Gang of Twelve Wreaks its Will on the Senate

Well, the RINO (Republican-in-name-only) Caucus in the Senate waffled again, as one might have expected, and threw two of the President’s nominees to the wolves, with the prospect of more to follow. Demonstrably there are not enough Republicans left in the Senate, that remember that THEY are the majority party now, to manage to exercise the hard won electoral advantage that was handed to them by the voters.

When there is the sight of John “Manchurian Candidate” McCain lined up next to Robert KKK Byrd, the mind boggles, and the hope that the GOP can be an effective vehicle for conservative/libertarian change in D.C. It has been said that politics is the art of the possible. What is such a crying shame here is that IT WAS POSSIBLE TO HAVE A CONSTITUTIONALLY MANDATED VOTE ON ALL THESE NOMINATIONS. All it would have taken was enough backbone in the RINO caucus to back up the President as well as the Senate majority that would have voted to confirm these nominees. In short, as far as the Chief is concerned, these waffle-heads have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory as Sen. Warner (RINO-VA), stood there in the announcement presser holding up “the deal” papers, reminding one of Chamberlain after Munich returning to England promising “Peace in our time.”

UPDATE:
After sleeping on it all and based on more thought on the status of the REST of the appointments NOT included in the deal, and the level of dissing to Sen. Frist AND the president, the Chief has revised his read on the relative advantage/disadvantage of this sell-out deal. The REAL GOP got seriously burned!

The following coverage was in The Hill on-line:

Deal heads off nuclear option
By Geoff Earle

A group of 14 Republicans and Democrats have reached a deal that will avert the use of the so-called “nuclear option” to end the judicial filibuster – at least for a time.

The deal would “pull this institution back from the precipice,” according to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who helped broker the deal.

Yeah, right – but it just pushed Republican Party integrity over the edge.

The deal commits the senators to voting for cloture to cut off debate on the three best-known and most-controversial nominees: Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown, and William Pryor.

It’s an ill wind that blows no good. This at least is SOMETHING, and these are all EXCELLENT nominees. Bully for them!

With the 14 senators, Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) would have the votes needed to cut off debate on the Owen nomination when the Senate votes Tuesday.

Frist therefore would not need to invoke the controversial tactic of raising a point of order in order to achieve a change in the Senate’s precedents by a simple majority vote.

The deal, however, appears to stop short of Frist’s demand that all judicial nominees get an up or down vote. Signatories make “no commitment” to vote for or against cloture for two other stalled nominees: William Myers, and Henry Saad.

Move along folks, nothing to see here – just throwing some extra passengers off the sleigh, to keep the wolves from catching up with the rest of us.

Asked whether Republicans would still go forward with the nuclear option, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), replied, “That won’t be necessary, because Owen is going to get an up or down vote.” Asked about whether Republicans might use the tactic in the future, he responded, “All options are available, with the timing to be determined.”

SOUNDS OK here but McConnell had nothing to do with this deal, and with the RINOS moving over to share the paddock with the Donks, it’s really questionable that this could work any more.

As part of the deal, signatories commit themselves to exercise their constitutional advise-and-consent responsibilities “in good faith,” that nominees should only be filibustered under “extraordinary circumstances,” and that each signatory would use their own discretion in this regard.

“IN GOOD FAITH”???!! EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES?? What’s extraordinary to lots of Donks is the nomination of anyone to the right of Daschle.

Likewise, the signatories commit to oppose “any amendment to or interpretation of the Rules of the Senate that would force a vote on a judicial nominee by means other than unanimous consent or Rule XXII,” the Senate’s cloture rule. The agreement also includes statements encouraging consultation between the Senate and the White House before nominations are submitted to the Senate.

This would appear to eliminate the “COnstitutional Option” rules change, in spite of Sen. DeWine (RINO-O) stating in the presser that this was not the case. Time will tell.

Frist said on the Senate floor that the agreement “falls short of that principle” of an up or down vote.

Really? I’m shocked! SImply Shocked!

“It has some good news, and it has some disappointing news, and it will require some careful monitoring,” he said. If Owen, Brown, and Pryor can receive a fair up or down vote, he added, “so can Myers and Saad.” But while Frist said the deal might be “spun” as a victory for Democrats or the group of 14, he said it was a victory for the Senate.

he same time is a “victory for the Senate”? Huh? Come again?

Minority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called the deal a “significant victory” for the country, democracy, and “every American.”

This is the most alarming bit of all: If Dingy Harry Reid (Social Democrat – NV)likes it, can it REALLY be that good? Probably not.

Reid added that other Michigan judges nominated for the sixth Circuit “are going to be approved.” Frist said he expected other stalled nominees, Richard Griffin, Susan Nielson, David McKeague, and Thomas Griffith, to get votes.

This could be good also.

Republicans RINOs signing the agreement were Sens. Mike DeWine (Ohio), Susan Collins (Maine), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Lincoln Chafee (R.I.), McCain, John Warner (Va.), and Olympia Snowe (Maine).

The “RINO Caucus”

Democrats signing were Sens. Nelson, Mark Pryor (Ark.), Robert Byrd (W.Va.), Joe Lieberman (Conn.), Mary Landrieu (La.), and Ken Salazar (Colo.)

Their Donk buddies.

The Chief’s overall eval on this – the GOP RINO’s snatched at least partial defeat from the jaws of victory, but some really good looking originalist jurists will enter the Federal Appeals Courts, where there presence is potentially very significant. On balance, probably a 30-70 disadvantage to the GOP on this one, subject to change as events develop.

The beat goes on!