Filibustering Alito
On January 23, I posted the following comments, "Trust me, the extremists will not filibuster Judge Alito because they know it is a losing political move. The extremists will posture to their radical base, but they will not filibuster."
Now, it looks like I underestimated the stupidity of Sen. John F. Kerry. The Senator may prove me wrong on my "trust me" comment, but filibuster or not, I'm still all over this issue.
Two days after I wrote there would be Democrats posturing to the radical base, the news reports are concluding the Senator's moves are exactly that; he's obviously positioning himself for the Democrat's 2008 Presidential nomination. ZACKlyRight strikes (first) again! Great, Senator Kerry, nail down the super-extremists of your party and then try to convince those in the middle, those that actually decide elections, that you are not an extremist. Well, I guess with a compliant liberal media it is worth a shot.
Anyway, a related letter:
Editor,
The Boston Globe and its reporters have done an extremely poor job of explaining the filibuster to their readership.
On Friday, January 27, the Globe reported, "Under Senate rules, 41 Senators can tie up debate indefinitely, blocking a nomination (Mass. senators to filibuster Alito, A2).
On Saturday, January 28, the Globe reported that Sens. Kerry and Kennedy were, "well short of the 41 votes they need to lock in unlimited Senate debate and kill the nomination . . . Under Senate rules, 60 votes are needed to end a filibuster and allow a final vote on a nominee (An uphill battle for filibuster votes, A2)."
My heavens, reading the references above one would think a filibuster would kill a nomination; nothing could be further from the truth. From my armchair, I see really only two possible outcomes after a filibuster is initiated. First, at any time, the President can pull the nomination; this will, never, ever happen. Or, second, the filibuster ends and a vote is finally taken; this is exactly what would happen.
A third option, I guess, is that the filibuster proceeds just as the Globe reported, indefinitely. That is, without end. Well, we know this is not possible. The longest filibuster in history was 85 days. Let's double that and concede Democrats filibuster a popular judge for 170 days. For 170 days, the Republicans will be at microphones proposing fixes for the Medicare Prescription Drug program and lamenting that they can't take action on them. They will be in front of microphones proposing additional spending for body armor for the troops in Iraq and lamenting that they can't take action. They will be in front of microphones proposing additional spending for education and lamenting that they can't take action. Meanwhile, the videotape of Democrats reading cooking recipes and the rules of popular card games from the Senate floor would be broadcast into every living room in America. And on and on it will go until either the President pulls the Alito nomination or Democrats relent and allow the debate to end. The political carnage to Democrats for filibustering even one day would be tremendous. As a Republican, I can only hope such a foolish filibuster lasts indefinitely. Actually, it would last no longer than the swearing in of the overwhelmingly Republican Senate that would be elected in November of 2006.
I think I dismissed the mythical fourth option, the Constitutional option, as unlikely as well because I proved it unnecessary. (End of letter.)
On January 23, I posted the following comments, "Trust me, the extremists will not filibuster Judge Alito because they know it is a losing political move. The extremists will posture to their radical base, but they will not filibuster."
Now, it looks like I underestimated the stupidity of Sen. John F. Kerry. The Senator may prove me wrong on my "trust me" comment, but filibuster or not, I'm still all over this issue.
Two days after I wrote there would be Democrats posturing to the radical base, the news reports are concluding the Senator's moves are exactly that; he's obviously positioning himself for the Democrat's 2008 Presidential nomination. ZACKlyRight strikes (first) again! Great, Senator Kerry, nail down the super-extremists of your party and then try to convince those in the middle, those that actually decide elections, that you are not an extremist. Well, I guess with a compliant liberal media it is worth a shot.
Anyway, a related letter:
Editor,
The Boston Globe and its reporters have done an extremely poor job of explaining the filibuster to their readership.
On Friday, January 27, the Globe reported, "Under Senate rules, 41 Senators can tie up debate indefinitely, blocking a nomination (Mass. senators to filibuster Alito, A2).
On Saturday, January 28, the Globe reported that Sens. Kerry and Kennedy were, "well short of the 41 votes they need to lock in unlimited Senate debate and kill the nomination . . . Under Senate rules, 60 votes are needed to end a filibuster and allow a final vote on a nominee (An uphill battle for filibuster votes, A2)."
My heavens, reading the references above one would think a filibuster would kill a nomination; nothing could be further from the truth. From my armchair, I see really only two possible outcomes after a filibuster is initiated. First, at any time, the President can pull the nomination; this will, never, ever happen. Or, second, the filibuster ends and a vote is finally taken; this is exactly what would happen.
A third option, I guess, is that the filibuster proceeds just as the Globe reported, indefinitely. That is, without end. Well, we know this is not possible. The longest filibuster in history was 85 days. Let's double that and concede Democrats filibuster a popular judge for 170 days. For 170 days, the Republicans will be at microphones proposing fixes for the Medicare Prescription Drug program and lamenting that they can't take action on them. They will be in front of microphones proposing additional spending for body armor for the troops in Iraq and lamenting that they can't take action. They will be in front of microphones proposing additional spending for education and lamenting that they can't take action. Meanwhile, the videotape of Democrats reading cooking recipes and the rules of popular card games from the Senate floor would be broadcast into every living room in America. And on and on it will go until either the President pulls the Alito nomination or Democrats relent and allow the debate to end. The political carnage to Democrats for filibustering even one day would be tremendous. As a Republican, I can only hope such a foolish filibuster lasts indefinitely. Actually, it would last no longer than the swearing in of the overwhelmingly Republican Senate that would be elected in November of 2006.
I think I dismissed the mythical fourth option, the Constitutional option, as unlikely as well because I proved it unnecessary. (End of letter.)
posted by Zack at 2:10 PM
2 Comments:
Nice first strike re: Kerry!
I'm not a big fan of the Republican "moderates" in the U.S. Senate but, in hindsight, last year's compromise on judges by the "Gang of 14" in lieu of the constitutional or nuclear option has proven to be a complete victory for the Republicans and an unmitigated disaster for the Democrats. Not only were we able to get numerous highly qualified but "controversial" appeals court nominees confirmed (finally) but we were also able to get two stellar Supreme Court nominees through with the outcome never really being in doubt. If a third vacancy opens up on the Court I think we can expect more of the same.
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