ConfirmThem

By AndrewHyman Posted in Senate Rules — Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

MSNBC reports that the group People for the American Way (PFAW) is running TV ads using clips from the movie "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" starring the late great Jimmy Stewart, in order to promote PFAW's campaign of filibusters against judicial nominees. Of course, this ad is a gross perversion of the movie. Stewart's character filibustered an appropriations bill rather than a nomination (Stewart's character filibustered the appropriations bill because it included a ridiculous pork barrel dam project not unlike those supported by West Virginia's King of Pork). Here's an excerpt from the MSNBC article:

Even though the "Mr. Smith" scene in the PFAW ad is entirely fictional, Sean Rushton, the executive director of the Committee for Justice [CFJ], a group urging confirmation of Bush nominees, noted that the filibuster depicted in the film is a filibuster of legislation, not of a nomination.

The ad never mentions judges or the fact that the Senate Democrats have blocked confirmation votes.

Frist has not proposed changing the rule on filibustering legislation, but Neas [of PFAW] argued that a change in filibustering nominees would inexorably lead to a change in filibustering legislation, an assertion that Rushton called "nonsense."

The ad says that "America works best when no one party holds absolute power." Notwithstanding such scare tactics, the GOP isn't seeking to overthrow the Constitution, and there's nothing in the Constitution that remotely suggests that a minority party must hold any power over nominations. Indeed, for 70% of the twentieth century, the same party controlled the White House and the Senate. Jimmy Stewart would be rolling over in his grave if he knew that his image and likeness were being used in this way, to scare, confuse, and mislead the country. When that movie was made, no nomination had ever been defeated by a Senate minority, as Mr. Neas seeks to do now, nor did the movie contemplate such a thing (and, by the way, it was just a MOVIE).

The CFJ has further comments about PFAW's ad here, and Radioblogger has a few choice comments too.