A scenario for an unspecified day in 2005: One of President Bush's judicial nominations is brought to the Senate floor. Majority Leader Bill Frist makes a point of order that only a simple majority is needed for confirmation. The point is upheld by the presiding officer, Vice President Dick Cheney. Democratic Leader Harry Reid challenges the ruling. Frist moves to table Reid's motion, ending debate. The motion is tabled, and the Senate proceeds to confirm the judicial nominee -- all in about 10 minutes.
- Robert Novak, Sun Times, December 20
"One way or another, the filibuster of judicial nominees must end."
- Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn), November speech, Federalist Society.
"If a rule change is necessary to avoid filibusters, there are relevant recent precedents to secure rule changes with 51 votes."
-
Sen. Arlen Spector, in a
press release dated November 18,2004 in defense of his nomination as head of the Judiciary Committee.
This so-called "nuclear option" would invoke the President of the Senate's rarely-used authority to rule on the constitutionality of a senatorial procedure. Another method being discussed in conservative circles involves the Senate Prez's authority to bring issues directly to the floor, bypassing committee procedures. The last time this power was used was reportedly in 1957, when Nixon brought the Civil Rights bill to the floor of the Senate, doing an end-run around a recalcitrant Judiciary Committee.
Of course, the reality is that, of Bush's 229 judicial nominees, 219 were approved and only 10 blocked. This is the highest number of first-term nominations approved in more than twenty years, including Reagan. But that's only the reality. And we're not dealing with a reality-based community.
"The presidential election was merely about the next four years. A Supreme Court justice is for life."
- U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olsen (potential Supreme Court nominee.)
The propaganda ground is being laid, the frame is being set. Though just now reported by the mainstream press, this campaign has been planned for a long time. During the recent electoral campaign, Republican propaganda compared the judicial fillbusters to the racist fillibusters in the 60's (which, they failed to mention, were initiated by Republicans).
When Democrats seek to block the next radical nomination (and Bush just announced he is going to renominate the already rejected nominees, setting up the con), the trap will be sprung, the Right-wing Wurlitzer will crank out full-blast moans about Democrats "Hating Amerikur", and the GOP will "reluctantly" go nuclear.
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Lou Dubose reported on this plan in an LAWeekly article way back in June 2003, discussing the ongoing fillibuster to block the continuous re-nomination of the truly odious Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owens, who Bush keeps renominating to the federal appeals bench. As the article reports, she is a Karl Rove find, an oil and gas lawyer (and virulently anti-abortion evangelical) he recruited to the Texas highest court.
"Now, it looks like the Bush Brain Trust may try to end the filibuster that keeps Owen's future up in the air. It works like this. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist attempts to gradually lower from 60 to 51 the votes needed to end a filibuster. That fails, because it requires 60 votes to change a Senate rule and the Republicans have only 50. Then Vice President Cheney rules on a constitutional point of order that 51 votes can end a filibuster of nominations. The Senate parliamentarian, appointed by Republicans, upholds his ruling. The filibuster blocking Priscilla Owen is ended. (And the road is cleared for the right-wing Supreme Court justices Bush will appoint later in his first term.) It would be quite an end to a Senate procedure in effect since George Washington held office."
On Thursday, December 23, Bush announced that he will renominate Priscilla Owen immediately when Congress reconvenes next month.
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Of course, if that doesn't work, Reinquist will surely resign shortly after Bush is sworn in. Imagine the pressure with a deadlocked, 4-4 court, and the Democrats stubbornly refusing to allow the president to fill the blaring vacancy on the nation's highest court. You think that won't be pretext enough for Frist/Cheney to go nuclear? And you really think the likes of Harry Reid are going to stop them?
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This is how ends, America. Not with a bang, not with a whimper, and not with a fillibuster. Just Norquist's crowbar, prying open the coffins and releasing the ghosts of William McKinley and Mark Hanna, opening the gateway to a theocratic hell. While America sucks its thumb, mesmerized by The Apprentice and Survivor and American Idol and the War On Christmas. And the few who are awake snort, "nonsense, child, it can't happen here".
There are two Americas, people.
One of them is mad.
And they are not interested in peace, love and turning the other cheek. They are aiming with both barrels for all the brass rings.
Heed the canaries. They're looking mighty pale.