Best of the Web Today - May 24, 2005
By JAMES TARANTO
Let's Make a Deal
The left is crowing and the right is carping, for the most part, about last night's deal by 14 senators, seven from each party, to avoid the "nuclear option"--a Senate vote to abolish filibusters of judicial nominees. We beg to differ. We favor an end to the obstruction of judicial nominees via filibuster, and it strikes us that this agreement is likely to accomplish that, at least for this Congress (after which the agreement expires). If so, the nuclear option will have shown its value as a deterrent.
The agreement binds the 14 senators who signed it to vote for cloture (i.e., against a filibuster) of the three remaining nominees the Democrats have most demonized: Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown and Bill Pryor. The compromisers expressly "make no commitment to vote for or against cloture" of two additional nominees, William Myers and Henry Saad. The status of two other nominees, Brett Kavanaugh and William Haynes, is unclear. Early this afternoon the Senate voted 81-18 for cloture on Owen's nomination; an actual confirmation vote should come by tomorrow.
The 14 also agreed not to filibuster judicial nominees except "under extraordinary circumstances" and to oppose the nuclear option. Since there are 48 Republicans and 38 Democrats (including Jeffords) who are not parties to the agreement, at least three compromising Democrats would have to find "extraordinary circumstances" in order to sustain a filibuster. If at least two Republicans disagreed and thus concluded the Dems were violating the agreement, they could abandon the pledge and go nuclear.
All this may be academic, though. The most crucial passage in the agreement may prove to be this one: "Each signatory must use his or her own discretion and judgment in determining whether such ['extraordinary'] circumstances exist." As a practical matter, this applies only to the Democratic signatories, since no Republican has ever voted to filibuster a Bush judicial nominee.
The seven signatories, that is, have now declared that they will decide how to vote on judicial filibusters rather than take directions from the party. Two of them, Robert Byrd and Daniel Inoyue, probably did so largely to preserve "Senate tradition"; but the other five--Mary Landrieu, Joe Lieberman, Ben Nelson, Mark Pryor and Ken Salazar--are all generally moderate, and all from red states except Lieberman. Their inclinations and political interests diverge from those of Barbara Boxer, Ted Kennedy and other far-left blue-staters.
If left-wing Democrats want to filibuster another nominee, they will have to persuade Minority Leader Harry Reid to risk another nuclear confrontation and persuade at least one of the moderate compromising five, plus Byrd, Inoyue and every single uncompromising Dem, that it's worth it. It could happen, but we're not betting on it.
Defending Some Principle or Other
Not all the carping over the filibuster agreement is coming from the right; the antifilibuster Los Angeles Times scoffs at the 14 compromisers, who "were able to stand before the microphones and declare victory for the republic, the Constitution, the Senate and, indeed, democracy itself." As the Times notes, "It hardly qualifies as commentary to note that politics trump principle in Washington."
Maybe in this case it does, though. An editorial in the Wishy-Washington Post congratulates the compromisers: "The 14 senators nonetheless managed to put principle above self-protection." Just what a howler this is becomes clear five paragraphs down: "The deal is admittedly messy. Some nominees get votes, some still don't; the principle isn't terribly clear." But there's a pony--uh, a principle--in there somewhere!
You Oughta Be in Pictures
A Washington Times account of the filibuster deal ends with this hilarious vignette about compromiser John McCain:
Moments earlier as the deal was about to be announced, several Republicans offered the lectern to Mr. Byrd, who demurred, waiting instead for "his turn."
"Your turn is whenever you want it to be," said Mr. McCain, a chief architect of the deal who had to leave the press conference before it ended to make an early screening of a movie about himself.
The most dangerous place to be in Washington is between John McCain and a projector.
Fetal Attraction
In this morning's Boston Globe, Sen. John Kerry* waddles in with an op-ed denouncing the "nuclear option":
The Republican leadership's ''nuclear option" would eliminate the filibuster and turn the Senate into a rubber stamp for even the most controversial of President Bush's judicial nominations. The arguments can seem obscure, but there will be consequences for all of us.
The Bush administration's new plan on mercury pollution, for example, illustrates the importance of maintaining a strong and independent judiciary. Mercury is a potent neurotoxin harmful to fetuses' and infants' nervous systems.
Now it can be told: John Kerry is one of those extremist antichoice fanatics who want judges to protect fetuses! He's so far outside the mainstream, he's practically in Cambodia! Well, we have just four words to say to you, John Kerry: Keepyer lawzoff my body!
* The haughty, French-looking Massachusetts Democrat, who by the way served in Vietnam.
