Posted on 11/01/2005 12:30:51 AM PST by Crackingham
Senate Democrats appeared to lay the groundwork yesterday for a possible filibuster of Samuel Alito’s nomination to the Supreme Court, setting the stage for an intense partisan showdown that could culminate with the so-called “nuclear option.”
“Nothing is on the table, and nothing is off the table,” Senate Judiciary Committee member Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said within hours of President Bush’s announcement that he had picked Alito to replace Harriet Miers. Miers’s nomination to the high court was withdrawn last week amid heavy criticism from conservative Republicans who feared she would not be sufficiently loyal to their orthodoxy.
Though Democrats carefully avoided using the term “filibuster” yesterday, many of them criticized Bush for picking Alito, a conservative stalwart.
“I am concerned that the nomination may be a needlessly provocative nomination,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). “Instead of uniting the country, the president chose to reward one faction of his party.”
Other Democrats targeted the president’s decision not to discuss the impending nomination with the minority party.
“The manner in which the president handled this nomination is disappointing,” said Ken Salazar (D-Colo.). “He did not consult with the Senate about this nominee.”
"Bring it on!!"
Damn right! It's now or never for getting real conservatives on the SCOTUS. And it's time to put the RINO Gang of 7 in the spotlight. Yea, McLame, yea Dewhiney, whatcha gonna do now?
Color me skeptical...I'll believe it when I see him actually vote...
If the Dems filibuster Alito, then the GOP will have to exercise the constitutional option. And if the GOP exercises the constitutional option, then I hope they will use the opportunity to revisit the nominees that the McCain insurrection blocked.
Excellent.
They're playing their part in the master plan and they don't even know it!
It is a higher level, no question. But filibuster per se, setting a higher hurdle for a President to get over, is an imbalance of power against the President and in favor of the Senate.
I think the reason Hillary! and Kerry are willing to abuse cloture now is thatthey know cloture abuse would not be tolerated by the DEMs the same way it is tolerated by the GOP. IOW, they'd use the nuke in a heartbeat if the shoe was on the other foot. They are not bound to consistency in principle, every move is outcome oriented.
The filibuster will not be employed. 2 Republicans have already indicated they'd vote for the "constitutional option", and I suspect we may get more support for that option (1-2 more GOPers, maybe even a Dem or two). Given that, the Dems will not attempt to filibuster because they won't want the rules changed.
I think this guy has been smoking the evidence.
OTOH, if the Rats are silly enough to fillibuster when already four of the Wimples (gang of 14 members) have said they do not see Alito as "extraordinary" and they would support busting a fillibuster, bring it on!
Otherwise, this just sounds like slop dished out the wallowing Rat base.
Bring it on baby! If I where the GOP leadership in the Senate, I'd dare the democrats to do an old time filibuster and hold up all Senate business until it was over.
Come on, let's dance dingy Harry.
Liberals have liberalized the word filibuster, just using the word filibuster is considered a filibuster. These old windbags have no intent or desire to actually perform what we think the word filibuster means.
Is this the hill the dems want to die on? Well, OK...
And the other Nelson is in Florida a red state and I he is up for re-election this year as well.
The Dems will have a hard time holding the fillibuster wall up.
They're not going to filibuster. Alito is way too qualified. They'd be spitting into the wind.
Besides, if they abuse the filibuster, they might have it taken away from them. Messing with this nomination would be very risky behavior.
Sen. Frist said yesterday on The Tony Snow radio show that he will not hesitate to use the nuclear option; and he wasn't playing either. To the Dems I will just say: "Turn out the lights; the party's over."
Since when are democrats bound by deals, contracts, or their word? They play by the "Mother may I" secret option. Very convenient if the other side doesn't know it exists. If Republicans have broken that code, then the "Simon Says" option goes into effect. On and on it goes, until the dems. get it their way.
..... maybe.... I'm leaning more toward dumb luck.....
They've already lost. We have statements from Specter, DeWine, Graham, and McLame already that they will vote to break a filibuster. Cheney is the tie-breaker. By my calculations, that's 51, right?
Shut up, Ken. I'm tired of apologizing for you. Sheesh!
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