Two Down, Many To Go

It’s been a couple of weeks now since the fateful "Compromise" on Judges. So far, So good.

A month ago the democrats had a solid vote for filibuster on every appeals court nominee they felt like blocking. A month ago Priscilla Owens and Janice Rogers Brown were considered by democrats the most extreme judicial nominees ever to be presented to the Senate for confirmation.

These two judges were part of a triumvirate of evil, a threat to democracy and our very way of life. They were like the Sith to the Democrat judicial "Jedi Knights", wielding the force of the unelected judiciary but for evil rather than good.
What a difference a month makes. A month ago Senator Bill Frist said enough is enough, and threatened to put an end to the filibuster. Since that time some Senate Democrats have had a change of heart.

The filibuster on Owens fell with a MAJORITY of democrats voting to end debate. She is now an Appeals Court Justice, only 4 years too late. The filibuster on Brown fell yesterday, by a smaller margin, but with enough democrats that even without the deal, if the democrat leadership had released the senators to vote their conscience, the filibuster would have been ended. Today she was confirmed, and soon she too will be a sitting Appeals Court Justice.

And the filibuster on Justice William Pryor ended today as well, with 12 democrats joining the republicans to denounce the delaying tactics of the leadership. He was also considered a far-right extremist who would inject his personal opinions into court cases. Justice Pryor has been serving in his nominated position since last year, having been "recess-appointed" by President Bush. Now he is a day away from being confirmed to that position. His outstanding work in the past year on the bench may have had something to do with the Democrat collapse on his nomination. While some argued that he was just biding his time, ruling cautiously to deceive the senate into approving him, most senators must see that calling a sitting judge a liar and deciever, a trickster and a con man, is not good for our government.

Several more justices are also slated to be voted in this week, after long delays and holds for no reason other than the personal revenge of a Senator from Michigan over the rejection of a relative to a seat on the bench. Good to know that when the Democrats decided to act for the good of the country instead of their own party extremists, they also decided that personal grudges should be left behind.
I have no illusion that this is a lasting peace. The owners of the democrat party hold the purse strings, and they are not at all happy with this turn of events. Last month they had a stranglehold on the judiciary, a veto over who could be a judge. Now three of their most hated adversaries have won, the american people have won, and the liberal interest groups don't like it one bit.

Look for a fight over the nomination of Justice Myers. President Bush is not playing politics, he wants good nominees to receive a vote, and he won't easily be convinced to withdraw. And Senator Frist is tired of being the whipping boy for a recalcitrant and petty minority led by a loose cannon, Senator Reid. Myers was not promised a vote in the "deal", but at least two republicans in the deal say that Myers is NOT an "extraordinary case", and filibustering him would break the agreement. Their votes would provide the margin for victory over the filibuster.

That is, assuming no other republicans broke ranks. They have no reason to now. It is clear that the Democrats were not completely in agreement on the filibuster, and some only participated under severe threat. They don't want to lose the filibuster, so they will compromise whenever they see it threatened. The "constitutional option" card should be good for a vote on Myers, and maybe even Saad (who may get voted down if he gets a vote).

Then there is Bolton, not a judicial nominee, but filibustered before the memorial day recess. "King of the Dealmakers" John McCain stepped up to solve the "Bolton Problem", but even his powers of kissing up to the opposition were not enough to obtain assurances of a vote on this nominee. And now the democrats, who SAY they are voting against Bolton simply because they THINK he might not be able to be effective, NOW ARE ARGUING that, because they are going to vote against him, it will weaken him and make him less effective. Talk about your self-fufulling prophesy. I say to them now what I said several weeks ago -- Just Vote For Bolton, and he WILL have the credibility WE NEED for the good of the country.

Not that I expect the Democrats to do what is good for the country. The People of the country, democrats and republicans, mostly want what is best. But the democrats have been hijacked by a far-left cabal, led by the likes of Soros and Howard Dean.
But that is negative thinking. For now, let me just bask in the joy of having a few good nominees sitting where they SHOULD have been sitting for years, on the benches of the court system.