"Good job, Senator Reid" - a contrarians view of "the deal"

[housewolf]

From Steve Soto at "The Left Coaster"

<snip>

let me offer a contrary position to many of you on the “deal” tonight.

I said several days ago that a fight to the end was necessary as long as the right to filibuster a Supreme Court nominee was endangered. This deal took that odious likelihood off the table, admittedly for now. And the Democrats seem far more pleased tonight than the American Taliban wing of the GOP Senate.

Bill Frist wanted this fight, to show the American Taliban that he could be counted on to deliver right wing judges at the appellate level and to the Supreme Court. No matter what you think of the phrase “extraordinary circumstances”, the deal by the moderates prevented Frist from delivering, and it did demonstrate that cooler older heads on both sides of the aisle had to step in to save Frist from himself. Many of you think tonight that Frist won this battle. All he actually won were up and down votes on appellate court nominees, pathetic nominees, but only votes nonetheless. Despite what you think about the GOP, there is no guarantee that all seven of Bush’s nominees will get through his own caucus. And in fact, two of the seven according to press reports tonight will not have the support of the Senate GOP moderates.

<snip>

Bush didn't get the neutered Senate he and Cheney were hoping for, and instead are being told by the moderates in his own party that two of the seven are dead, and that he and Cheney can have their Owen/Brown/Pryor nutcases for the appellate courts, but no further. Neither Cheney's schemes nor Frist’s presidential ambitions got served tonight.

<snip>

Bill Frist’s 2008 campaign ended tonight. John McCain, with an assist from John Warner and Lindsey Graham, got a chance to make Frist look like a Kool-Aid drinking Taliban cultist tonight, and this has big ramifications for 2008 among the Senate GOP caucus. This was a win-win for McCain, and you will see now a larger and larger block of the Senate GOP caucus splinter away from First and the White House. McCain effectively took over the Senate GOP tonight without having to take on the burden of being Majority Leader.

<snip>

Again, it wasn’t a satisfying victory tonight for many on the left, but such a victory in a 55-44-1 Senate would have resulted in a victory on principle and nothing else. We live to fight another day, in a better position now in the court of public opinion than before, while protecting the Supreme Court beachhead. And Bill Frist lost face with the American Taliban and lost the car keys to the Senate at the same time.

Trust me, we’re doing fine.

http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/004462.php

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. I am leaning on to that, but truly time will tell

[oasis]

2. Dems came out ahead on this one. I agree with Steve Soto. (eom)

[coloradodem2005]

3. THis was good and bad.

Sadly these kinds of compromises are the key at times.

[housewolf]

4. Yeah, they are...

The only way in politics to get what you want without having to compromise is to do what GWB, Cheney and Frist have been trying to do - aggregate all the power to themselves and stomp all over everyone else. That's exactly why we've been fighting them so hard.

I think we got a good compromise out of the deal.

[LunaC]

5. All we really gave in to was an Up or Down Vote, right?

Just signed on and scanned a few threads expressing a great deal of teeth-gnashing regarding "The Deal " and whether we won or lost. The assumption is that the Pugs will get the three Judges we fought so hard against while we saved the filibuster for later use.

But if those seven Centrist Pugs just jumped ship and plan on flinging a mighty middle-finger at the WH, they'll show it by casting their votes against the Judges on the table. The game ain't over 'til the votes come in. Right? What am I missing here?

[housewolf]

6. You're right... there's lots of controversty about who won what

We gave in on up-and-down votes for Owen, Brown and Pryor. Myers and Saad remain fillibustered and basically their nominations are dead. The rest remain to be negotiated.

We agreed to use the filibuster only in "extrordinary" situations, a term which remains undefined. If we start fillibustering a bunch of nominees again, they reserve the right to bring out the nuclear option again.

There's also an agreement for both parties to consult on potential judicial nominees and to attempt to bring the admin in to consult prior to making nominations in order to find nominees more acceptable to all.

Don't make a rash decision that that the "repub gang of 7" did what they did primarily to thumb their nose at the WH - I think they did it more out of respect for the institution of the senate, fear of what might happen when they are the minority again, and because this kind of stuff is not at all popular with the American people - congressional approval polls are way down and I think they felt it was for the best to get beyond this and start talking about things that matter to the American people.

