DeWine and the Filibuster: This Bears Repeating From Yesterday

self ^ | 11/1/05 | LS

[LS]

The reaction to my description of the Democrats was rather entusiastic, so I thought I would share it with all. Yesterday, Sen. Mike DeWine was asked about the possibility of a filibuster over Alito. He responded:

"I just...it's hard for me to envision why anyone would think that you would have to filibuster in this case, or why they would think it would be, . . ."

To which I answered,

BECAUSE THEY ARE DEMOCRATS, SENATOR. They don't need reasons, or real facts, or even logic. They are jerkweeds, dullmoppers, dimtuppers, and dorknobbed knottwisters.

[LS]

Many Freepers were unaware of these descriptions of the evil party. Feel free to use!

[Just mythoughts]

I saw DeWine and how conflicted he was in his response. Strange how DeWine was so immediately available to respond and not the leader of the gang McCain. Then the great leader of the gang was not to be outdone he was looking for "prime time" on the Hannity & C food fight.

This gang has lost it primacy of earlier days.

[beyond the sea]

If that reaction was so "entusiastic" .............well then all is fine.

;-)

[AFPhys]

You were apparently not listening to what DeWine and Graham were saying right after the Memorandum of Understanding was signed. They have ALWAYS maintained that they were part of the MoU only to insure that there would be no filibuster, but that they WOULD pull the trigger immediately, join Frist and the rest of the Republican leadership to Nuke the Dems if they did attempt a filibuster. They stated that they believed the confirmation process for all the President's appointments would be far smoother if the Nuke did not have to be used to begin with.

Thus far, they have been exonerated.

You're barking up the wrong tree when you focus on Graham and DeWine. The important Senator here is Specter, especially now after Miers, who he supported, was denied a vote on the floor of the Senate. He, with the addition of the liberal Chaffee, maverick McCain, and card-carrying RINOs Snowe, Collins, and Warner, are sufficient to break the nuke option.

It was the case that Graham was assured by a couple of these that they would join him if the Dems broke the agreement, but after the Miers debacle, all bets are off.

Focus on Specter, not Graham and DeWine, and hope no other Miers supporters defect from Frist and the leadership.

[Just mythoughts]

Actually it is NOT what the politicians SAY that I follow, it is what they DO. Now it is apparent to me that there has been a whole lot of explaining done since, about that Memo signed. Maybe their phone systems and computer systems crashed after signing the grand scheme.

[photodawg]

The important Senator here is Specter, especially now after Miers, who he supported, was denied a vote on the floor of the Senate. He, with the addition of the liberal Chaffee, maverick McCain, and card-carrying RINOs Snowe, Collins, and Warner, are sufficient to break the nuke option.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////

True enough, but pressure can be brought to bear on the Democrat side of the isle. Lieberman and a few others might side with the republican position on this particular judge. Just saying that the dems, under high stakes pressure will also have a tough time holding their votes together against a qualified nominee like Alito.

[Cicero]

It's key that Graham and DeWine have come out early and pledged not to support a filibuster, because it puts pressure on the five other RINOs to fall into line.

Miers was not "denied a vote on the floor of the Senate." She withdrew. That's a very different matter from being locked up in committee or filibustered on the floor of the Senate. The president has a constitutional right to withdraw a candidate at any time up to the moment he makes the appointment.

I strongly opposed giving Specter the chairmanship, but to give him credit so far he has done the job. Going on past history, he is almost certain to make some insulting liberal statements to the press, but he will also probably see the nomination through the committee. Sure, he liked Miers better, but that doesn't mean he won't do the job with Alito.

[AFPhys]

I guess I wasn't explicit enough.

I heard Graham speaking about the MoU IMMEDIATELY after it was announced. He was very, very aware that his conservative supporters would be vocal in their opposition to his taking part in the gang. He EXPECTED the phone lines and fax machines to be burning up with their opposition.

