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I am constantly amazed at the evolution of debates. There is a definite and identifiable pattern of fighting battles using ‘proxy’ arguments. The current Filibuster situation is an example of an argument being fought by proxy. The argument here really has nothing to do with Senate traditions and constitutional rules, the 500 lb. gorilla in the middle of the room which no one wants to recognize is named Abortion. Certain issues are simply to hot to handle, and neither side wants to approach them directly. What each side tends to do is hold their position in abeyance until they are...

Priscilla Owen, 50, is one of the more talented women of her generation. She finished third in her class at Baylor Law School. She had the best score in the state on the Texas bar exam when she took it in 1977. Her performance as a judge on the Texas Supreme Court has earned her the highest rating from the American Bar Association. It's the sort of career that liberals promoting the advancement of women should swoon over. But Senate Democrats are blocking her nomination to a federal appeals court, not just because she is supposedly too conservative, but because...

As the battle over judicial nominees and the role of the filibuster reaches its decisive moment, let's remember that more is at stake than the rules and procedures of the Senate. Resorting to half-truths and invective to advance a political objective — the establishment of a new 60-vote supermajority requirement for the confirmation of federal judges — is deeply unfair to those who have spent a lifetime building reputations for fairness and intellectual probity. Take the case of two women now at the center of the filibuster controversy, Justices Priscilla Owen and Janice Rogers Brown. In describing Justices Owen and...

Good morning fellow Freepers and political junkies. It's day three of the Senate debate on judicial nominations, the filabuster, and will the GOP stick to its guns? The hot rumor this mornign is that Warner and Sheets are working together on a compromise..Gawd..

RUSH: I want you to go back. We got two bites from Durbin, April 26 and April 27, both of them on the floor of the US Senate. DURBIN: We are not going to set out to close down the Senate or to close down the government. Senator Reid, our Democratic leader, and all the members of the Senate feel as I do. That shutting down of the government was the hapless tactic of the Gingrich revolution. It was a terrible idea. Rush Limbaugh was the only American applauding it every day, but the American people knew better. They want...

In the current debate over judicial nominations, some commentators claim Republicans such as myself are misrepresenting history by suggesting the current filibuster tactics of the Democrats are unprecedented. These commentators cite the 1968 nomination of Abe Fortas to be chief justice of the United States as an example of how Republicans once attempted to block a judicial nomination on the Senate floor. I welcome the opportunity to respond to this claim, because the more Americans learn about the history of judicial nominations, the more they will realize how terribly off-track our confirmation process has become. In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson...

The rules of the Senate are in these lawmakers' hands Centrists yesterday sought a deal to deflect the "nuclear" end to filibusters of judicial nominees. Continued impasse will mean "one of the most important [votes] in the history of this institution," says Sen. Specter. GOP Sens. McCain, Chafee and Snowe openly oppose the nuclear option. But Democrats still need three more GOP defectors, more if they lose anyone from their own ranks .........snip

Are you worried about the increasing presence of religion in our nation's political discourse? Do you fret about the influence of the religious right? If so, what did you make of the scene in the United States Senate last week, when a leading politician took to the floor to announce: I speak as a born-again Christian. HEAR ME, ALL YOU EVANGELICALS OUT THERE! HEAR ME! Your first reaction might be that the Family Research Council has finally taken over. Somebody protect the Constitution. But don't worry. The speaker of those lines was not James Dobson, or Pat Robertson, or Jerry...

<p>WASHINGTON -- Both political parties have begun the showdown over judicial nominations in a weakened position, facing low approval ratings for their performance in Congress that compound the political risks in the confrontation.</p> <p>Few strategists expect any of the arguments over the GOP's bid to thwart Senate filibusters to sway many voters in the 2006 elections. But many analysts believe the conflict could increase and solidify the public antagonism toward Washington surfacing in polls — especially if the dispute, as is likely, deepens Capitol Hill's partisan acrimony and impedes action on problems more tangible to voters, from gasoline prices to Social Security.</p>

Today and yesterday, two articles in the Tribune by Jill Zuckman stated: "Since Bush took office, he has made 218 judicial nominations and the Senate has confirmed 208 of them." That leaves 10 nominees that were not confirmed, by Ms. Zuckman's count. However, it can be easily verified that the following 17 individuals were nominated to circuit courts by President Bush during the 107th or 108th Congress, but never confirmed: Claude Allen, Terrence Boyle, Janice Brown, Miguel Estrada, Richard A. Griffin, Thomas B. Griffith, William Haynes, Brett Kavanaugh, Carolyn Kuhl, David McKeague, William Myers, Susan Neilson, Priscilla Owen, Charles W....

