"He’d been Mitchslapped twice in one night."
Posted on 07/20/2007 6:29:22 AM PDT by rhema
A remarkable thing happened in the United States Senate earlier this evening, and it occurred over a rather unremarkable piece of legislation that was being debated. Conservatives, frustrated at the lack of a genuine leader of their party, may have finally found one in Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell.
After Democratic leader Harry Reid’s MoveOn.org all-night session Tuesday night, a move that resulted only in helping unify the weak-kneed Republicans who were peeling away from continued support of the Petraeus surge in Iraq, McConnell, the Republican leader, served notice to anyone watching C-SPAN that he now runs the Senate.
The Senate spent much of the day discussing the merits, or demerits, of HR 2669, the Student Loans and Grants Act. Maybe it was the culmination of a long week already, or maybe it was the upper chamber being lulled off guard by the increasingly senile senior Senator from West Virginia, Robert Byrd, who spent 25 minutes decrying the plight of the helpless fight dog in response to the weird Michael Vick story in the news, but tonight, McConnell and the Republicans decided to take control of the Senate. The Republicans offered amendment after amendment to the bill, catching the Democrats flat-footed. In case you want to hear about the plight of the fight dog, here’s Robert Byrd’s Senate floor address.
After a couple of Republican amendments failed, Mitch McConnell took to the floor and offered his own amendment, which was a Sense of the Senate that Guantanamo detainees not be allowed released or moved to U.S. soil. To conservatives, this obviously makes sense. To liberals, especially California’s Dianne Feinstein, one of the chief proponents of the effort to close the detention center at Gitmo and relocate these detainees into the American justice system, especially when tagged onto a student loan and grant bill, you’d think this measure would go down in flames. Except a funny thing happened. The bill was titled in a way that you had to vote yes to vote no, and no to vote yes. The final vote was 94-3, officially putting the Senate on record as saying terrorist detainees shouldn’t be moved to the U.S. Before the Democrats, who clearly hadn’t read the amendment, realized they screwed up, the vote was recorded.
Jim DeMint of South Carolina was the author of the next amendment in line, had just gotten the consent of Bernie Sanders, the presiding officer, to order the yeas and nays. Up stepped Massachusetts senior Senator Ted Kennedy, now obviously aware that he and his colleagues just got bamboozled, and went on a full-throated rant, with reckless disregard to obvious hypocrisy, and blasted DeMint and the Republicans for slowing down the works in the Senate. The rant is worth hearing, so here it is.
Once the rant was over, Kennedy threw the Senate into a quorum call so that the Democrats could regroup. The session progressed well into the night, and McConnell could easily have rested on his laurels, but he wasn’t finished. Colorado Democrat Ken Salazar offered his own irrelevant amendment, asking for a sense of the Senate that President Bush not pardon Scooter Libby. McConnell, with that wry smile he offers when he’s up to something, countered with a secondary amendment to Salazar’s, saying that if it’s fair to bring up the Senate’s view of potential future inappropriate pardons, maybe we should also have a sense of the Senate of past inappropriate pardons, and proceeded to maneuver the Senate clerk into reading off the laundry list of Clinton administration pardons, including those of Marc Rich and others, which again set the Democrats off in a tailspin. After throwing the Senate back into a quorum call for half an hour, the beleaguered Harry Reid came out and pulled the Salazar amendment off the floor. He’d been Mitchslapped twice in one night.
Once again, the senior Senator from Massachusetts took to the floor, this time directing his venom at McConnell. Here’s the audio and text.
What in the world does the Republican leader have against this legislation? The legislation that we have here before the United States Senate passed 17-3. The authorizing provision that changes policy was virtually unanimous. Young people all over the country are looking in here in the United States Senate. This is about the future of this next generation. Their hopes and their dreams. It’s about our country and being able to compete in the world. It’s about the quality of our armed forces, about getting well-trained, well-educated young people. It’s about our institution, whether they’re going to be functioning and working. Why can’t we go ahead and vote on this legislation? We were here for two days, waiting for different amendments on education. And few of them came. Why in the world are you holding up this legislation that means so much to the future of our young people. We’re prepared to vote. We didn’t have amendments over here on our side. We want to get this legislation going ahead. We’re looking forward to the reauthorization debate for next week, and we’re looking forward to getting something worthy of this institution. We, in the 45 years I’ve been in the United States Senate, under the leadership of Stafford of Vermont, of Claiborne Pell of Rhode Island, of the members that we have had here, we have had true...
The Senator’s time is expired.
Kennedy: Why are we disrupting…
Senator’s time is expired.
If anyone really believes Senator Kennedy hasn’t seen obstruction like this in his 45 years, then they haven’t met Judges Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown, William Myers, William Pryor, Henry Saad, Richard Griffin, David McKeague, Miguel Estrada, Peter Keisler, Charles Pickering, or Leslie Southwick. While some of these judges eventually got onto the bench as part of the Gang of 14 deal, there are many who were scuttled as part of the deal, and Keisler and Southwick continue to languish at the hands of the Pat Leahy controlled Judiciary Committee, of which Kennedy is a member. Kennedy is no stranger to preventing votes from being taken.
