losing.
84 posted on 05/25/2005 8:14:11 AM PDT by Dilbert56