ConfirmThem

By Paul Zummo Posted in Fillibuster — Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

This Reuter's article quotes Senator Ken Salazar (D-Col) as saying that the President is "playing a high-stakes game of 'chicken' that could bring the Senate to a near halt." As disconcerting as Salazar's sudden about-face from his campaign promise to be a centrist may be, I found this quote from Chucky Schumer to be particularly enlightening:

His (Bush's) renomination of seven of the 10 circuit court judges that we blocked in the last Congress is a thumb in the eye of bipartisanship.

Okay, let's parse this one. The good Senator from my former home state is acknowledging that the Democrats "blocked" the nominees, a tacit admission that they were not rejected but instead blocked by a cabal of partisan Democrats intent on derailing Bush's court picks. And yet in the very next breath he accuses Bush of "thumbing the eye of bipartisanship." Once again, the Senator proves the saying that to Democrats bipartisanship means that Republicans do what they want them to do.

Update: As Andrew helpfully noted, it was Schumer who made the "Game of chicken" comment, not Salazar. Of course Salazar had some unkind words of his own on the re-nomination process, thus my comments regarding him still stand.