parliamentary tools

CONGRESS CRITTERS
* "That's what this so-called "nuclear option" fight with Majority Leader Bill Frist is all about. . .Frist wants to change the rules to make judicial nominations a simple majority vote, instead of the required super majority of 60. Lose on Bolton, which would take Republican "defections", and the whole power play on conservative activist judges is at risk of unraveling." LINK

* " Also, at some point find a good account of all the parliamentary tools Dems employed to delay the (bolton) committee hearing, and how the Rs got it held anyhow (the Senate was in recess for about 3 hours today). It was a good preview of what will happen if/when we go nuclear." LINK

* "It’s guaranteed that Frist’s advisors are telling him,"Remember Bush at Bob Jones University. The GOP middle will forgive you for pandering to the right, no matter how extreme you seem. And anyway, these wingnuts dominate our primaries, that’s why we call them the base. And they will not forgive you if you fail to bow to them now.”" LINK

* is 'nuclear option' the worst choice of words ever? and they couldnt even get it to unstick - they tried 'constitutional option' which is brilliant, but no-one buys it, and they tried 'Byrd option' - but that doesnt make any sense to anyone, and now Fox snooze is even using 'nuclear option' for titles of its segments on the issue. the only (apparent) logic is that the obstructionist democrats must be blown away. its not a pretty thought...

* the good news is that every time the dems get called 'obstructionist', it seems that most of the country seems to think thats not a bad brake on the radical repugs. who are increasingly scary the bejeebus out of everyone.

* "Chafee counted on most Americans, particularly Rhode Islanders, not knowing and not caring who John Bolton was. The White House made the same rather cynical calculation.
That is not possible now. While Bolton is not quite a house-hold name, those interested in policy and politics realize that this is now a big-time standoff and battle." LINK

* "If confirmed, Bolton, 56, would replace John Danforth as head of the U.S. mission in New York. Anne Patterson, a career foreign service officer, has been acting ambassador since January, when Danforth departed." LINK
i wondered the other day what was the current arrangement. theres yer answer. by all accounts, it had looked as though the US would try to bring iran to the unsc in june. would they do that with a caretaker in place? i dont know the answer... but it might be an important question. if the bolton proceedings continue for another couple of months, and then fail, then there might not be a permanent ambassador in place till, say, october (assuming that the subsequent nomination gets confirmed).

* "Since 2003, no one has shown as much enthusiasm for the nuclear option than Rick “Man on Dog” Santorum. He’s not only demanded it’s use, he’s promised every right-wing group in DC that he’d help make it happen. That is, until this week. " LINK

* "The whole attack on the courts has a real screeching quality to it. If you filter out all the noise, though, two clear strategies for attacking the fundaments of the nation's judiciary emerge:
-- Eliminate the filibuster in the Senate (the so-called "nuclear option") in the name of forcing Bush's Federalist Society-anointed nominees upon the judiciary.
-- The "Constitution Restoration Act." This latter seems to have little chance of passage in a sane world, and thus should pose no serious threat.
However, I am not so sure we are living in a sane world anymore." LINK
we should remember that bolton prays to the Federalists too.

* "On Tuesday, in what appeared to be an effort to assuage the concerns of some Republicans that ending judicial filibusters would open the door to ending filibusters on legislation, Dr. Frist insisted that was not the case.
"If I must act to bring fairness back to the judicial nomination process," he said in a statement, "I will not act in any way to impact the rights of colleagues when it comes to legislation."" LINK
can someone splain me the logic here? stoopid repugs. i still think that the best outcome is if Frist calls for a vote on this and some 'moderate' repugs vote it down.

* "The John Bolton nomination battle is one of those rare moments when a window has opened onto how the U.S. public was rushed into war with Iraq and, in a larger sense, how conservatives seized control over the flow of information that shapes policy." LINK
bob parry gets it, as usual. this is why bolton matters.

* " Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told her senior staff she was disappointed about the stream of allegations and said she did not want any information coming out of the department that could adversely affect the nomination..." LINK