May 24, 2005

Here's the Deal

"There is no way this agreement that breaks Democratic obstruction can be spun any way other than as a victory for Republicans and the Bush Administration," said a Republican Senate leadership aide late Monday night, regarding the agreement reached by 14 senators to avert a showdown vote on the so-called nuclear option that would have ended Democratic filibustering of Bush judicial nominees.

The parameters of the deal insure that six of eight obstructed Bush nominees to the federal judiciary will receive an up or down confirmation vote in the Senate.The three most opposed Bush nominees to the court, Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown and William Pryor, will not have their nominations blocked any longer; also, three other Bush nominees will eventually receive an up or down confirmation vote as well; the only two nominees who still may be filibustered are Michigan judge Henry Saad and William Myers.

Also as part of the compromise, the Democrat moderates promise to prevent any future filibuster of Bush appeals court and Supreme Court nominees. While Democrats were able to have their "exceptional circumstances" clause inserted in the deal, no one anticipates that such a situation will arise, assuming Democrats keep their promise. And it appears, that a number of promises were being tossed around the negotiation room on Monday afternoon.

Several Republican senators involved in negotiations swore that not only will the six Bush nominees be given an up or down vote, but that Democrats in the room were aware that Republicans involved in the negotiations had agreed to vote cloture on Myers as well, and that Democratic negotiators had agreed that such a move could take place, thus also allowing Myers an up or down vote in the Senate. "Assuming that our guys hold themselves to that promise," says another Republican staffer working on the Judiciary committee, "then we're looking at a clean sweep for confirmations."

That said, Republican Judiciary Committee staffers said it would have been difficult to clear Saad for confirmation, regardless of the Democrats' unethical behavior in his case. Democratic Judiciary Committee staff and Senate Democratic leadership coordinated an attack against Saad by providing and then sending Sen. Harry Reid a memo detailing uncorroborated raw interview notes from Saad's confidential FBI background check.

"Saad has served on the bench in Michigan, he has been a public figure for years, he has had close associations with several Senate and House members from the state of Michigan," says a Washington lobbyist who has met with Saad on occasion. "This is an honorable man whose nomination was badly damaged by Democrats. Any future nominee should be aware of what the Democrats will do to destroy a good conservative."
If there are any potential losers in this deal, it is the moderate Republicans who have put their reputations on the line with not only their Republican colleagues, but also conservative voters. "If Myers doesn't get a vote, if a reasonable Supreme Court nominee does not receive a vote, or has his or her nomination blocked, then those moderate Republicans should be held accountable by not only the caucus but their constituents," said the Republican Judiciary staffer.

HOW TRUE TO THEIR word Democrats will be may become apparent in about a month, when Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist is expected to announce his retirement.

Well, I was pretty upset by the initial news of this agreement, as I thought that the GOP Senators had caved and at first blush, it still looks like they gave in when they held the winning hand, but maybe they let the Dem Senators "win" so that we can live to fight another day.
And Frist arrived at this "compromise" in such a way that the Dems can save face, rather than give them the nuke-ya-ler thrashing they deserved!
The appearance of bipartisan "comity" is preserved, also.
You have to be careful of the Dimocrats these days--more and more they've come to resemble mad dogs, rather than the minority party of mere political opposition.
If Frist had gone nuclear last night and taken away the last tool in the Dems' toolbox, there's no telling what crazy and destructive thing they'd do in reaction!
So as long as they think they won and beat the "conservative Republicans" and we get our judges, who cares?
Given the fact that we control the White House and both houses of Congress, we can afford to be magnanimous.
President Bush likes to preserve the peace and it seems that Frist is no lover of a good junkyard dog fight, so in that sense, this is a "win-win."
Dewine, Warner, Graham, McVain, Chaffee, Snowe, and Collins--you're on notice.
(Actually, I'd be surprised if Warner ran again, but it's a hell of a time to pick to get "confused" in your golden years! Of course, he did marry that ditz Liz Taylor years earlier, too, so maybe he's always been a little "off.")
Remember Tom Daschle?
Nope, neither do I.
And that's the point.
McVain: don't even think of running for President!
(That goes for you, too, Frist.)
As for Dewine, Graham and the rest of the perfidious pack calling themselves "moderate Republicans," if you live in one of the states that sent these fools to the Senate, start looking now for their truly conservative GOP replacements in 2006.
I do wonder what happened to those cots set up in the Strom Thurmond rest room, though...
The Senate is sickening in it's self-importance, pomposity and smugness; maybe they deserved having that Scottish idiot George Galloway yell at them!

More thoughts and analysis at NRO's Bench Memos and at Confirm Them.com.