ConfirmThem

By AndrewHyman Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Mr. Harry M. Reid --- the Senator from Vegas --- has been putting on a good show lately of being crazy as a loon. Crazy enough to shut down the Senate, even.

In recent months, Minority Leader Reid has called Alan Greenspan a “hack," called Clarence Thomas an “embarassment," accused the President of “going back on his word," called the filibustered nominees “bad people," accused California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown of wanting to go back to the days of the “Civil War," called the President of the United States of America a "LOSER," and who knows what all else he’s said that hasn’t yet been published.

Get it? Sen. Reid wants us all to think he’s a nutcase who might be crazy enough to shut down the Senate. Wise up. This guy is from Vegas. Where they play poker.

Senator Reid’s most recent maneuver is to make the seemingly loony offer of allowing an up-or-down vote on nominee Tom Griffith. Mr. Griffith has never even been filibustered --- and he was overwhelmingly approved in the Judiciary Committee, by a vote of 14-4. This fellow Reid is most certainly playing games.

Here's how Senate Majority Leader Frist has responded to Sen. Reid's oddball offer regarding Tom Griffith:

I appreciate Senator Reid’s willingness to give Mr. Griffith a fair up or down vote. Mr. Griffith has been waiting for almost a year for this basic courtesy. In fact today marks four years since the first of these highly qualified nominees began waiting for the civility of a vote.

This is a first step but there are seven other highly qualified nominees who have been filibustered in the 108th Congress who deserve an up or down vote as well. I remain committed to this fundamental principle and the return to 214 years of Senate tradition. I urge Senator Reid and the Democrats to take another look at my fair offer and to come to the table to work with me for a solution.

Meantime, CBN reports as follows:

Republicans say it is not just a few "way out groups" who care about judges. Sen. George Allen (R-VA) remarked:

"I was chairman of the Republican Senate committee the last two years. And whether I was in Cajun country in Southern Louisiana or the Black Hills of South Dakota or Alaska or, for that matter, the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, I'd finish off speeches where we'd talk about less taxation, less litigation, leaders in innovation, finish with judges. People are motivated on this issue, and the architect of this obstruction, the chief obstructionist, Tom Daschle (former South Dakota senator), is a former Democratic leader. And so I think that the people of this country expect Republicans to act. We should not cower."

Senator Allen is right.