[Pepperbelly]

14. not quite...

you wrote: "We agreed to use the filibuster only in "extrordinary" situations, a term which remains undefined. If we start fillibustering a bunch of nominees again, they reserve the right to bring out the nuclear option again."

From the Memo of Understanding ...

"B. Rules Changes. In light of the spirit and continuing commitments made in this agreement, we commit to oppose the rules changes in the 109th Congress, which we understand to be any amendment to or interpretation of the Rules of the Senate that would force a vote on a judicial nomination by means other than unanimous consent or Rule XXII."

IOW, the future of the fillibuster rests on the integrity of the gop Senators involved in the compromise.

[CTLawGuy]

15. man, I have SO much faith in the integrity of the GOP Senators

:eyes:

[mzmolly]

13. Right, we allowed the Senate to vote, which is what it's supposed to do.

Your not missing a thing. Some here advocated shutting down the Senate until 2008, which would have made Dems as popular as snakes ~ especially in a time of war.

[utahgirl]

7. I agree with Steve Soto

This was just a skirmish in the war. It showed that the Democrats could work as a unit, stay together, and be effective. It was a good chance to draw out moderate repugs and that promotes schism in Freeperland. It made cat-killer look bad. That alone was worth the price of admission. And, like it or not, the Senate still has to work together, so it allows business to continue.

I'm really pleased with Reid's success.

utahgirl

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

8. Soto Nails it.

Everything else is just histrionics.

[cally]

9. I agree with Soto

I think Dems have a reason to celebrate tonight. More important, Americans have reason to celebrate. Moderate voices prevailed. This agreement gave me hope that there are still Republicans who put their country ahead of their party.

[tedoll78]

10. I think we come out much more ahead than the GOP.

Especially in terms of angering the respective bases.

Since the announcement of this deal, I've been to both liberal and conservative message boards, and these is a definite difference in the reactions on each side. The GOP's side is LIVID at this deal. Frothing at the mouth. Vowing to sit on the sidelines in 2006: no vote, no money, no volunteering. Doing some soul-searching with respect to all that they gave in 2004.

Meanwhile, the Dems are a bit more typical.. our side's reaction seems more reserved, more cautious.. there are a few using terms like "disappointing" or "sell-out" - but the vitriol on our side is nowhere near the anger on their side on this deal.

And that's why I think we're out ahead.

[CTLawGuy]

16. that's a misleading comparison

considering the expectations of the two bases.

the GOP base demands everything it wants on a silver platter immediately. Also, they are not known for their high cognitive ability. they may not understand that they essentially got 3 judges for free.

While the Democrats would be thrilled just not to get creamed.

[FlemingsGhost]

11. Democrats simply postponed the inevitable, prolonging the agony.

I suppose they are banking on the GOP imploding first.

Hell of a roll of the dice ...

[mzmolly]

12. Recommended, I agree with TLC

For goodness sakes, we allowed "votes" in the Senate!? All the humanities!!!!!!!!!

:eyes:

We won this one guys. When Dobson is foaming at the mouth, that's a good indicator.

[Tesla]

17. I got my two cents worth

Just watching Frist get so MAD afterwards!!

BYE BILL!!!

[mzmolly]

18. And the RW meltdown ... bonus! Now, if we can insert a 3rd Party

Candidate like this:



http://www.peroutka2004.com/index.php

to siphon off these pissed off wingers in 08, were REALLY getting somewhere!

:popcorn:

[John_H]

19. Overstated. And playing into GOP hands.

Some of chimps nutcases won't get in? I'll bet any amount of money with any DUer who lives in Soto's fantasy world that all seven are judges by June 1.

A McCain mutiny? Bullshit. The White House isas firmly in control of the GOP Senate as any White House has been in control of any Senate.

Bill Frists's canpaign ending is a good thing? Really? Who do you want to run against?

Remember, the GOP already has every one their Mediawhores touting this deal. That doesn't make soto suspicious. To me, it's the most obvious proof we lost.