Novak Says Dems Maybe "Trapped into a Filibuster they do not want to wage"

[radio4progressives]

Filibuster Alito?
Jan 21, 2006
by Robert Nova


WASHINGTON -- Pressure from liberal activists to oppose confirmation of Judge Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court has been so intense that Democratic senators may be trapped into a filibuster that they do not want to wage.

Despite the consensus that Alito performed well in his confirmation hearings, leaders of liberal organizations opposing him -- Ralph Neas, Nan Aron and Wade Henderson -- demand that Democrats vote against him. Consequently, Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska is the only Democrat at this writing who has announced in Alito's favor.

That means the number of senators voting "no" will be well over the 41 needed to prevent cloture. Pressure groups then could ask why no filibuster had been launched. But Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid may not want to risk causing Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist to set a precedent by using the "nuclear" option: to end a filibuster by simple majority vote.

###

http://townhall.com/opinion/columns/robertnovak/2006/01/21/183314.html

[Erika]

1. Let's go for the nuclear option

Shut down Congress completely to stop W from his radical right wing agenda.

[bemildred]

14. Indeed, "Bring it on!". nt

[aquart]

2. Well, I want the damn filibuster.

I want proof that there is a party in opposition to our fascist administration.

[radio4progressives]

6. i'm signing off... if anyone thinks this is important for others, please

kick or something in the am..

[mom cat]

17. done! Check you in the morning. It will be Defeat Alito Week!

[ClintonTyree]

3. "performed well in his confirmation hearings".........

:wtf: If you call being evasive, "forgetful" and totally unhelpful "performing well" in a confirmation hearing then I guess the "consensus" is correct. What Novak means to say is, "he said nothing that would give away his intentions of rubber stamping anything the CONS want".
Why would I expect anything else from Novak? The old, senile, drooling fool hasn't the character to fade into the shadows as he should have so long ago. Why doesn't this fossil retire? Ego, pure and simple. He thinks people still care about his dementia induced rantings.
Bob, just go away. Retire. Go fishing. Spend time with your grandchildren. You don't have much time left, enjoy it, don't continue writing your insipid articles thinking you have something worthwhile to contribute. :eyes:

[radio4progressives]

5. i know he's loving being a gad fly - damn he should have been indicted by

now too, right? oh yeah that's he sung like a canary and was left off the hook.

[radio4progressives]

4. Don't know if Novak is Saber Rattling for Frist? Is this a Ploy?

What the Dems need to do, is act very quickly and decisively, then mop up the floor before the repukes run circles around them.

Why would Frist have any power in the Senate at this point? This guy committed crimes! Hasn't he been indicted yet for goddess sake?

[bigbrother05]

9. Think this is his point....

Make it look like the Dems would lose something important if they stood up to Scalito. The conventional RW line is that they are in a no-lose situation, they either get Scalito who will lock in the Chimperor's imperialism or exercising the nuclear option will mean they can nominate anyone they damn well please for the next round. What they don't want anyone to notice/report on is that the country is catching on to them and Frist as well as the entire Repuke leadership in Congress are damaged goods. If Novakula and all the other enablers can help them bluff their way into a Scalito confirmation, they know they have finally cemented their advantage and nothing short of violent revolution in the streets will hold them back.

With a filibuster, the Dems will be able to define point-by-point the risks to our gov't and way of life a confirmation would lock in. Think of hour after hour of Dem Senators enumerating the failings of the misAdministration and how Scalito is on record in support of it all. Think of days filled with tales of the personal rights that would be lost to a Roberts led SC populated by the likes of Scalia and Thomas with Scalito in the swing slot. Imagine weeks of hammering at the abuse of prisoners, illegal data mining (wiretapping is so JE Hoover), and elective wars (they aren't preemptive if there is nothing to preempt) at the whim of a sociopathic CINC.

If they don't stop that blissed out troll, you'll never be able to buy a lock big enough or strong enough to keep them out of your bedroom or your brain.

[tavalon]

7. Consensus Novakula?

I got your consensus right here, bud.

