ConfirmThem

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

Byron York, author of the article I cited below, appeared on the Rush Limbaugh program. He went over much of what he wrote about on NRO, and also added that he believes that the momentum is on the Republican side. As I mentioned in my comments, both York and Limbaugh noted that by appearing before the Moveon set, the Democrats have made Moveon much less of a fringe group and have brought them into the mainstream of the party. Moveon has become a major power broker within the party, and the Democratic leadership has essentially affirmed their important position. Again, this is bad for the country but good for the Republicans.

Some other highlights-

On Republican squeamishness to fight back loudly: Two grounds of opposition to the "nuclear" option: The practical ones who don't want to upset the Democrats, and others who fear that they will be in the minority someday and don't want the filibuster weakened.

Republicans have been successful this term on many fronts (tort reform, ANWR drilling), and the Democrats are weakening their own cause by focusing so much of their energy on blocking social security reform and judges.

It should be noted that Limbaugh intends to spend most of the rest of the show discussing this issue, so please tune in if you are near a radio.

Update: Great stuff from Rush. First, he has some words for those Senators who want to preserve the filibuster "just in case" they should return to the minority. He rightly castigates them for acting like they're not even the in the majority. Well, the fact of the matter is the Republicans ARE in the majority, and there is no point in preserving an option that the party didn't even use when they were in the minority. And, further, the way the Democrats are acting, what's to make us think they're about to return to the majority any time soon.

I would also add, as a matter of principle, that if we are to maintain that the filibuster for judicial nominees is unconstitutional or just plain wrong then why would we want to preserve it for ourselves? Those who hope to preserve the judicial filibuster "just in case" are making the Republican argument weaker because they are tacitly adhering to the notion that the filibister is a truly ethical option.

Rush also states that the Democrats' rash actions over the past few days shows that they are legitimately scared that the Republicans are actually going to do what they say they will do, and that if the leadership does not actually follow through then this will only go to strengthen Democratic resolve and allow them to call our bluff in the future.