Frist's legacy: "an illegal precedent that will remain in Senate history?"

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (search) told Democrats that unless they allow an up or down vote on the seven stalled nominees, he will invoke the so-called "nuclear" or "constitutional" option, by which filibusters on nominees will be banned for good.

"The Senate does not require 60 votes to become a judge, only 51 votes ... We're talking about keeping a supermajority from overriding the will of a constitutional majority that has been that way for 214 years," Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who supports invoking the nuclear option (search), told FOX News.

But Democrats argue that Republicans are preventing senators from invoking their constitutional "advise and consent" role.

"That contempt for the rule of law, the law of rules, will set a new precedent — an illegal precedent — that will always remain on the pages of Senate history — a precedent that will thrust us toward totally eliminating the filibuster in all Senate proceedings, a precedent that will eliminate the essential deliberative nature of the Senate," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (search) of Nevada said during a commencement address at George Washington University's law school.



http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,157388,00.html

[bububjones]

1. even if the nuclear option comes to vote, it can still fail.

Go to http://www.angelfire.com/hi5/bububjones/ and help keep the filibuster alive!

[chaumont58]

2. Intuition tells me all repuke senators will vote with Frist

I don't think there is a precedent in history to support Frist. He and Cheney, and all repuke senators, will be forever branded with this as their legacy.
There is a certain dichotomy to modern repukeism. They claim to want small government, but they want absolute power in what government there is.

[ComerPerro]

3. If its just a matter of 51 votes, then

how come just a handful of GOP Senators kept so many of Clinton's nominees tied up in comittee?

[Gothmog]

4. This will be worse than FDR's court packing scheme

History was harsh to FDR with respect to his court packing scheme and with good reason. Frist's nuclear option is far worse.

[JDPriestly]

5. Meanwhile Republican policies fail and fail and fail

It's no wonder the Republicans are so intent on making all this noise over the Democrat's rejection of a few extremist judicial nominees. They have made such a mess of everything they have touched. They have to do something to prevent us from noticing what utter failures they are.

The economy -- Are YOU better off now than you were in 2000? I'm a lot worse off. Republicans can't blame the economic stagnation on Clinton anymore. It's been too long since his presidency.

Iraq -- More and more violence -- and still no effective Iraqi government. The Republicans got us into a quagmire, and they have no clue as to how to get us out.

Afghanistan -- The president of Afghanistan tells the US to stop knocking on the Afghanis' doors and abusing Afghan prisoners. Says it all.

North Korea -- We are being pulled around by the ears by a small-time dictator with big-time nuclear plans, and the Republicans can't do a thing about it because their hands are tied by ideological ropes of their own making.

Russian Federation -- Putin is moving backward with regard to freedom of the press and the establishment of democratic institutions, while moving forward in terms of gaining respect in the world. The US led by the Republicans, is not only moving backward with regard to civil rights at home, it is steadily losing respect and trust all over the world.

South America -- Republicans are ignoring the growing resentment toward US policies just about everywhere in South America.

Asia -- China is already out-producing and out-trading the US, and it won't be long before, like Japan, it surpasses us in terms of technological innovation. Basically, the Republicans, with help from so-called "moderate" Democrats have sold out the US economy. China is on the rise. Thanks to Republican leadership and relatively speaking, the US is on the decline.

Education -- Republicans refuse to fund education because it conflicts with its philosophy, which is "I'll take mine; leave everyone else behind."

Environment -- Republicans are the "blind leading the blind" when it comes to the environment. They seem to be lacking sensory awareness on a few other levels too. They can't seem to hear the noise, smell the pollution or taste the poison in their food. They don't seem to care if the earth becomes uninhabitable. And if they did care, they wouldn't do anything about it because, again, they are ideologically too rigid to do what needs to be done.

Budget Deficits -- The Republicans have run up the worst budget deficits ever known in this country -- and they have not invested the money in the future of America. They have used it to pay off certain favored international corporations, to destroy Iraq and to create ever more threatening weapons and ever more intrusive spyware. Oh, yes, and to make sure the very rich get very, very, very rich in America.

Intelligence -- The Republicans have the technology (and the legal authority) to find out everything about you and me, but they don't seem to be able to figure out much about the really bad guys. They could be using the technology they have to heal the world and bring true peace, but No. Here again, they are hog-tied by the ideology of unbridled capitalism and the need to "convert" others to that ideology, and bent on using US intelligence only to promote that their cause. They trust obvious liars provided the liars tell them what they want to hear. They see threats where none exists provided the threat allows them to promote their ideology. They have a huge capacity for collecting intelligence, but they lack the judgment and the foresight to use their knowledge wisely for the good of mankind.

Church and State -- Ignorant about the religions of others, ignorant of history and the role of religion in causing bloody civil wars, the Republican insistence on merging religion and government is already starting to turn brother against brother and American against American. Eventually reasonable people will reverse Republican policy on this issue, but, if history is any guide, our nation will pay a high price before that happens.

Social Security -- No one who isn't a Republican fanatic likes their plan. It conflicts with our fundamental belief as Americans that, guided wisely, the economy of our country can continue to improve as it has in the past, and continue to provide for all Americans including elderly Americans a life of dignity. The Republicans hold a pessimistic view of the US economic future and do not seem to believe that it will be possible for America to provide for its seniors in the future -- unless they are rich.

The American Dream -- The Republican version of the American Dream is "grab what you can while you can, because tomorrow you will be on your own." Their view seems to be that the American Dream of endless opportunity, an ever improving standard of living for everyone, respect for work well done and help for the poor and sick is dead and what is worse their attitude seems to be "Good Riddance."

The list could go on and on. You get the gist. That is what the whole judicial appointment dispute is intended to distract us from.