Senator Kennedy isn’t angry at Republicans tonight anyway. Any conservative who watched the debate in the evening recognizes the frustration in him. It’s the same frustration conservatives had between 2005 and the beginning of this year when Bill Frist, the affable but ineffective Republican majority leader, consistently mismanaged the Senate. Ted Kennedy is angry at Harry Reid, because in seven short months, Mitch McConnell has run rings around him on issues from Iraq to immigration, and tonight, he just flat-out schooled Reid on how the Senate works, as if to say to Reid you messed with us two nights ago on a PR stunt for your fringe base, here’s how things like that can be answered.
And considering the fact that McConnell, Republican Conference Chairman Jon Kyl and other GOP Senators have been vocal about the growing frustration that the Democrats are not processing judicial nominees in good faith, and the coming slowdown showdown that really could grind things to a halt as a consequence of continued Democratic inaction on these nominees, if I were Kennedy, I’d be real nervous about who my leader was.
The political landscape in Washington, D.C. would be completely different if McConnell would have been running the Senate the last two years rather than Senator Frist. While Dr. Frist was and remains a good conservative, ideologically speaking, he simply could not deliver the fight in the Senate that the conservative base by and large wanted to see happen while they had the numbers in the majority they did.
Over the next 16 months, there are going to be many issues the Senate should be taking up but won’t, and many other issues it has no business debating but will. Obviously, nobody is pleased with the performance of the Republicans in the Senate overall in the last few years. Members who have strayed off the reservation on core conservative issues have been too numerous to count. But the fact of the matter is there was one amendment by Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman that failed on almost a purely party line vote that should make all conservatives pause before they wash their hands of the party November next. Senator Coleman tried to require as an amendment to this bill that the FCC not be allowed to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine, and was defeated 49-48. All Republicans present voted yes, all Democrats present, including Hillary Clinton but excluding Indiana’s Evan Bayh, voted no.
Make no mistake about it, if the Democrats gain the White House next November, and Republicans get so lost in which Senator voted what way on this or that, causing the Democrats to pick up additional seats, the Fairness Doctrine might very well be in play, and could take years before the Court could rule it unconstitutional. Goodbye talk radio.
The Senate surely has made the base nervous at best and disgusted at worst in the seven months of the McConnell tenure. But if you look at the stats, when all is said and done, when the base needed him, he’s been there. He successfully kept the Republicans in line on multiple time certain withdrawal resolutions in the Senate, skillfully allowed the immigration bill to die while at least giving it a chance to be debated, and tonight showed the ability that he has no reservations about going toe to toe with Harry Reid and beating him repeatedly. It’s time conservatives use the old Reagan adage, trust but verify, and continue to support and encourage Mitch McConnell, and work to add to his numbers in the Senate next November.
“He’d been Mitchslapped twice in one night.”
I liked that line!!!
I LIKE THAT WORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..............
LOL
McConnell was a squish on immigration. Sessions should be Senate leader for the Republicans.
"He’d been Mitchslapped twice in one night."
Bring out all the freepers who threw Mitch under the bus during the Immigration debate.
Mitch is a shining star, best thing we’ve got going, and yet the conservapurists hated him.
He needs to continue to Mitchslap Harry Ried until he gets some sense.
DEMOCRATS BLOCK COLEMAN AMENDMENT TO PREVENT REINSTATEMENT OF THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE
I like it when the Republicans fight like junkyard dogs instead of whining and cringing like the whipped curs they've been for the past too many years.
Bump for later reading
Still, McConnell is no Trent Lott.
I think McConnell is the best in the Senate. Too bad he supported that ridiculous immigration bill.
I just absolutely loved it when they read the list of who Clinton had pardoned.
But, it was like a comedy watching the whole session. What a bunch of clowns we have running this country.
The Swimmer just wanted to show how much he cares on the anniversary week of Mary Jo. 38 years, he could have served his time for murder and been out by now.
He earned it.
What makes McConnell better than Sessions?
Demint ain’t too bad. He at least has a pair.
Could you guys help me compile a list of all the conservapurists who couldn't get Mitch under the bus fast enough? I'd sure like to compile a good ping list of you guys for all the good things Mitch does and how many times he's saving America's ass these days, against the hysteria of his own 'base.'
Cuz I'm sure you guys are eager to keep him on our side and not toss him overboard like we did DeLay etal....
McConnell just got lucky. For the past 10 years or so, the Senior Senate Republicans have proven themselves to be gutless and spineless. Some of the newer faces like DeMint and Sessions have a spine and are standing up for the Conservative Agenda.
Specter, McConnell, Lott, Hatch, Lugar and the rest of that bunch are totally worthless.
bump
I like him but I don’t like the way he carries himself.
He is a pork rolling Ted Stevens wannabee.
