Posted on 05/21/2005 4:42:36 PM PDT by neverdem
Here's an example of why moderates never accomplish anything in Washington.
Twelve independent and moderate senators - six Democrats and six Republicans - spent much of last week trying to work out a deal to head off a nuclear showdown over judges.
They agreed on the basic approach. The Democrats would allow votes on a few of the blocked judicial nominees (Priscilla Owen, William Pryor and Janice Rogers Brown, I'm told). In exchange the Republicans would drop a couple of the nominees (probably Henry Saad and William Myers).
The Democrats would promise not to use the filibuster, except under extreme circumstances. The Republicans would promise not to exercise the nuclear option except under extreme circumstances.
That was the deal, and a very fair one, too. But of course these are moderates. They can't just shove something through on the rough and dirty the way the partisans do. They can't lock themselves in the room until they reach a deal and then march out and announce it to the press.
They have to shop it around. Some of the 12 felt compelled to check with their leaders and others in their parties, so nobody would feel offended or left out. Some of the 12 had to quibble, fiddle, worry and adjust. One Democrat asked the Republicans if they could move a judge from the D.C. Circuit to the Ninth Circuit. (Huh?) Senator Robert Byrd joined the proceedings with a complicated proposal that threw everybody into confusion.
Then they had these arcane discussions about exactly which words to use. Since even moderates don't really trust one another, they were looking for language that would codify every possible contingency. A few gutless wonders were hoping they could find the words that would protect them when the attacks started coming from the pressure groups...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Yup. Spines of Jell-O. Useless.
No, it isn't.
Who gets to define extreme circumstances? Lemme guess--the dems. An extremist judge is one who believes a pregnant 12 year-old should check with mom and dad before getting an abortion.
This is utter nonsense. I challenge anyone to name me six moderate Democrat Party Operatives in the Senate. There aren't six. NO way.
Now, six "moderate" Republicans? Sure. But not six Dems.
I can name maybe one or two. Maybe. Ben Nelson of Nebraska and, at times, Landrieu of Lousiana. But even Mary is drinking the 'rat Kool-Aid on judges. She does, I think, believe in oil exploration--she'd best do that, since her state benefits.
Bottom line--there aren't six moderate Democrats in the Senate.
The NY Slimes is wrong. Again.
So, Byrd-brain orated on the floor of the Senate about how the rules were sacrosanct and then, behind closed doors, offered a wheedling compromise to change the rules. He blew his chance for this year's Mr. Integrity for the 25th year in a row.
Haven't you heard?
Hillary is a moderate now.
Brooks is the perfect example of a mushy, milquetoast, moderate.
Why bother to post a NY Times article.
You hit it the nail on the head.
This is another example of how the NY Times picks "safe" Conservatives for their op-ed writers. Brooks and Tierney are "wienies." They couldn't allow real movement Conservatives on the op-ed page.
Precisely - "extreme circumstances" means whatever the Democrats claim it means.
Who is going to protect them from the everyday Average Republicans or, even, the Moderate Republicans? I think they are sadly mistaken if they think that it is only "pressure groups". Many people won't bother to contact them ahead of time because they do not really think anyone in their party would ever make such a miserable deal on their behalf. However, it will surface in future elections and the time, effort, and money given to the party.
This is such a stupid article. All the compromise did was, at most, defer the nuclear option until the supreme court nominations.
In all fairness, a few Democrat moderates ought to vote for the constitutional option so the right wing will like them.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
If the old Klansman, sheets byrd, is a moderate, there are no partisans.
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