Filibuster! Filibuster!
Or maybe convince enough Republicans to not vote for Alito....nah, it'll never happen.
At least Chafee saw the light to save his political ass and regain a little respect.
An excellent post I saw this morning demonstrates that the crucial bar is not 41, it's 60. If there are 59 "yea" votes and 39"nay" votes, it's not enough to invoke cloture. So those few Democrats opposed to a filibuster would simply have to vote "present" or abstain, and cloture fails. And if Frist wants to still try and push the nuclear button, Robert Byrd told him that he'll see what a filibuster really is.
Could you imagine Frist trying to have Byrd punished? The 88-year-old eminence gris and unofficial Senate historian standing on the floor, railing at Republicans trying to trash the rules that held our nation since 1781, while Ted Stevens is banging away on a gavel trying to silence him. The imagery would be incredibly powerful.
So, I say again, Filibuster! Filibuster! And I say, and will continue to say it, because unlike John Roberts, whom I found to be a decent guy, Sam Alito...not so much. He is willing to subordinate his judicial power to thepresident king democratic monarchy that he argued for back in his Reagan days. A lot of people on my side of the fence still furiously scream about Reagan, but I'm not one of them. He was human, and he didn't win the Cold War so much as he brought it to an orderly end by using carrot and stick politics as deftly as any president since Teddy Roosevelt, but he did an excellent job as President. America pulled itself out of the morass of the 1970's thanks to him, and he recognized bipartisanship was a good thing, something that this president could learn a lot from.
Alito should not be on the Court. If he cannot put two and two together and see that it was the clear intent of the Founding Fathers that Congress is the dominant body in our republic, and not the president, then he is not the constitutional genius those on the right say he is, and he does not possess the proper abilities to be on the court.
At least Chafee saw the light to save his political ass and regain a little respect.
An excellent post I saw this morning demonstrates that the crucial bar is not 41, it's 60. If there are 59 "yea" votes and 39"nay" votes, it's not enough to invoke cloture. So those few Democrats opposed to a filibuster would simply have to vote "present" or abstain, and cloture fails. And if Frist wants to still try and push the nuclear button, Robert Byrd told him that he'll see what a filibuster really is.
Could you imagine Frist trying to have Byrd punished? The 88-year-old eminence gris and unofficial Senate historian standing on the floor, railing at Republicans trying to trash the rules that held our nation since 1781, while Ted Stevens is banging away on a gavel trying to silence him. The imagery would be incredibly powerful.
So, I say again, Filibuster! Filibuster! And I say, and will continue to say it, because unlike John Roberts, whom I found to be a decent guy, Sam Alito...not so much. He is willing to subordinate his judicial power to the
Alito should not be on the Court. If he cannot put two and two together and see that it was the clear intent of the Founding Fathers that Congress is the dominant body in our republic, and not the president, then he is not the constitutional genius those on the right say he is, and he does not possess the proper abilities to be on the court.
posted by Thad at 8:13 AM
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