A Republican civil war [View All]

[WilliamPitt]

Neither side is happy about the filibuster compromise, which probably means it was good.

Understand that they didn't have to compromise. They could have threatened any wayward Senators with the loss of chairmanships or other plums and held that ground. When the Dems reacted with parliamentary moves to lock the Senate, they would have run a dozen 'important' bills up the flagpole and painted us as obstructionist etc.

Maybe it would have exposed Frist et al. as the extremists they are, but in the long run the GOP would have won the standoff, the filibuster would be gone, and there would be ten wackos on the applelate court instead of three. Without the filibuster, the road to SCOTUS would be wide open and free for any yahoo to get the nod.

These kind of defensive setting-firebreaks/victorious retreat wins are what happens when you are in the minority. I think a lot of people here forget that we are in the minority, or don't understand just what that means as far as our leverage goes. Saving the filibuster was an absolute must, given our minority status.

But I am loving what I am seeing as a result. The Freeps are wild with rage, Hannity was apoplectic last night, and the extreme-right Senators are threatening to push this fight all over again in defiance of the deal. There are seven GOP Senators on record as saying killing the filibuster is 'bad for America,' so what we have here is a big fat rift right down the middle of that party.

Give this a few days. There may be benefits to this we haven't even considered. If the GOP goes to war with itself in the next weeks and months, the 2006 midterms will be very interesting, and the landscape for SCOTUS nominations will have dramatically changed.

Think about it: Whoever wins that civil war, we win. If the extremists win, they will over-reach and we still have the filibuster. If the 'moderates' win, a degree of normalcy will return to the Senate, and we still have the filibuster.

Get your popcorn.