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Politics : Bush Administration's Media Manipulation--MediaGate? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (3396)	5/25/2005 1:00:48 PM
From: Raymond Duray	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9838

JUDGES: Just when we thought it was safe to go back in the water..... tinyurl.com Frist's Bait and Switch Shortly after the announcement of a compromise on judicial nominations, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) indicated he would respect the agreement. On the floor of the Senate, Frist said, "we all ... have a role to play in ensuring its cherished nature remains intact. And, indeed, as demonstrated by tonight’s agreement and by the ultimate implementation of that agreement, we have done just that." In public yesterday, he urged quick votes on the three nominees the group of 14 senators pledged not to filibuster. Privately, however, he was pursuing a much different strategy. As part of the compromise, negotiators agreed that two judicial nominees - William G. Myers and Henry Saad - “will be filibustered or withdrawn.” Nevertheless, according to a report in Congress Daily PM, Frist "will file for cloture on President Bush’s nomination of William Myers to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later this week." The move is designed to test "the resolve of 14 Republican and Democratic senators" who signed the deal. GRAHAM AND DEWINE TRY TO REWRITE THE DEAL, PART I: As Frist tries to destroy the deal, others are attempting to rewrite it. Yesterday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), one of the signatories of the compromise, said, "If there's a filibuster for a Supreme Court nominee in the future, where one of the seven Democrats who signed the letter participates [in the filibuster], all bets are off." The Hill reports that Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH) joined Graham in "threatening to vote for the [nuclear] option should Democrats attempt to block nominees in circumstances that the two lawmakers would not consider 'extraordinary.'" But that's not what they agreed to on Monday. According to the text of the memorandum of understanding, Graham and DeWine agreed not to vote for the nuclear option during the 109th Congress, "in light of the spirit and continuing commitments made in this agreement." The senators have committed to filibuster a Supreme Court nominee only in "extreme circumstance," not as defined by Lindsey Graham and Mike DeWine, but as defined by their "own discretion and judgment." As long everyone excises their discretion in good faith, Graham and DeWine would violate the agreement if he voted for the nuclear option during the 109th Congress. GRAHAM TRIES TO REWRITE THE DEAL, PART II: Sen. Graham is starting to distort the terms of the deal on Monday night. Appearing on Hardball, Graham said, "the deal is that five nominees who have been filibustered will get an up-or-down vote and some will be confirmed and some won't." Actually, the deal only provides that three nominees who have been filibustered will get a vote. But who's counting? IT'S THE CONSULTATION, STUPID: The future of the agreement lies not in Congress, but in the White House. The deal encourages the president "to consult with members of the Senate, both Democratic and Republican, prior to submitting a judicial nomination to the Senate for consideration." If the president follows through with that suggestion "he will be less likely to nominate judges on the far political right," making their bipartisan confirmation more likely. Nevertheless, the Washington Post reports, "for all the appeals for bipartisan harmony, Bush is unlikely to nominate a consensus justice." A senior administration told the Post that Bush is "not going to shy away" from a fight. The story didn’t mention if the anonymous official still considered Bush to be “a uniter not a divider.”