Trentie is the no. 2 guy there. That problem has to be fixed.
The legislation that we have here before the United States Senate passed 17-3. The authorizing provision that changes policy was virtually unanimous.
I thought the Senate had more than 20 members. Worse yet, Tubby calls is "virtually unanimous". Very scary...
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Ever hear much about the "first 100 days" anymore? Nope.
Because McConnell scuttled it all, including the continued war/troop funding undercutting.
He took an unpopular stand on the 'Shamnesty Bill' but if he believes, like Rush does, and like Bush apparently does, and like the press overwhelmingly intends....that Hitlery is going to end up in the WH....then the imm bill probably did make sense from their perspective, knowing that it was a fire break compared to what Hitlery would (will?) pass in the future.
Point is, argue within our own ranks-FINE!
But let's quit cutting our own throats by massacreing our own and doing Reid's dirty work for him.
Awesome. Just awesome. I remember McConnell well from CPAC.
"We have to deal with that problem"
Strategies anyone?
He was fantastic on suing over McCain-Feingold, all the way to the Supreme Court. Case called McConnell vs. FEC
A Republican leader, who knew?
Yeah. Even a Broken Clock is right twice a day. Mitch STILL needs to GO !
Someday I want a Senate where the most LIBERAL member is to the RIGHT of Mitch.
What exactly do you want in congress?
99 Dem senators and a Ron Paul purist to vote no 100% of the time?
Boy that’ll teach em.
I'm yearning for any GOP leaders to display some. I loved Tom Delay, warts and all, because he had a set. I'll forgive a multitude of faults if the person would just show some backbone.
These people are trying to run our country and our lives?
Bump
But I don’t believe Hillary is going to be President. Why play to lose?
Because when he’s Minority Leader, he’s no longer just an individual. He has to balance the varous individuals in the caucus, the White House, and probably other stuff.
I didn’t like what he did on immigration, but I could understand it. He also did not really “pick a side”, i.e., Bush, Sessions, or whomever. In his position, he really can’t when his “side” doesn’t have a unified position.
Also, he may have understood that it was going to crash and burn just from knowing the dynamics of the people involved.
His job is to get as much as he can, day after day, for the good guys. Sometimes it isn’t pretty. He certainly doesn’t strike me as the narcissist that Trent Lott is. And he’s certainly smarter then Durbin and Schumer. Harry Reid doesn’t get compared to “smart” with anybody.
Right. Charge ahead damn the torpedoes! Who needs logistics? Who needs a supply line? Who needs a backup on D-Day!?! Just give the troops a week's rations and they'll be in Berlin in a coupla days!
I think Hillary (or some dem) might win because thus:
All of the candidates are weak, dem and pub.
Thus the winner will actually be decided by the campaigns, not the ideas, and not the ambivalent voters. Hillary (or the dem she ends up supporting/puppetting) plays that game better than anyone, and is immune to all the bad publicity.
I think the gist of the article is that he supported it on the surface so that he appeared to back the President, but Mitch knew it was going to die and did little to resurrect it.
This is politics, not philosophy class -- winning is all that matters in politics.
You've got to be kidding. Rush didn't advocate in favor of the shamnesty bill, and he certainly wouldn't advocate surrendering the election 2 years before it actually happens. That's insane.
Here's the real deal: McConnell, like Bush, was dead WRONG on immigration, whereas Jeff Sessions and others were right. Why? I don't know, and it doesn't matter. And you can forget about Hillary being prez. Ain't gonna happen. Rush has been wrong plenty of times when it comes to predicting things. Take for example when he said, in 1993, that the economy was going to tank because of the 1993 Clinton tax bill. Couldn't be any more wrong than that.
McConnell is permanently tarnished in my book. Kentucky can do better. I suspect he's been in Washington too long, is too connected, too comfy. He's become a pod person, like most everyone who stays there too long.
I think he’s been in DC too long. Kentucky should term limit him at the ballot box. It’s not like he’s irreplacable.
Put another way, if we just retreat instead of standing and fighting we conservatives will definitely lose. The government grows continuously and we’ve had a long line of Republicans going along with it; the sole exception in my entire lifetime being Reagan and he only slowed the growth of government for 8 years. The culture is drifting steadily to the left with people I view as radicals in charge of the public schools, the universities, the newspapers and the large media outlets. You can’t win by giving up ground, always.
He also stated that he'd definitely be in favor of ONLY border fence/security and workplace enforcement.
I'm heartened to see at least one of the 'pub leaders step up to the plate against the dims.
“The GOP does a lot better in the Senate while in the minority, it seems.”
I’m sure you’ll appreciate the judicial appointees that come out of the Senate where the GOP is in the minority, huh?
People forget about how the greatest legacy of this administration is the Alito/Roberts appointment. Those could not have happened without a GOP majority in the Senate.
Now excuse me while I read the article again in the parts where Mitch McConnell turns Harry Reid into his personal prison beotch! LOVE IT!!!
THIS MAN IS LOST
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