As Washington waits for word from Rehnquist, Senate Dems sit by the phone, and the Left arms for a Last Battle of sorts, Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter muddies the waters by suggesting that the new Chief Justice be…Sandra Day O’Connor?
Category: The Senate
Double Down Dubya.
Can Dubya have his cake and eat it too? Crossfire correspondent and Douchebag of Liberty Robert Novak hints that Rehnquist will also leave the Court this week. As the article suggests, this may be good news for the Dems, as it seems unlikely that Dubya will be able force through two hard-core right-wingers in a row, even with Fred Thompson at the helm…or at least one hopes. Update: The terrain shifts for twin appointments.
S9 > G8.
As Dubya heads off to G8 (although not before pushing back on Gonzales), Washington DC continues to gird for the Supreme Court fight ahead, with Senators of both parties airing their respective views on questioning candidates, the Post previewing the fall 2005 Supreme slate, and everyone else trying to guess Dubya’s probable pick. Of course, even a hardline conservative may not decide as Dubya intended…although that’ll be small consolation for the Dems should one get through.
Endgame?
Here’s an independence day nightmare: “With the Supreme Court vacancy left by the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the conservative movement has within its grasp the prize it has sought for more than 40 years: the control of all levers of the federal government.“
Yes, the right-wing fundies’ time is now, which is why they are already trying to spike Alberto Gonzales as too moderate and imploring Dubya to pick the “right” kind of conservative. Meanwhile, as the two parties gear for battle (despite talk to the contrary) and Dems reconsider the filibuster, Senate Judiciary Chair Arlen Specter contemplates his own legacy, which, if past behavior is any indication, likely means rolling over on command.
The Better Angels of our Nature.
“My favorite portrait of Lincoln comes from the end of his life. In it, Lincoln’s face is as finely lined as a pressed flower. He appears frail, almost broken…It would be a sorrowful picture except for the fact that Lincoln’s mouth is turned ever so slightly into a smile. The smile doesn’t negate the sorrow. But it alters tragedy into grace. It’s as if this rough-faced, aging man has cast his gaze toward eternity and yet still cherishes his memories–of an imperfect world and its fleeting, sometimes terrible beauty.” Senator Barack Obama waxes eloquent on Abe. Worth reading in its entirety. (Via Cliopatria.)
Critiquing Catkiller.
“‘The constituencies are in tension with each other…His leadership of the Senate has faltered so far as he has tried to cultivate the constituency of Republican primary voters,’ Sandel said.” Responding to the recent Bolton switcheroo, the WP questions whether Bill Frist has the wherewithal for the presidency. Probably not. I mean, judgment-wise, he had already lost me with the whole murdering kittens thing, to say nothing of his goofy Schiavo diagnosis or his many prostrations before the fundies. But, hey, don’t fret, Senator…The bar for presidential judgment these days is pretty low.
A Conspicuous Silence.
“There’s not much these days that the two parties in Washington can rally around, as evidenced by the increasingly shrill tone here. You might think that one thing on which everyone in both parties could agree would be a resolution apologizing for the Senate’s failure, over many decades, to make it a federal crime for racists to hunt black people like animals and hang them from trees.” Terry Neal wonders why eleven GOP Senators refused to sign the recent anti-lynching resolution. (Cliopatria‘s Robert KC Johnson posted a list of the eleven Senator’s responses from Roll Call a few days ago.)
As I’ve said earlier, I can see how a mea culpa that’s coming anywhere from thirty to 130 years late may not be the most useful legislation ever passed by the Senate. But, when it comes time to mark your name down against an abomination like lynching, why not take the opportunity? To paraphrase Karl Rove, moderation and restraint is not what I feel when I see African-Americans strung up and mutilated by mobs of white folk. But, for one reason or another, a sizable number of the GOP think different. Therapy and understanding for the attackers, perhaps?
Don’t Mention the War.
“Taken in context, Durbin’s premise — that the techniques characterized in the FBI memo are consistent with those deployed by ‘mad regimes’ — is worth debating. But of course, such invocations are never debated in their precise context.” In light of Senator Dick Durbin’s recent apology for bringing up Nazis to discuss Gitmo, the WP discovers Godwin’s Law.
Feeding at the Trough.
“The number of registered lobbyists in Washington has more than doubled since 2000 to more than 34,750 while the amount that lobbyists charge their new clients has increased by as much as 100 percent.” One thing you can say about Dubya’s tenure in the White House — It’s been gold rush days for corporate lobbyists. Among the cats getting fat in the GOP influence-peddling industry of late are Casino Jack Abramoff and DeLay flunky Michael Scanlon, who, as it turns out, had a special “gimme five” relationship they used to scam their clients and fraudulently line their pockets. Give ’em five-to-ten. Update: Tim Noah has more.
Bolton Blocked II.
Since the White House still won’t cough up the necessary info, the Dems (and Sen. Voinovich) manage to keep Bolton out of the UN once again, prompting Dubya to consider putting him there by recess appointment fiat. (As Fred Kaplan wryly noted, that should teach those evildoers abroad what we mean by democracy up in these parts.) And the big winners in this affair thus far? The State Department, who no longer have Bolton as a “roadblock” against diplomacy.