What Can Bush & Frist Do?
According to ex-Republican and hopelessly ideological pugilist Pat Buchanan, they can fight back, that's what.
That may be more than a little overoptimistic. First off, because Frist by definition of this "Deal" doesn't have the votes to trigger the Byrd Option, and second, if Frist had the mettle and the ruthlessness to pursue the course Buchanan urges, this fiasco would never have happened in the first place. The good doctor is just too much of a gentleman in a job that requires its occupant to be a son-of-a-bitch when the circumstances call for it. They most definitely call for it now, but Frist won't force this confrontation because he doesn't have it in him. And those other non-signatory Republicans who are making defiant noises about not being bound by this "Deal" are just as much "all hat and no cattle."
And if you were looking for presidential leadership to turn back this tide, you may or may not be disappointed
So, to formally answer PJB's rhetorical question, no, they don't have the nerve. Which only amplifies the tragedy, because, as was the case with the futile stand for the rule of law taken by House Republicans in the impeachment of Bill Clinton, even a doomed effort to break the filibuster would at least reiterate the constitutionalist principle that the McCain Mutineers vitiated and force them off of their "We're above politics" fraud pedestal and to have to publicly identify with their real allies, the Democrat Left.
And who knows? Perhaps DeWine and Graham, who were the most wobbly of the seven, would wilt under the heat and skulk back to GOP lines, where they would be assigned latrine duty until their asses could be keelhauled in 2006 and 2008, respectively. That'd give Fristy his fifty.
Frist and other loyal Pachyderms like John Cornyn continue to insist that the Byrd Option is still "on the table." It had better be, because if we can no longer have it out with the DisLoyal Opposition on this issue, we can at least settle accounts with the quislings who gave away the keys to the kingdom.
UPDATE: According to Captain Ed, Frist is f'ing up already:
Inherent to the Gang of Seven's political calculation on this stunt is that the voters will have a long stretch of time in which to forget all about it. Well, that's certainly not going to happen, but as with all things, the passage of time cools passions and people grow accustomed to the new status quo. If Frist wanted to use this base anger to try and salvage something from this debacle of his, he's just put two more bullets through his podiatric appendages.
What ought Frist to do?
Hold a press conference and declare to the party and country that, while the McCain Compromise may bind the seven, it does not bind the Senate, and, as majority leader, he intends to give every nominee to come out of the Judiciary Committee a floor vote. Should any nominee be filibustered, he will move to invoke cloture and shut off debate.
If McCain's Gang of Seven wishes to vote with 45 Democrats to let judicial nominees be filibuster-vetoed, that is their right. But they will have to vote with Reid, Barbara Boxer and Kennedy, and against their fellow Republicans and President Bush. [my emphasis]
McCain has thrown down a challenge to Bush, as well. Before Monday, the Democratic minority was dictating which judges would be held hostage and which ones would be released. Now, it is the Democratic minority, plus the McCain Seven, that is doing the dictating.
What Bush should reply is: There is not an extremist among them. All are men and women of integrity, intelligence and judicial demeanor. I want them all voted up or voted down. To deny them a vote is to do them and the nation an injustice.
If the President and Frist move toughly, and together, they can scatter the McCain gang, get every judge voted on and disarm the Democrats of their lethal weapon.
They have the votes. The question is: Do they have the nerve?
That may be more than a little overoptimistic. First off, because Frist by definition of this "Deal" doesn't have the votes to trigger the Byrd Option, and second, if Frist had the mettle and the ruthlessness to pursue the course Buchanan urges, this fiasco would never have happened in the first place. The good doctor is just too much of a gentleman in a job that requires its occupant to be a son-of-a-bitch when the circumstances call for it. They most definitely call for it now, but Frist won't force this confrontation because he doesn't have it in him. And those other non-signatory Republicans who are making defiant noises about not being bound by this "Deal" are just as much "all hat and no cattle."
And if you were looking for presidential leadership to turn back this tide, you may or may not be disappointed
So, to formally answer PJB's rhetorical question, no, they don't have the nerve. Which only amplifies the tragedy, because, as was the case with the futile stand for the rule of law taken by House Republicans in the impeachment of Bill Clinton, even a doomed effort to break the filibuster would at least reiterate the constitutionalist principle that the McCain Mutineers vitiated and force them off of their "We're above politics" fraud pedestal and to have to publicly identify with their real allies, the Democrat Left.
And who knows? Perhaps DeWine and Graham, who were the most wobbly of the seven, would wilt under the heat and skulk back to GOP lines, where they would be assigned latrine duty until their asses could be keelhauled in 2006 and 2008, respectively. That'd give Fristy his fifty.
Frist and other loyal Pachyderms like John Cornyn continue to insist that the Byrd Option is still "on the table." It had better be, because if we can no longer have it out with the DisLoyal Opposition on this issue, we can at least settle accounts with the quislings who gave away the keys to the kingdom.
UPDATE: According to Captain Ed, Frist is f'ing up already:
Next up for the Senate will be John Bolton, who got moved ahead of Janice Rogers Brown on the calendar. That's a mistake. Brown has waited longer than Bolton for action on her nomination, and the pressure of media and constituent curiosity about possible secret parameters of this Memorandum of Understanding between the 14 so-called centrist Senators will wane quickly. Frist should have acted on both Brown and Pryor while the momentum exists for speedy judicial confirmations. Bolton could have waited another two weeks.
Inherent to the Gang of Seven's political calculation on this stunt is that the voters will have a long stretch of time in which to forget all about it. Well, that's certainly not going to happen, but as with all things, the passage of time cools passions and people grow accustomed to the new status quo. If Frist wanted to use this base anger to try and salvage something from this debacle of his, he's just put two more bullets through his podiatric appendages.
posted by JASmius at 11:58 AM
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