Free Republic

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...

Some of my more liberal friends have expressed displeasure with certain columns I've written -- one going so far as to accuse me of becoming Phyllis Schlafly, the conservative woman who became famous in Illinois years back due to her staunch opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment. I told him that he was wrong, that I am still in favor of the ERA being passed someday, that I went to both of my children's graduations (unlike Schlafly, the pro-family conservative who missed her daughter's), and that I still love him, despite the fact he suffers from an affliction that causes...

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...

Dem senators held a presser this morning, as did Frist. What will happen today when the Senate convenes at 2:15? Opening time is reserved for the majority and minority leaders? They may set the tone..as will those who speak later as if in morning business..The Senate will vote on the Highway Bill, but since Frist has said that a nomination will be called up tomorrow, expect to see some prepping the battlefield today, and some Dem posturing and whining?

To Democrats, Janice Rogers Brown is the scariest nominee to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in the history of the republic. Since her nomination nearly two years ago, she has been the subject of the most vitriolic and persistent attacks ever leveled against a nominee to the federal bench other than Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas. The black sharecropper's daughter, born in segregated Alabama, has been excoriated as a closet member of the Ku Klux Klan who, at least according to the Senate minority leader, would like nothing better than to return America to "Civil War days." Left-leaning...

The sharpening debate in the U.S. Senate over whether Democrats can block President Bush’s judicial nominations by filibuster raises the basic question of the scope of the Senate’s constitutional role to give “Advice and Consent.” What does it mean for the Senate to give “Advice and Consent” for federal judges? Many people question whether changing the rules to allow only a majority vote for confirmations is proper, or even constitutional. However, the text of the Constitution, the record of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and Supreme Court decisions all concur to show that the Constitution intended no more than...

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist held his ground on the subject of judicial filibusters, as did Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid. The two have ended their attempt to find a compromise on President Bush's stalled judicial nominees, but other members continued to work on a possible deal to clear five blocked appeals court appointees and end threats to change the long-standing filibuster rules. The showdown is likely to occur this week as Frist is determined to call for a changing of Senate rules to make filibustering of judicial nominees no longer acceptable and instituting a simple up or down vote...

The Senate should go nuclear Star Parker May 9, 2005 The use of the Senate filibuster to block floor votes on judicial nominees, as Democrats have been doing, is a distortion of good government in the United States. I fully endorse Senate Republican leader Bill Frist's pushing the "nuclear" button to change Senate rules so this can no longer be done. Even if you buy the argument that the filibuster is an important procedure to protect minority interests in the Senate, this still should not apply to judicial nominations. Why? >p>Because the nominating process is fundamentally different from the legislative...

Maybe the fight over Bush's judicial nominees in the Senate is over, and then again maybe Harry Reid is just trying to buy some time. In a statement, the top liberal said, "Let's take a step away from the precipice. Let's try cooperation, rather than confrontation, which seems to be the hallmark of what we've been doing here lately." A step away from the precipice? Maybe somebody should remind Harry that he, and his party put themselves on the precipice.

Speculation in Washington is that Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen may be the first Bush appellate-court nomination brought to the floor in this Senate. Born: Oct. 4, 1954, Palacios, Tex. Education: University of Texas, 1972-73; Baylor University, 1973-75; Baylor University School of Law, 1975-77. Experience: Law clerk at Sheehy, Lovelace & Mayfield, 1976-77; associate and partner at Andrews, Kurth, Campbell & Jones, 1978-94; elected justice on Texas Supreme Court, 1995-current. Qualifications: Received a unanimous “well-qualified” rating from the American Bar Association. Graduated at the top of her class in law school and had the No. 1 grade on the...

The Senate moved closer this week to a long-awaited showdown over President Bush’s judicial nominees—10 of whom Democrats blocked starting in 2003 by using the parliamentary device known as the filibuster. As Republican leaders have moved closer to restoring 214 years of Senate tradition of giving judicial nominees an up-or-down vote, Democrats have launched an aggressive defense of their unprecedented use of the filibuster that is based on mythology, not fact. With public discourse focused intently on judicial filibusters, it is vital to distinguish reality from the Democratic spin. The left must not be able to reshape the debate by...

Dear Friend, What a week! The fight to give the President's judicial nominations an up-or-down vote is heating up. You received all sorts of exciting alerts from my staff last week and I want to thank you for taking action. Here's the summary of where we stand and here's what I need to ask you to do now. You played a tremendous role in urging the Senate to finally do its job! Thousands of more calls flooded your Senator's offices demanding their participation in securing those long awaited up-or-down votes on our judicial nominees. Your participation in the "Blue Finger...

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Democratic Leader Harry Reid declared an end Monday to compromise talks with Republican leaders over President Bush's controversial judicial nominees, saying their fate along with the future of long-standing filibuster rules will be settled in a showdown on the Senate floor. "I've tried to compromise and they want all or nothing, and I can't do that," Reid told reporters after a private meeting with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn. "The leader's door remains open to Senator Reid," Frist's spokeswoman, Amy Call, said in reply. With Democrats threatening to block confirmation votes on several of Bush's appeals court nominees, Frist...

Orrin Hatch Talks to Beltway Buzz05/17 11:52 AMJust spoke with Utah Senator and former Judiciary Committee Chair Orrin Hatch. I began by asking Senator Hatch if he thinks the votes are there to pass an end to judicial filibusters. Hatch said, “Frist can get the votes if he wants it. The votes are there.” On the attempted compromise over filibusters led by Senators John McCain and Ben Nelson, Hatch said, “You never know. McCain is working as hard as he can and he has some help.” Hatch says if there isn’t a vote to end judicial filibusters or if that...