Nevertheless, he did it because HE BELIEVED it was the RIGHT thing to do, and that the Senate would operate more smoothly this session if the nuke did not have to be resorted to.

His explaining NOW is not something being done only in retrospect: he was well aware that his conservative supporters would strongly question his judgement. He asked that they watch, wait and see if that judgement was good or bad. Thus far, the results have been good and no filibuster has been attempt by the Senate on judicial nominations.

Agree or disagree with his decision in this case, he followed through on what he believed to be right and for the good of the country. I commend any politician who does this, and who refuses to be governed by polls. We don't elect them to blindly follow OUR orders, but to do what THEY believe to be right. That is why integrity is the single most important quality for an elected official, and why I was so opposed to the 'Toon.

(Other FReepers have told me that DeWine was similarly immediate with his response after the MoU, but I can't personally vouch for him.) If you take a look at the way these two are rated by almost any conservative organization, on nearly every issue, you'll find they almost invariably top the list of good Senators. These two are definitely not RINOs.

Much like Ron Paul, who often breaks with the "R" leadership and whose judgement I similarly find questionable at times, I applaud this type of personal responsibility for their voting. This type of principled independence has to be applauded (unlike the continual grandstanding that McCain does just to get the accolades of the Old Media) and our support should not waiver when they, who are in the middle of the stewpot, choose to do something because they believe they can see better through the murkiness than those of us who are not in the middle of the situation.

I reiterate: I personally will vouch that the "explaining done since" by Graham was immediate, well before the publicity accompanying the MoU, and not in response to the outcry of the conservative base.

[ncountylee]

"Judge Alito's career accomplishments speaks to his experience, but also raises questions as to whether he meets this standard and possesses the qualities necessary for a member of the nation's highest court," Landrieu said

One of the 14.

[AFPhys]

I will be very surprised if the Dems vote in lockstep against Alito. I think that will only occur if they believe that they can sustain a filibuster that will not be able to be nuked successfully. That is why it is so key to know whether Graham and DeWine were given private assurances by one or both of the Maine women during the MoU as to their joining the nuke, but they've both been very private about the MoU, at least I'm not aware of anything at all that they've said.

This is why Specter is so key: if he breaks with the President on Alito, and ever infers he would not support the nuke, all bets are off. I really hate to say it, but I really don't trust a single one of the Demodogs, after not even a single ONE of them voted to sustain a single charge in the House's impeachment of the 'Toon.

[Just mythoughts]

Lindsey Graham is McCain lite. He adores the media spotlight just as much but he knows his place. Knowing his conservative supporters would be vocal in their opposition show premeditated thought in his actions, and purpose to gain alllll that explaining limelight.

He could have demanded a "pure" filibuster from the get go and would not have needed allllll that limelight.

[JRios1968]

They are jerkweeds, dullmoppers, dimtuppers, and dorknobbed knottwisters.

Please, don't hold back.

[Dont_Tread_On_Me_888]

The list of liberals in the Republican ranks exceeds the list you mentioned. It is striking how Marxist the Republican Senate has become.

It is my belief that the Republicans have moved so far left because so-called conservatives activists have not held them accountable. You know, the "Republicans can do no wrong" element among us, the "cheerleaders", the "Bush-bots" . . . call them what you may. The fact is, by cheering them on after all their leftists moves has caused many Republicans to keep moving further and further left.

There is a saying in physics about the "path of least resistance". In many ways, Republican activists, like a fairly large element here on FR, has offered the Republicans a "path of least resistance" by failing to hold them accountable for leftist moves over the past 11 years since the "Great Sweep of 1994". They went left, no resistance, but just clapping and wild cheering from the fan club members. They went further left, and more wild cheering from the fan club members.

Thus, we now have a large and growing body of liberal/Marxist Senate Republicans because so-called "conservative activists" offered a "path of zero resistance" to their leftists moves. In physics, that means the flow continues in the same direction. In politics, it means Republicans in Washington keep moving further and further left.

