Foghorn Leghorn Meets Boss Hogg
Matt Margolis couldn't believe what he read in the Los Angeles Times yesterday regarding judicial filibusters and compromises being offered to end the showdown...
"Bipartisan support" meaning "acceptable to Democrats."
What keeps Byrd-Warner from being unconstitutional is the technicality that the recommendations of this "independent commission under the auspicies of the Judiciary Committee" {heh} are "non-binding."
But that's a legal technicality. As a matter of political reality, the Senate would have stolen the Executive's appointment power by pre-emptively dictating to him which judicial candidates it would accept. No president of either party would ever consent to such an emasculation, and Byrd bloody well knows it, even if Warner is too dense to figure that out.
And, of course, in practice this "independent" commission would be run by the Dems, lock, stock, and barrel, as long as the Republicans remained in the majority and occupied the White House. As soon as either of those conditions changed, it would, like the independent counsel statute, go into mothballs until the GOP rose again.
This is such an obvious non-starter it sounds like a bad Jay Leno joke. I'm more concerned about the half-dozen RINOs that, even as we speak, are in that proverbial back room plotting an act of sublime treachery.
I picture next Tuesday evening, after the cloture vote has failed, and Senator Frist is beginning to utter his call to the chair to rule the judicial filibuster out of order. Suddenly Senator McCain bursts onto the floor waving a piece of paper and exclaiming, "Mr. President, we have a deal!"
There is no defeat so deep down victory's gullet that Republicans cannot find a way to disgorge it. I want to be optimistic, but past experience will not permit it.
For those who want to indulge in pollyanna-ism, if Fristy doesn't get Pearl Harbored before next Tuesday, don't be surprised if enough Democrats vote with the GOP to end debate on Justice Owen's nomination. Above all else, they CANNOT afford to lose the filibuster option. Letting a handful of appellate court nominations pass will buy them several more months to whittle down Frist's numbers and minimize the chances of his being able to "go constitutional" during the coming SCOTUS war.
The Donks can win this war right here, right now; the best we can hope for is to prevail in this battle just to continue the fight.
The issue at the forefront of current negotiations is a proposal championed by Byrd and Senator John W. Warner (R-VA) to create an independent, bipartisan commission — under the auspices of the Senate Judiciary Committee — that would pick a nonbinding pool of nominees to propose to the President to fill any Supreme Court vacancies.
By proposing nominees, the commission would signal that the potential picks would have bipartisan support, said Byrd spokesman Tom Gavin.
"Bipartisan support" meaning "acceptable to Democrats."
What keeps Byrd-Warner from being unconstitutional is the technicality that the recommendations of this "independent commission under the auspicies of the Judiciary Committee" {heh} are "non-binding."
But that's a legal technicality. As a matter of political reality, the Senate would have stolen the Executive's appointment power by pre-emptively dictating to him which judicial candidates it would accept. No president of either party would ever consent to such an emasculation, and Byrd bloody well knows it, even if Warner is too dense to figure that out.
And, of course, in practice this "independent" commission would be run by the Dems, lock, stock, and barrel, as long as the Republicans remained in the majority and occupied the White House. As soon as either of those conditions changed, it would, like the independent counsel statute, go into mothballs until the GOP rose again.
This is such an obvious non-starter it sounds like a bad Jay Leno joke. I'm more concerned about the half-dozen RINOs that, even as we speak, are in that proverbial back room plotting an act of sublime treachery.
I picture next Tuesday evening, after the cloture vote has failed, and Senator Frist is beginning to utter his call to the chair to rule the judicial filibuster out of order. Suddenly Senator McCain bursts onto the floor waving a piece of paper and exclaiming, "Mr. President, we have a deal!"
There is no defeat so deep down victory's gullet that Republicans cannot find a way to disgorge it. I want to be optimistic, but past experience will not permit it.
For those who want to indulge in pollyanna-ism, if Fristy doesn't get Pearl Harbored before next Tuesday, don't be surprised if enough Democrats vote with the GOP to end debate on Justice Owen's nomination. Above all else, they CANNOT afford to lose the filibuster option. Letting a handful of appellate court nominations pass will buy them several more months to whittle down Frist's numbers and minimize the chances of his being able to "go constitutional" during the coming SCOTUS war.
The Donks can win this war right here, right now; the best we can hope for is to prevail in this battle just to continue the fight.
posted by JASmius at 12:17 PM
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