Update [2005-5-24 11:57:0 by susanhbu]: Senate vote on Owen is tomorrow morning, per MSNBC.
Update [2005-5-24 9:9:13 by susanhbu]: Senate now voting to end debate on Priscilla Owen.
From the Los Angeles Times, “Senate Deal Reached on Filibusters“:
Sen. Russell D. Feingold (D-Wis.) said the agreement was “not a good deal.”
“Democrats should have stood together firmly against the bullying tactics of the Republican leadership abusing their power as they control both houses of Congress and the White House,” he said. “Confirming unacceptable judicial nominations is simply a green light for the Bush administration to send more nominees who lack the judicial temperament or record to serve in these lifetime positions.”
The Senate may vote on Priscilla Owen as early as today.
I just posted the following comment on the earlier thread, but it fits just as well here, perhaps even better:
Three of the least qualified and most extreme nominees imaginable are guaranteed their straight up-or-down vote. And by agreeing to limit the possible use of judicial filibusters in the future to “extraordinary circumstances” (a term specifically left to each signatory’s interpretive discretion), the bar has been set.
If the Dear Leader were to nominate another Owen or Rogers Brown, there would be no way to uphold a filibuster, since we’ve now established the standard for acceptability. Should such a nomination come up (and believe me, Bush and his advisers will want to test the limits of this “compromise” sooner rather than later), one of two things will happen:
Instead of being able to paint the Senate GOP into a corner, there’s now an aura of bipartisanship. Frist has been heavily damaged, to be sure, but so what? Did the right’s agenda take a hit in the Senate when Trent Lott was forced out of his leadership role? Dobson seems to be quite upset, but he’s now acknowledged as a major political player on a much wider range of issues than before.
In many respects it might have been better for the compromise to fail — the GOP would have been seen as completely inflexible, and had Frist managed to win his rules change, it would have given Democrats a galvanizing principle to rally around in future elections. Now what do we have? The status quo, minus a good deal of maneuvering room. Disappointing, at best.
I haven’t had a chance to check, so am asking you in the hopes you have seen something: Why is Robert Byrd so pleased about this compromise?
Is it just that he’s an old-timer?
is that Byrd is relieved that his precious Senate wasn’t nuked.
I’m relieved too.
But the dirty little secret is that very few Senators really wanted to change the rules to make the Senate, as an institution, less powerful vis-a-vis the executive.
I don’t think Frist had the votes.
And in that context, The Maven and I see things about the same.
and lost the vote, he could have claimed victimhood.
By dropping the vote and working out a bargain without Frist (Dobson), the seven Republicans announced that Frist (Dobson) no longer controls the caucus.
Frist (Dobson) is a lame duck. A lame duck that can’t float. The water doesn’t even roll off his back.
The bargaining is the key point. Not the details of the bargain but the bargain itself.
Goodbye George, Karl, Dickie, Donnie, Conde, Abu Gonzales, Pearle et. al….
We saved a spot in the docket for ya.
and lost the vote, he could have claimed victimhood.
Good point. But, he still would have lost, and that wouldn’t have sat well with his supporters.
My rosy side hopes you’re right about the rest.
the fundies could have claimed Frist (Dobson) at least fought the good fight.
This way, Frist (Dobson) was well, how to put it… on the sidelines, slinking down, hiding behind the waterboy, wimpering; cowed…
Not even blindsided mind you…
Just a simpering, runny-nosed, sobbing little bully-coward. Who didn’t even come out to fight. No vote. No fight.
And by extension, the same holds true for BushMart — The White House. Another Rose Pedal Glasses view of their own intelligence, planning and power. Another Oops.
The seven Republicans know BushMart’s term just went belly-up and they decided to take control.
Coup de jour.
Who cares about Frist? I wish he would get the next prez nomination. He’s nothing special — just another cog in the psychotic GOP machine. “Winning” against him is winning nothing at all. The Dems, in the end, just got hornswoggled again.
I just heard Kennedy celebrating the “compromise”. I’ll never have the same respect for him again. This was no compromise, it was another spin on utter capitulation. The Dems had the public on their side, and once again they chose to betray their backers for the sake of gaining nothing. I give up.
Can somebody explain how this deal makes anything better for the future? Or anything real that was gained?
have only 48 votes. And probably don’t even have that many.
Taking down the frontman of the theo/neocon Fascists isn’t a victory?
Again, what did they gain? They preserved the “collegiality” of the Senate? Fuck that. I don’t care. As far as I’m concerned they should have gone to the mat, win or lose. Then they either would have won, which needs no explanation, or they’d have lost the filibuster and won a superpotent weapon in the next congressional elections.
As far as I can see, they did nothing to keep the filibuster available for the supreme court nominees. What’s to stop the Reps from starting the whole thing all over again when that time comes?
What’s to stop the Reps from starting the whole thing all over again when that time comes?
Only their good word, it seems… (ha, I couldn’t even write that without cringing and laughing).
Mr. Lautenberg? Mr. Lautenberg. “NO”
Well – two bright spots to the morning.
Mr. Lieberman “YES”
Surprise, surprise. Along with both Mr. Nelsons and the rest of the party.
Mr. Sarbanes “NO” Ms. (didn’t hear the name, but it had three syllables “NO”)
I’m supposed to be focused on work, but I can’t help myself – CSPAN is in the background, and each time I hear a “NO” it just sounds good to the ears.
Damn – I just had to go take a client call, so I missed the remainder of the votes.
didn’t kennedy say yes? or was I distracted and heard wrong?
I sure hope you were distracted – I tuned in pretty closely when I heard his name.
TY! for the play-by-play. So, after lunch, they vote? Or?
YW! (far more interesting than my work at hand). No idea what’s going on after the vote. That pesky client call got in the way.
After all my horseplay on this site on Sunday I have myself backed into one big corner with a regulatory filing deadline. (And yet, here I sit, typing away, fa la)
viewing last night’s results as such a great victory? (indicating that for the first time they agree with Dobson)
Just had a call in from a Rep who was just livid about the “traitors” of the Rep. party. He said they should be tried for treason. Funny isn’t it, try them for treason, but not our dear leader and Co..
If Cavanaugh or Haynes are filibustered, says Rush, “we’ll know the deal was a fraud.”
(I’m having to listen to Rush because it’s our only local AM station, and my daughter asked me to turn it on because there’s been a bad accident that’s bloocking Hwy 101 — preventing people from getting to work — and she wants to know what’s what. Of course there’s no traffic report now for about 10 minutes — that’s what happens when a local radio station has to give way to nationally syndicated programming.
That’s one of the disconcerting things about living in the sticks. If there’s an emergency or a bad accident, it’s almost impossible to find out what’s going on until the next morning when the local rag comes out (which also NEVER updates its Web site with breaking news).)
I suppose this ends any shot Feingold might have had as the next prez nominee. The Dem wishful thinkers must absolutely despise him for once again trying to jerk them out of their pathetic happy happy fantasylands.
Nuclear Option Defused, But at What Price?
Thank you to the hundreds of concerned citizens who signed our petition asking that our government’s systems of checks and balances be preserved in the US Senate. The filibuster and the rights of the minority have been saved — but at a cost. For more on what yesterday’s filibuster compromise means, see the Sierra Club’s official statement.