ConfirmThem

By Quin Posted in Uncategorized — Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

This deal is a load of cr@!` It is not compromise, but capitulation. And I say that as somebody who did agree that a certain form of compromise was acceptable. But this comrpomise treats a couple of nominees, Saad and Myers, as pawns. It makes them not people, but expendable objects. And that is unconscionable.

When BOTH of those men were nominated, years ago, there was no reason to believe they would be denied up-or-down votes. Their expectations, based on 214 years of history, were that they would be afforded up or down votes. I've seen, first-hand, the torment that judicial nominees go through. They don't deserve to be treated like expendable pawns. That's why ANY agreement that failed to afford fair votes for all the already pending nominees is not a compromise but a sell-out.

Now, if the deal had been fair votes for all pending nominees, PLUS filibusters only in "extraordinary circumstances" for FUTURE nominees, then anybody who is asked to have his/her name submitted would know in advance what he is getting into. Everybody would understand the rules going in, and, while not optimal (optimal is killing all filibusters), it would have been better than an attempt that fails (fail because of gutless GOP senators) to kill all filibusters. I should be rejoicing right now because Bill Pryor, the guy I've most championed, will get a fair vote. But my heart goes out to Saad and especially Myers -- Myers, because I see no way that he would fail to get 50 votes plus Cheney if he actually was afforded a fair chance.
All this talk about "preserving the Senate" is bunkum. Senators would have adjusted. Most senators have too high an opinion of their own legislative body anyway. The Senate NEEDS reform, not preservation in its current form.

Way back when, two years ago, before the Estrada filibuster began, I was an advocate of a three-way deal ON PROCEDURES, between the White House and the two parties in the Senate, to head off the filibuster and maintain the dignity of the institution of the Senate AND maintain fairness to nominees. The White House had no interest then in such a deal. Now I bet the White House folks wished they had listened.

But, having come to this point, the White House was absolutely in the right to demand up-or-down votes for all nominees. The Senators, ON BOTH SIDES, who fail to provide such a vote for pending nominees have sacrficed fairness (to Saad and Myers) for expedience and political advantage. I guarantee you there was horse-trading in there concerning pork and other matters. And I guarantee you that not a one of them gave a thought to the havoc they have wrecked on these nominees' lives. Shame on them all. Fie on them all. Disdain for them all.