ConfirmThem

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

In today's Best of the Web, James Taranto expresses some optimism about the deal:

Did the Democrats really want to go through all this again? Well, some no doubt did. Hate is more important than success to the likes of Barbara Boxer and Ted Kennedy, and in any case senators from liberal states are unlikely to pay a price for obstructionism. But the filibuster strategy runs counter to the inclinations and political interests of a substantial minority of Democrats, including, as we noted yesterday, at least five of the seven compromisers.

From where we sit, then, the actions of the Republican compromisers look like not a capitulation but a way of letting Democrats back down from a losing position without being humiliated.

Why not humiliate the Democrats? Well, here's one reason: "Democrats agreed on Tuesday to clear the way for the Senate to vote on the controversial nomination of John Bolton as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, which was expected to pass mainly on party lines," Reuters reports.

The deal is wrong on principle (filibuster is still a possibility and "advice and consent" should not apply to nominations but only to appointments ), but the jury is still out on the politics.