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid speaking for the perfectly unified Senate Democrats advanced their argument during Wednesday morning’s U. S. Senate debate on the first of several planned resubmissions of President Bush’s nominees to appellate court judicial posts, that of Priscilla Owen. The showdown over Owen will shortly be followed by the resubmission of the nomination of Justice Janice Rogers Brown and other Bush nominees to the federal appellate bench. Reid’s presentation was overflowing with misinformation, misleading statements and outright deception. But one intentional distortion was so outrageous that it stands out as bolder and more duplicitous than all the...

Text Credit to Ken5050: DAY-1 THREAD Welcome, all you Freepers, to the continuing C-span soap operas about judicial nominations. "The Guiding SEARCHLIGHT, " "As the SENATE Turns, "One NOMINATION to Live" "GERIATRIC Hospital" (for all you Byrd and Lautenberg fans out there). Follow along with us, as the Dems raise the level of histrionics, bloviation, pontification, and all around bad acting to new highs, er, lows...

The Senate approved a historic change in the filibuster rule last night after seven weeks of angry debate. It voted 56 to 27 to reduce the number of senators needed to cut off a filibuster from two-thirds of those present and voting to a permanent "constitutional" threefifths (60 senators).

Welcome, all you Freepers, to the continuing C-span soap operas about judicial nominations. "The Guiding SEARCHLIGHT, " "As the SENATE Turns, "One NOMINATION to Live" "GERIATRIC Hospital" (for all you Byrd and Lautenberg fans out there). Follow along with us, as the Dems raise the level of histrionics, bloviation, pontification, and all around bad acting to new highs, er, lows...

Senator Allen will be speaking live from the Senate floor urging Democrats to end the obstruction of President Bush's judicial nominees. Join us for this important debate, tune in to CSPAN2 at 12:15 PM EST today.

Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., says he will vote with Senate Republican leaders to end the right to unlimited debate on judges and other presidential nominees. Smith said he had decided over the weekend that he would vote to change Senate rules that allow members to block nominees by threatening to filibuster. "I think to do otherwise has a chilling effect not only on the meaning of elections, but as to the intellectual vigor of the judicial branch of the government," Smith said in an interview with The Oregonian on the Senate steps in Washington. Advocacy groups have been targeting Republicans...

The "nuclear option" will have a long fuse. If all goes as planned, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) will rise after several days of debate beginning today over one of President Bush's judicial nominees and call for an end to Democrats' delaying tactics. The presiding officer will then rule in his favor. Democrats will protest the ruling and ask for a vote to overturn it. The Republican leader will seek to table that appeal. If Frist and the GOP majority prevail, a long tradition of filibustering will be narrowed and a new precedent will be set allowing the Republicans...

In the Senate this week, what promises to be a contentious culmination to what Republican Senator Trent Lott originally coined the "nuclear option" will almost certainly take place. Majority Leader Bill Frist will call for a vote on Texas Nominee Priscilla Owens, first nominated by President Bush to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in May 2001. At that point, the Senate chamber will have gone to what might be described as DefCon 1. The term "DefCon," short for Defense Condition, is the chief operating procedure of NORAD, or North American Air Defense, located in the Cheyenne Mountains of Colorado....

On the filibuster issue, the Democrats are anything but protectors of the Constitution. They are anything but principled defenders of time-honored constitutional values. Instead, they are simply following the only political strategy they seem to know - using deception and outright falsehoods to cast themselves as the oppressed, innocent victims of tyrannical Republicans. Under the Democratic scenario, Republican efforts to end the filibustering of judicial nominees amounts to an unprovoked assault on the minority party. What this claim of victimhood ignores is that Democrats are the ones who started the war. For the past four years, they have been filibustering...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Danny Diaz 202-863-8614 [Little Rock] Arkansas Democrat-Gazettes’ Bradley Gitz: “[The Filibuster] Has Never Been Used To Prevent An Up-Or-Down Vote On Appellate Court Nominees Who Have Been Approved By The Senate Judiciary Committee ... What The Democrats Are Doing In The Senate Is, Therefore, A Departure From The Senate ‘Tradition’ They Claim Republicans Are Recklessly Jeopardizing.” (Bradley Gitz, “Protecting Judicial Activism,” [Little Rock] Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 5/5/05) “For Democrats, The Word ‘Extremist’ Applies Only To Judges Who Feel Bound By The Constitution And The Intentions Of Those Who Crafted It, Never To Those Who Treat It As...