If I get one more e-mail, letter or fax from a conservative organization about those mean old Democrats who won’t allow Bush’s judicial nominees to get through the confirmation process, I’m going to scream!
These organizations are nothing more than enablers for a do-nothing Senate led by men who are afflicted with terminal niceness. Majority Leader Bill Frist is a man who seems more concerned with getting along than getting on with the business at hand, namely breaking the filibuster of two highly qualified nominees for the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Miguel Estrada and Priscilla Owen.
The public hasn’t got a clue! However, the leaders of the major conservative organizations are intelligent people and a lot of regular folks take their cues from them. These conservative leaders know exactly what is going on in the Senate – a lot of whining and hand-wringing, nothing more.
If Frist doesn’t play hardball now, what will he do when a member of the Supreme Court announces his or her retirement?
As long as conservative organizations cover for him and refuse to call him to task, what has he got to lose by doing the old two-step: one step forward, one back? Who is going to be the wiser if nobody tattles on him? It’s like cleaning up after a drunk. In this case, the drug of choice for these senators is their individual power and importance.
Filibustering a bill – the art of talking it to death – grew out of the tradition of giving senators the right of unrestricted debate.
The new gentleman’s version of the filibuster stems from an unofficial agreement among senators to allow any of their colleagues to place a “hold” on a bill. The senator placing the hold is, in effect, saying to his colleagues, “I would filibuster this bill if you push me to take the floor and hold it, but my time is too valuable and I’m much too important for that and, of course, so are you.”
Last week, at the urging of Frist, the Rules and Administration Committee approved a proposal to curb a filibuster by reducing the number of votes required to break one by three, each time a subsequent motion is filed for “cloture” – the process of ending debate and getting down to the question.
There is a big problem with this plan. While it takes 60 votes to break a normal filibuster, it takes 67 votes to break one against a proposed rules change. And this is what Frist calls moving forward?
If Frist wants to end what many believe is an unconstitutional filibuster of judicial appointments, he has a very good option if – and this is a mighty big if – he is willing to lead.
He must force the issue by holding round-the clock sessions, 24-7. Nobody goes home until the Senate agrees to have an up or down vote on these candidates.
First, Frist has to get members of his own party in line. Then, he must control Democrats. This is not as hard as it may seem. A simple majority vote is all that is required to send the sergeant-at-arms to round up absent members.
Once the Senate is in session 24-7, and folks like Orrin Hatch, Teddy Kennedy and Hillary Rodham-Clinton are padding around the Capitol in the middle of the night answering quorum calls in their pajamas and slippers, this issue will be on the front pages of the newspapers and lead every newscast.
Then – and only then – Republicans will have the opportunity to get the attention of the American people.
Republicans simply have not learned to lead. As a result, Democrats have become emboldened. Now they are insisting that a series of political litmus tests be applied to judicial nominees. This is an outrage!
First, it was abortion, then affirmative-action quotas and now “gay” rights. How many more political litmus tests are Republicans willing to swallow?
A nominee’s private views have no place in the nomination process because a judge or justice is supposed to leave his or her political views at home when making decisions on the bench.
So the Democrats get mad – so what? What is more important than protecting the system of checks and balances set up by our Founding Fathers?
It is time these Republican Senate leaders cut out the rhetoric and show some sobriety in their actions and it is time that the leaders of the major conservative organizations on Capitol Hill stop enabling these cowards by covering for them.