[ima_sinnic]

8. "pressure from liberal activists" "so intense" they may be "trapped"

into a filibuster "they do not want to wage"

oh really, that "pressure" worked so well in the runup to your abominable war, and after Katrina, and for the entire 5 years of atrocities you've whored for. "Liberal activists" have soooo much power! :sarcasm:

The day Congress is "pressured" by "liberal activists" is the day I will faint from the shock of realizing they have finally listened to The People.

[elehhhhna]

23. constituents = "liberal activists". I don't like where this is going.

[AtomicKitten]

10. In light of the fact they * allegedly * work for us,

it can't be that outrageous to expect them to do what we want them to do.

I can't imagine why the Dems wouldn't want to filibuster; more Novak BS perhaps? I would think the precedent of playing nice has worn out its welcome and it's pretty clear it's balls-out in the Senate. They've nothing to lose .... except their base.

[Vincardog]

32. DINOs are the only ones being trapped into a filibuster they do not want

This is the time to stop the POLICE STATE in its; tracks. Not one more step down aWoL's Fascist path.

[bklyncowgirl]

11. The point is to put a scare into "moderate" Democrats

The Republicans have learned that it's easy to exploit the divisions in the Democratic party. All they need to do is point out how sensible, moderate Democrats (the ones who roll over and vote for every Republican bill or nominee) are being pressured into joining the extremist yahoos on the left and in doing so will give up their cherished (but never used) right to filibuster.

It is also a way of painting all Democrats as wussy, wavering, wafflers controlled by the sign waving screaming pacifists, abortionists and civil rights extremists.

The fact is that there are only a handful of undecided Democrats on this issue. Most have made it very clear that they are voting against Alito.

How come we never hear about moderate Republicans blindly obedient to a President that they know is dragging this nation into debt, war and tyranny?

[Demeter]

12. You Know What? That's Just Too Damn Bad

You Democratic Representatives and Senators got elected and paid to represent the People Capital P.

So start representing us, Dammit!

[kiteinthewind]

16. AMEN!

Power to the People!
:hippie:

[mom cat]

13. More PsyOps from Novac...What a shill!

nocrony has this to say:

By now we all understand that the entire corporate media has conspired to sell us yet another lie, this one about our power to stop a stealth candidate with a lifelong agenda as a record from completing a reactionary takeover of our Supreme Court. We CAN stop Alito. Oh, yes we can. All we have to do is keep speaking out to our senators. Yesterday, Senator Durbin made it very clear, a filibuster is NOT off the table. They are just waiting for us to show them that we the people are ready to back them up and all the representatives we need will stand up WITH us.

http://www.nocrony.com

[IndyOp]

29. Oooooooooo!!! This is *nice* to hear from Novak -

MomCat - :hi:

[maryallen]

15. Of course the Dems don't WANT to filibuster:

They want to serve their "MASTERS," and that ain't the "people..."

Except for a few, like Ted Kennedy.

[slay]

18. F-U Novak

You piece of shit Republican propaganda spewing scumbag. If Alito REALLY wanted to be confirmed, he could have stated clearly that he would not try to overturn Roe V Wade and did not support expanding presidential powers. He clearly SHOULD be filibustered, despite whatever the talking heads in the corporate media say. You want us to go back to girls having to have back alley abortions? Idiot. :mad:

[Chi-Town Exile]

19. Screw you Novak, you should be serving your life sentence for treason! nt

[AbbyR]

20. Pressured? PRESSURED???

Doggone right we're pressuring - maybe we've learned a few lessons over the last few years from the repubs. It's time the people we voted for got up there and do what we asked them to do: FIGHT!

[MadisonProgressive]

21. Let them go nuclear!

If we are going to have Alito anyway, we might as well make the pukes look bad.

[Warren Stupidity]

22. Oh boo hoo

poor babies, forced by their party base to act like an opposition party when all they want to do is go along to get along. Fuck novak. Fillibuster now, shut down the senate if they go nukular.

