FRACTURED COMPROMISE - (Linda Chavez no longer praises McCain's filibuster "compromise")

WASHINGTON TIMES.COM ^ | JUNE 4, 2005 | LINDA CHAVEZ

[CHARLITE]

Pardon me while I wipe the egg off my face. Last week I was one of a handful of conservatives praising the Senate compromise on judicial nominees, which preserved the filibuster while guaranteeing several of President Bush's most conservative nominees an up-or-down vote.

I argued Democrats would be chastened into using the filibuster judiciously -- only "under extreme circumstances" in the words of the compromise itself. Boy was I wrong. In less than a week, the Democrats were back to their old tricks, filibustering John Bolton's nomination as ambassador to the United Nations.

Democrat Sens. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Ken Salazar of Colorado -- all of whom promised only "extreme circumstances" would justify a filibuster -- nonetheless voted against ending debate on Mr. Bolton. Three other Democrat signatories and all seven Republicans who forged the compromise supported allowing the nomination to move to a vote. One Democratic signer, Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, and one moderate Republican not part of the compromise group, Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, did not vote on the cloture motion. So, Mr. Bolton's nomination remains in limbo.

Many Democrats -- including a fair number of members of Congress -- seem unwilling to accept the results of last year's election. They believed they were cheated out of the White House in 2000 and were sure they would win it back in 2004. When Americans didn't oblige them, they tried to block the president's ability to get his agenda through. They don't want the president to appoint federal appellate judges, much less nominate a Supreme Court justice. They want to punish the president for daring to pick candidates who reflect his own conservative values, though the voters affirmed his leadership.

[paul51]

Pardon me while I wipe the egg off my face. Last week I was one of a handful of conservatives praising the Senate compromise on judicial nominees

Wonder wher she will stand next week

[corkoman]

How does Bolton fit into the McCain compromise? It was only for judicial nominees.How does Bolton fit into the McCain compromise? It was only for judicial nominees.

My thoughts too - I suppose many have taken the "compromise" as an agreement of spirit and the Bolton thing detracts from that spirit?

[guitarist]

Linda Chavez is brilliant and a treasure. It is one of the great cosmic injustices of all time that Barbara Mikulski, who is not one of the brighter ones in the Senate, and was once described as being a personification of the term "Gross National Product," was able to so easily defeat Linda for the Maryland seat back in '86. Linda is not completely pro-life, as I understand it, but never writes anything pro-abortion in her column...