America Held Hostage: Day 114
John Kerry** met with the Boston Globe's editorial board yesterday, and was asked the question that's on everyone's mind, or at least the mind of everyone who gets his kicks by cruelly tormenting ex-presidential candidates. Columnist Joan Vennochi has the story:
John Kerry is releasing all his military records--but then again, he isn't. . . . The former Democratic presidential nominee was asked if had signed Form SF 180, authorizing the Department of Defense to grant access to all his military records.
''I have signed it," Kerry said. Then, he added that his staff was ''still going through it" and ''very, very shortly, you will have a chance to see it."
The devil is usually in the details. With Kerry, it's also in the dodges and digressions. After the interview, Kerry's communications director, David Wade, was asked to clarify when Kerry signed SF 180 and when public access would be granted. Kerry drifted over to join the conversation, immediately raising the confusion level. He did not answer the question of when he signed the form or when the entire record will be made public.
Several e-mails later, Wade conveyed the following information: On Friday, May 20, Kerry obtained a copy of Form 180 and signed it. ''The next step is to send it to the Navy, which will happen in the next few days. The Navy will then send out the records," e-mailed Wade. Kerry first said he would sign Form 180 when pressed by Tim Russert during a Jan. 30 appearance on ''Meet the Press."
Kerry reiterated that the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth did not tell the truth about him, and said: "The truth in its entirety will come out . . . the truth will come out." After all this waiting, it better be good.
** Fop cit.
Howard Dean Makes Sense
With comity and compromise in the air, we'd like to go back to Tim Russert's "Meet the Press" interview with Howard Dean and point out a few of the areas in which we agree with the Democratic National Committee chairman:
Russert: Republicans will say that the Democrats are speaking a different tune now than they did when they were in control. Robert Byrd, when he was a majority leader in '79, said, "Now, we are at the beginning of Congress. This Congress is not obliged to be bound by the dead hand of the past." And the filibuster used to need 67 votes. They changed it to 60.
Dean: Mm-hmm. . . .
Dean: When the Republicans were in power, they kept a much larger percentage of President Clinton's nominees to the bench. They didn't do it with the filibuster, they did it by bottling them up in committee and not allowing them to move forward.
Russert: The numbers are pretty similar actually.
Dean: OK. They're similar. . . .
Russert: Well, you said there were weapons of mass destruction.
Dean: Some of the things that the president said on our way into Iraq, they just weren't true, and I don't think that's right. So--
Russert: Such as?
Dean: Such as the weapons of mass destruction, which we have all known about, but the--
Russert: Well, you said there were weapons of mass destruction.
Dean: I said I wasn't sure, but I said I thought there probably were. . . .
Russert: When did the president ever suggest that Saddam Hussein was responsible for September 11?
Dean: He didn't. . . .
Russert: Let me stay on your rhetoric. January, I mentioned that [you said] "I hate the Republicans, what they stand for, good and evil, we are the good." In March, you said, "Republicans are brain dead." You mentioned you're a physician--and this is April. "[Dean] did draw howls of laughter by mimicking a drug-snorting Rush Limbaugh. 'I'm not very dignified,' Dean said."
Dean: Well, that's true. A lot of people have accused me of not being dignified.
Now of course some people will accuse us of selective quotation, but that's just the point. Dean said a lot of things we disagreed with, but we wanted to emphasize the areas of agreement.
Don't Quote Me. In Fact, Don't Quote Anybody.
Last month our friend Bob Tyrrell wrote a column in which he scolded us for the "treacherous quoting of innocent liberals":
Perhaps the foremost villain on the "extreme right" known for discrediting people by quoting them is OpinionJournal.com's James Taranto. Just the other day, he indulged in arrant character assassination against one of those brave souls now opposing the nomination of John Bolton as our United Nations ambassador. Lynne Finney, a former employee of the federal government, has written an affecting letter to Sen. Barbara Boxer notifying her of enormities committed by Bolton against her person in "late 1982 or early 1983." Allegedly Bolton "screamed that I was fired," Finney writes. She has since become a "motivational speaker," and Taranto has published contents of her website, merely to reveal her as a fool.
Tyrrell's most notorious ex-employee is David Brock, who now runs an outfit called MediaMatters.org. Yesterday MediaMatters put out an item attacking us for--you guessed it--accurately quoting Howard Dean. It seems Brock is taking his lead from Tyrrell--except that Tyrrell wrote tongue in cheek, whereas the MM guys seem to be completely serious.
Meanwhile, HealthDay News brings this intriguing item from the frontiers of science: "Some brain-damaged people can't comprehend sarcasm, and Israeli researchers think it's because a specific brain region has gone dark."