[The Backlash Cometh]

24. Never take advice from an enemy. Novak is using reverse psychology.

He's afraid of that filibuster because if the Repubs go nuclear to counter it, then that means that Dems, when they get into office can then go nuclear too. Imagine all the Liberal judges that the conservatives have borked over the years. Suddenly, we'll be able to bring in twenty at a time if this Nuclear Option they threaten us with, goes through.

[radio4progressives]

26. Exactly the point of that article..

as have been stated by many, this is a sharp "line in the sand" moment, and it's OURS to make, and it's also another critical "turning point" for Dems to take a sharp definitive stand in opposition to this fascist regime, if the Dems don't want to see what should be a terrific opportunity to win mid term elections handily disenigrate before their eyes - they'd better figure it out, and fast.

[Jade Fox]

25. "consensus that Alito performed well"? Is he on crack?

If we are "forcing" the Dems to filibuster, well guess what: They are supposed to be representing us!

[radio4progressives]

27. Psy Ops at work... N/T

[LiberalAndProud]

28. Tell Reid: DO NOT STAND DOWN!

[Imagevision]

30. At least using nuclear option would prove they at least tried...!

Do we know that all republicans would favor Alito just because they're repugs..?

[rateyes]

31. Here's the question: Do you want Alito on the court or not?

He certainly doesn't have the concensus that even Scalia had. If you've got even a "chance" to stop him, you should do it. I don't think the Repigs will have the votes to go "nukular." Even if they do, then Alito is going on the court anyway. We have NOTHING to lose by filibustering, and everything to gain. If we filibuster, we might win. If we wait and filibuster somebody else, what's to keep them from going "nukular" then? We are giving away the ranch here by NOT filibustering. The vote on going "nukular" is going to occur sometime...why not make it NOW? Most people don't want a "give away the farm to the executive branch, and take away our privacy rights judge" sitting on the bench.

I say, filibuster the old fashioned way, too. Talk till you are blue in the face about how this guy would steal our freedom. Truth is on our side in this.

[classysassy]

33. yo Bob"the ghoul"Novak

go take a long walk off a short pier,you silly old bastard.

[bigluckyfeet]

34. Filibuster Now!

Stop these SOB"s in their tracks!

[flpoljunkie]

35. R's may want to think twice on nuke option, as they may not have the votes

Republicans may want to think long and hard before they change the rules of the Senate on filibusters for judicial nominations--especially when we may well kick their asses in November and take back one or both houses of Congress. Do they really want to go down this road?

Call their bluff! Make Dick Cheney come in, if necessary, and break the tie to change the filibuster rules on judicial nominations.

Article from when this last came up in April, 2005:

Filibuster Vote Will Be Hard to Predict
Undecided Republicans Are Big Unknown

By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 28, 2005; A04

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20 ...

Republicans are angry that Democrats have used the filibuster -- which can be stopped only by 60 votes in the 100-member Senate -- to block 10 of President Bush's appellate court nominees. Senate GOP leaders want to ban such filibusters, but some of their 55 members dislike the idea. All 44 Democrats and the chamber's lone independent flatly oppose it.

Democrats say a two-thirds majority is required to change Senate rules, but Republicans plan to use a constitutional argument to contend that a simple majority will suffice to ban judicial filibusters. For three months, lawmakers, aides and lobbyists have speculated on whether Frist can muster the 50 votes needed to enable Cheney to put him over the top.

Frist can lose only five Republicans, and three appear almost surely gone. Sens. Lincoln D. Chafee (R.I.), John McCain (Ariz.) and Olympia J. Snowe (Maine) have condemned the proposed rule change so sternly that party leaders assume they will side with Democrats. Many Republicans also expect to lose Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), although she remains publicly uncommitted. Collins "believes that the filibuster has been overused but would like to see the situation resolved through negotiation rather than a rule change," her office said yesterday.

If Collins, Chafee, McCain and Snowe oppose the change, then Frist could suffer only one more GOP defection. Speculation hangs most heavily on Sens. John W. Warner (Va.), Chuck Hagel (Neb.) and Arlen Specter (Pa.), all of whom say they are undecided.