On Sunday Bill Frist
threatened to set in motion the "nuclear option" to block judicial filibusters if the Democrats threatened to filibuster Samuel Alito. Monday saw everybody's favorite parliamentary historian, Robert Byrd, react in a nice little debate with Sen. Frist...
From Yahoo/AP:"If he ever tries to exercise that, he's going to see a real filibuster if I'm living and able to stand on my feet or sit in my seat," Byrd said in a Senate debate with Frist, R-Tenn.
"If the senator wants a fight, let him try it," said Byrd, the Senate's senior Democrat. "I'm 88 years old, but I can still fight, and fight I will for freedom of speech. I haven't been here for 47 years to see that freedom of speech whittled away and undermined."
The animated exchange, springing from the majority leader's threat on Sunday to block judicial filibusters, featured Frist
waving his hands and wiping his brow in exasperation.As if that wasn't enough of an indicator of how badly Dr. Frist got owned by Sen. Byrd, he even
conceded a major point to West Virginia's senior senator (from Think Progress, boldface theirs):
BYRD: And the Constitution says that the Senate has the power of advice and consent. It doesn't say how that consent would be measured. It doesn't say it has to be an up or down. Nothing in the history, nothing in the Constitution says that. Yes, you can point that out in the Constitution to me, where it says a nominee shall have the right to an up or down vote.
Can the Senator point that out in the Constitution to me? Can the Senator point that out in the Constitution to me?FRIST: If the distinguished Senator from West Virginia would let me answer, I would be happy to.
BYRD: Yes.
FRIST: It's not in the Constitution that a United States Senator specifically has the up or down - the right for an up or down vote.
So we get two developments--not only does Bill Frist admit, contrary to what he and other Republicans have been saying, that Bush's judicial nominees are
entitled to a vote, but Robert Byrd sounds ready to filibuster any attempt Frist and the GOP make to press the red, candy-like button to Hell. Have I ever mentioned I'm damn proud to have this guy as a Senator?