Sacre (État) Bleu!
On the official blog of the Democratic National Committee, one "Robert H." weighs in (quoting verbatim):
If it was up to me, I would give the Repukelicans the French Revolution treatment. All Repooplicans with the exception of Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio would fall victim of the guilletine. "Off with their heads!" I'm sorry if I'm a little extreme.
Also in 2008 we need someone in the White House who will have the guts to stand up for what's right, someone who is a TRUE PATRIOT, someone who is ethical, someone who will do the right thing, someone who will use religion as a guideline to his leadership yet realize that there is a seperation between church and state, someone who will take care of the people's needs, someone who is intelligent, and someone who will proudly represent our country without embarrassment. As far as I care, the best choice for President in 2008: JOHN KERRY!
All that and he looks French too!
Figuring Football
Yesterday we noted a story of an apparently flawed problem on a North Carolina state math exam. The problem posited a football game in which a team's first four plays are a 6-yard loss, a 3-yard gain, a 2-yard loss and a 7-yard gain. Since the third play results in a 4th and 15, the team should have lost possession after the fourth play, but instead it goes on to make two more plays.
Several readers wrote to us describing scenarios in which this could happen:
o Officials call defensive pass interference on the fourth play, which results in an automatic first down.
o A defensive personal foul tacks on yards between plays.
o The plays actually come on different possessions. In one variation, the team fumbles, the opposing team recovers and fumbles, and the first team recovers again--resulting in a new possession and hence a first down.
o The fifth play comes on a fifth down--which technically is against the rules but has been known to happen (see game 72 here).
If you think this is complicated, count your blessings. At least Americans don't play soccer.
And Tigers Are Striped in the Foothills
"Snow Leopards Spotted on Top of World"--headline, CNN.com, May 23
Followed by the AIDS Walkathon
"Experts Wait for the Bird Flu Jump"--headline, Indian Express, May 23
She Really Ought to Find a New Partner
"S. Africa Woman Killed by Partner Every 6 Hours--Study"--headline, Reuters, May 24
Butt Out
"A man was injured when he jumped from a car traveling 55-60 mph in an effort to retrieve a cigarette blown out of a passenger-side window," the Associated Press reports from Foreman, Ark.:
Jeff Foran, 38, suffered trauma to his nose, eyes and chin after leaping from the car Saturday night and landing on the eastbound lane [of] Arkanas [sic] 234 near the Oklahoma border, state police Trooper Jamie Gravier said. . . .
"Foran did the right thing and asked his buddy to drive him home. Foran showed up at Nelson's home about 45 minutes earlier saying he (Foran) was too intoxicated to drive home, Gravier said. . . .
"It was obvious he was extremely intoxicated and this man was hurt," Gravier said. "If anything could make him stop smoking, this should be it. The man is lucky to be alive."
Isn't this a better reason to stop drinking? After all, jumping out of a car to retrieve a piece of nicotine gum is pretty dangerous too.
Foiled Again
"A home in Sacramento's south Natomas neighborhood is surrounded by sheet metal, and neighbors are calling it an eyesore," reports KCRA-TV from California's capital:
The D'Souza family lives in the home on Timberwood Court, and claims the aluminium pieces are necessary to protect them from unknown neighbors who have been bombarding them with radio waves and making them sick. . . .
"Eleven years in Sacramento and few other years in Southern California and this is the first time I've ever seen (anything like this). The inside of the house is also covered with foil and the beds are covered with a foil-like material as well," Sacramento Code Enforcement spokesman Josh Pino said.
Meanwhile Sandy Wold--who wrote an anti-Semitic New Age Mother's Day column for the Ithaca Journal, then apologized for it--is back. This past Saturday she had another Journal column, this one much more even-handed:
The situation in Israel is without a doubt extremely complex, and I do not believe anyone can mediate a long-lasting peace agreement until more of us in the world address the polarization of issues caused by our biases, opinions and judgments. I believe that when enough of us on the planet share and maintain a "pure" thought-form around peace that harmonizes with each other, everyone on neighboring "islands" and neighboring countries will start to share and practice the same thought-form. This is my understanding of how the "Hundredth Monkey" phenomenon or "global consciousness" works. I think that behaviors such as "fighting for peace," arguing, advising, debating, protesting, blaming and name-calling are distracting us from doing our inner work to resolve our inner turmoil.
Ultimately, I think that our power is within, that each of our truths will help us co-evolve exponentially, and that solutions to complex issues and world peace will come when enough of us have found an authentic inner peace and sense of well-being.
It's certainly nice to see the Sandstress come forward with some practical, constructive suggestions. |