The Miers case put up a barrier in the "path of least resistance" so the flow changed back to the right. Let's hope that more conservatives start putting up more resistance to leftist moves by Republican'ts so that "the flow" can be turned back to the right in the future.

[Common Tator]

You're barking up the wrong tree when you focus on Graham and DeWine. The important Senator here is Specter, especially now after Miers, who he supported, was denied a vote on the floor of the Senate. He, with the addition of the liberal Chaffee, maverick McCain, and card-carrying RINOs Snowe, Collins, and Warner, are sufficient to break the nuke option.

Graham and DeWine have taken too much heat to go out on a limb on this case. But I would ask you to consider Voinovich. I noted in the 2004 election Voinovich was the only elected Republican official in Ohio who did not campaign for President Bush. In the state that decided the election Voinovich was no where to be found. And Voinovich was on the ballot too.

Voinovich appears to have it in for President Bush. There was some reason besides the merits of Bolton that caused Voinovich to block Bolton. When push comes to shove there may well be at least 6 RINOs that block the Nuclear option.

If so the Democrats will Filibuster until the cows come home. I look for Snowe, Chaffe, Voinovich, Warner, Collins, and Spector to do the dirty work. I don't think McCain will get his hands dirty unless he absolutely has to.

There was no way that Frist ever had 50 votes for the Nuclear option last spring. Frist wants to be president. Had he pulled off the Nuclear option last spring he would have been a big hero to the base. But last spring Frist only sounded like a Nuclear Waffle.

Frist at times said he had the votes. I think Lott, McCain and their RINO friends were playing with Frist. Frist always thought he had 49 votes. But shortly after he he thought he had added a vote.. he lost a vote.

I don't think the nuclear option is going to pass.

President Bush, in his Muers appointment, acted like a man who knew the Nuclear Option was not going to pass. That must have been a lot of the reason for Miers... the stealth candidate. But Miers blew up in Bush's face. So the President went with a real conservative knowing that the conservative nominee had a very high probabilty of failing confirmation.

I got a chance to listen to a bit of Rush's show yesterday. He was saying that even if a filibuster succeeded it would be a conservative victory as long as the conervatives won the hearts and minds of the voters.

Rush sounded like a man playing CMA for what he now knows is coming down the pike.

I don't think Frist has 50 votes for the Nuclear Option. If he doesn't the Democrats will stall an up or down confirmation vote for several nominees until the Democrats get President Bush to nominate someone who Souter's their needs or Bush's term ends.

[martin gibson]

They are jerkweeds, dullmoppers, dimtuppers, and dorknobbed knottwisters...

uh, oh yeah...and hardcore neo-Stalinist pieces of sh*t...

[JRios1968]

You too, please, make sure you let us know exactly how you feel! :)

[AFPhys]

I am heartily in agreement about Voiny.

He and Specter are the two I'm so extremely concerned about who were not in the Gang.

I hope I'm wrong about them both but I'm with you: someone would have to be giving ME good odds to take any bet on success of a filibuster.

I'm not at all optimistic as of now that the torpedoing of Miers was smart for the conservatives to do, and am not joining in about the giddiness over Alito, who I would LOVE to have confirmed. I really really hope my fears are not proven to be well founded.

The self declared "true conservatives" will be all over the Republicans if Alito goes down, but so many of them don't have any concept of the true makeup of the Senate (which I discussed more in detail here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1512438/posts?page=1375#1375 and thereabouts.) Many are overwhelming naive about the present strength of the "conservative movement" in the Senate.

[AFPhys]

I think you are incorrect. Please see my post and the articles (and supporting posts for detail) I referred to in my response to CommonTator's post#15.

The Senate IS drifting more "conservative" according to the scorecards, but it is slow, there's still some way to go, and the "stealth" is necessary. President Bush understands this far better than many of his rabid supporters.

[AFPhys]

Please see CommonTator's post#15 for a more accurate presentation of the reality Frist and President Bush are dealing with.