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Let's Humor Schumer

New York's other senator took to the Senate floor today and issued a threat, the Associated Press reports:

"If the president sends us a nominee who is committed to an agenda of turning back the clock on civil rights, workers' rights, individual autonomy or other vital constitutional protections, there will likely be a fight," said Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, chairman of the Democrats' Senate campaign committee and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

We happened to catch these remarks on C-Span, and the funniest part is the next line, which the AP left out: "And Mr. President, it will be a fight without any winners."

Someone might want to explain to Schumer that politics is a zero-sum game, which means that if a fight has losers, it has to have winners too. For example, Tom Daschle waged a "fight" by filibustering Bush judicial nominees. Among the winners that fight produced were John Thune, who now holds Daschle's former seat, and Harry Reid, who now leads the (less numerous) Senate Democrats. If Schumer thinks there won't be any winners in this fight, that probably means he's confident his side will lose.

-- BEST OF THE WEB TODAY, 9/28/05