Best of the Web Today - June 9, 2005
By JAMES TARANTO
Deal Divides Dems
The U.S. Senate is moving ahead with the business of populating the federal courts. Yesterday it approved, by a vote of 56-43, the nomination of Justice Janice Rogers Brown of California's Supreme Court to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. All 55 Republicans, joined by Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson, voted "yes."
Then, as provided by last month's filibuster compromise, it voted for "cloture" on the nomination of William Pryor for the 11th Circuit; this will allow a confirmation vote today. Considerably fewer Democrats voted to end the filibusters on Brown and Pryor than had on Priscilla Owen. Here are the vote totals:
o Owen (May 25): 81-18
o Brown (June 7): 65-32
o Pryor (June 8): 67-32
We initially assumed the relatively narrow vote for Brown reflected Democrats' view that she was not just "extreme" but really extremely extreme, because of her provocative criticisms of the regulatory state that keeps liberals' hearts aflutter. But the similar numbers in the vote on Pryor lead us to think that what's changed since May is, as we argued yesterday, that liberals have become considerably less enamored with the compromise. Fourteen Democratic senators voted for cloture on Owen then cast what amounted to protest votes against cloture on both Brown and Pryor (15 if you count Wisconsin's Herb Kohl, who wasn't present for the Brown vote).
And what do those Democrats have to protest? A deal that, while formally keeping the filibuster alive, will make it very difficult to use, at least in this Congress (except in the cases of William Myers and Henry Saad, whose nominations the senators who signed the agreement are permitted, though not required, to filibuster). The results of the Brown and Pryor cloture votes suggest that there are 12 Democrats who cannot be counted on to support future filibusters:
o The seven compromisers, who are obliged to refrain from filibustering judicial nominees (Myers and Saad excepted) in the absence of "extraordinary circumstances." To determine whether such circumstances exist, they must rely on their "own discretion or judgment"--i.e., they may not simply vote the party line. If they do, the "nuclear option" is back on the table.
o Three senators who voted for cloture on both the Brown and Pryor nominations, suggesting that they are disinclined, whether for reasons of principle or politics, to filibuster judicial nominees.
o Two senators who voted for cloture on Pryor but against it on Brown, suggesting that they are somewhat disinclined to filibuster.
This table lists all the senators in these three groups, along with their states and the years they are up for re-election:
Compromisers
Robert Byrd (W.Va.)
2006
Mary Landrieu (La.)
2008
Joe Lieberman (Conn.)
2006
Daniel Inouye (Hawaii)
2010
Ben Nelson (Neb.)
2006
Mark Pryor (Ark.)
2008
Ken Salazar (Colo.)
2010
Disinclined to filibuster
Thomas Carper (Del.)
2006
Kent Conrad (N.D.)
2006
Bill Nelson (Fla.)
2006
Somewhat disinclined to filibuster
Jeff Bingaman (N.M.)
2006
Tim Johnson (S.D.)
2008
Most of the filibuster-shy Democrats come from red states, and many of them face re-election next year. Indeed, all five red-state senators who are up next year appear in the table above. Only seven red-state senators opposed cloture for both Brown and Pryor, and four of them are not up until 2010.
If this table looks familiar, it is because we prepared a similar one the day after the election last year. Tom Daschle's defeat, we wrote then, "may send a message to other red-state Democrats. . . . It may prove a challenge to hold together 41 votes to sustain a filibuster--assuming that the new minority leader even wants to continue the Daschle approach."
Now we can be more specific. Barring a Senate vacancy this year or next, sustaining a filibuster of a judicial nominee (again, excluding Myers and Saad) would require the cooperation of at least eight of the 12 above-listed senators, at least three of whom would be acting in violation of the agreement, and it would require the Republicans to refrain from using the nuclear option once the Democrats break the agreement.
Hillary Gets Trapped!
It turns out Sen. Hillary Clinton did indeed question her own patriotism, and the quote appeared on this very Web site, in an article by Fred Barnes, in May 2003, that quotes a speech Mrs. Clinton gave in Connecticut:
She invoked what has become a Democratic trope: "I am sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and you disagree with this administration you're not patriotic. We should stand up and say, 'We are Americans and we have a right to debate and disagree with any administration.' " Of course no one has actually called Democrats unpatriotic for simply disagreeing with the president.
NewsMax.com and the Yale Daily News identify the forum where she spoke as the Jefferson Jackson Bailey dinner on April 28.
As we noted yesterday, we had trouble finding the quote on the Web, and it turns out it was because we were searching for a string that began "I'm" rather than "I am." Many readers tell us they've heard Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Rush Limbaugh and others play a clip of this quote on the radio; you can hear it (set to a goofy Flash animation) here.
