judicial nominees

Time To Call Their Bluff

It doesn’t matter what President Obama does. The only thing that matters to Republicans is to oppose it:

The National Republican Trust PAC, currently the best-funded and most aggressive independent Republican group, has dispatched a round of letters to Republican senators threatening to go after senators who back President Obama's judicial nominees.

"I encourage you to keep steadfast and stay true to your Republican conservative values and beliefs as you anticipate potential nominees put before you by this Administration," writes Scott Wheeler, the executive director of the PAC, which spent $7.5 million in 2008 -- most of it running ads featuring Jeremiah Wright in the closing days of the presidential campaign -- and another $1 million on attack ads in the recent New York special election.

The letter warns that constituents will "hold you accountable" for support of a nominee, and recalls the group's fierce attack on Arlen Specter when he voted for the stimulus package.

When you hear Republicans scream and cry about a lack of “bi-partisanship”, remember this news. They have absolutely no ambition to work with the President. Instead they want to be the party of no.

This brings me to my next point – it’s time to call their bluff.

Perhaps Obama should go out and nominate someone like John Yoo or some other neo-con lawyer to become the next justice. Let the Democrats vote the person down, but it would be fun to see what the children of the right do then. Will they oppose such a nominee just because Obama nominated him? It’s time to show America exactly how childish the Republicans truly are. Maybe then we can start focusing on having a strong minority party to help keep a level of checks and balances. Right now all we have is a joke in the minority.

The Two Faces Of Mitch McConnell

The AP just reported that Republican Senator Mitch McConnell is threatning to filibuster any attempts by the Democrats to block Bush's escalation plan. This is ironic, considering what McConnell was saying in his majority days of the filibuster:

Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell said yesterday that Republicans have enough votes to invoke the "nuclear option" to limit Democrats' ability to stall by filibuster consideration of President Bush's nominees for federal appeals courts.

"I never announce my whip count. But I'm telling you, there's no doubt in my mind -- and I'm a pretty good counter of votes -- that we have the votes we need," the Kentucky Republican said. "And that step will be taken sometime in the near future at the determination of the majority leader."

Or this little bit via Newshounds:

Last night, it was Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell on After Hours with Cal Thomas. He said, "It's to (Democrats') advantage, too, to get the senate back to the way it operated for 214 years without any great problems with regard to judicial nominees.... It was never filibustered in the history of the senate until two years ago."

So what if the Democrats come up with their own "nuclear option". I believe the Iraq war deserves an up or down vote by the U.S. Senate more so than federal judges. We are talking about the lives of our soldiers, as well as the Iraqis.

Time To Call Their Bluff

The Two Faces Of Mitch McConnell

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