Life Imitates ScrappleFace
"Many Republicans probably voted for George Bush dozens, if not hundreds, of times in 2004, according to Democrat party Chairman Howard Dean, 'by taking advantage of the fact that Democrat poll workers have difficulty distinguishing individuals from among a crowd of white Christians.' "--ScrappleFace.com, June 8
"A protest organized June 1 by MoveOn, a liberal political action committee, drew about 20 people to the Michigan Avenue office of U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton. Demonstrators protested Rogers' ties to embattled House Majority Leader Tom Delay. There was only one problem: They had the wrong Mike Rogers. . . . The Mike Rogers involved was not the Michigan congressman, but rather Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala."--City Pulse (Lansing, Mich.), June 8
'I Hated Childhood'
Over on DemocraticUnderground.com, members of the Angry Left are debating whether it's a good idea to have children. Many think not. TheBorealAvenger has a post titled "I hated childhood" (all quotes are verbatim):
A decade and a half of guilt, manipulation, and assaults. I could not wait to be an adult. Yeah, there were moments of joy, but it was hardly a Norman Rockwell experience. I am glad I don't live in a farm economy or a conservative culture where children are required.
I just don't want to see anything like that again, especially experienced by someone I cared for.
Gollygee writes: "My husband didn't want children, but I knew I would regret it forever if I didn't. The agreement we came to was to have one, but only one child." A reasonable compromise, but one that keeps this family's fertility well below the 2.1-child replacement level.
And here's sweetheart:
I figure there are enough kids on the planet, and if i need to do some lovein, there are plenty out there who need parenting, be it through adoption, community activism, aid work or whatever.
Kids are an economic burden of profound proportions that the republicans use to enslave people by making the parents run so hard on the wheel to cover the economics of kids that nothing is left.
If it really is a biological clock thing and you're not sure, get a puppy.
Looks as though the Roe effect is alive and well.
Homelessness Rediscovery Watch
"If George W. Bush becomes president, the armies of the homeless, hundreds of thousands strong, will once again be used to illustrate the opposition's arguments about welfare, the economy, and taxation."--Mark Helprin, Oct. 31, 2000
"Advocates See Veterans of War on Terror Joining the Ranks of the Homeless"--headline, Stars and Stripes, June 2, 2005
John Kerry to the Rescue!
"Gallic Genius Will Save France Says Villepin"--headline, Guardian (London), June 9
What Would We Do Without Top Saudis?
"Top Saudi Says Kingdom Has Plenty of Oil"--headline, Associated Press, June 9
Man Bites Dog
"Fish Inspires Car"--headline, Detroit Free Press, June 8
Isn't That What Made Him an Addict in the First Place?
"Coming Clean: Former Addict Has Resisted Temptation to Stay Clean"--headline, Winona (Minn.) Daily News, June 5
At Least They're Not Doing It Just for Sport
"US Indians Beat Maori for Health"--headline, New Zealand Herald, June 9
What Would Ontario Do Without Critics?
"Ontario Plan to Ban Retirement at 65 May Force People to Work Longer: Critics"--headline, Canadian Press, June 8
A Sciurine Tragedy
Faye Arrington of Asheville, N.C., recounts this story in a letter to the editor of the Asheville Citizen-Times (last letter):
I am an animal lover. I am shocked at the speed of automobiles on the Blue Ridge Parkway and have reported same to the rangers.
On a recent Sunday I saw a little squirrel halfway across the road. A driver approached and could have more than given the squirrel time to get out of danger, but no. He hit the little squirrel. I jumped out hoping he [the squirrel] was only dazed. I picked him up, trying to breathe air into his nostrils--his heart was still beating--yet he died in my arms before I got home.
This indifference must end--they are God's creations. We are responsible for their welfare.
It just goes to show, even a dead squirrel finds a nut once in awhile.
And You Thought John Kerry Looked French
Want to know how to be a manly man? Ask a fashion industry insider. Agence France-Presse did:
Macho man is an endangered species, with today's male more likely to opt for a pink flowered shirt and swingers' clubs than the traditional role as family super-hero, fashion industry insiders say. . . .
"The masculine ideal is being completely modified. All the traditional male values of authority, infallibility, virility and strength are being completely overturned," said Pierre Francois Le Louet, the agency's managing director. . . .
"We are watching the birth of a hybrid man. . . . Why not put on a pink-flowered shirt and try out a partner-swapping club?" asked Le Louet.
Sure, why not--if your idea of a real man is someone named Pierre Francois Le Louet! |
