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If you’re a Republican…

Posted by Richard on April 15, 2005

… or generally more sympathetic to Republicans than Democrats, or a Libertarian who’s angry about this "living Constitution" crap, go right now to read Captain Ed’s rant about the Republicans’ handling of the judicial confirmation standoff. Then, go to Hugh Hewitt and read everything he’s posted in the past couple of days. This is getting ridiculous.

The Dems keep citing the couple of hundred Bush appointments who’ve been confirmed. But that’s pure obfuscation, since the vast majority of those are trial court judges, and who cares about them? The fact is that the Dems have blocked (by merely threatening to filibuster) almost a third of Bush’s appeals court nominations.

And the Republicans have trembled and quaked. If we’re confrontational, there goes all hope of compromise and congeniality. The Senate is a club. We have to get along. The Dems will "get along" with you only as long as you bend over for them. Where are your cojones? But the mainstream media will portray us as the bad guys. And since when do they not? Learn to bypass them; alternative media exist. But I won’t be invited to appear on the Sunday talk shows as often, and I’ll be dropped from some of the tony D.C. parties. Is that all that matters to you, you contemptible piece of shit??

I’m beyond disgusted. The Dems are rewriting the Constitution to require a super-majority for confirmation of Presidential appointments, and the R’s are tiptoeing around on this issue. If the Dems succeed, the whole idea of interpreting the Constitution according to its literal meaning or the original intent will be forever painted as crazed, out-of-the-mainstream lunatic thinking. Because that’s really their basis for rejecting these nominees.

I agree with Hewitt: this is the most important domestic issue facing the Senate in many years. As he says:

The Senate GOP is destroying itself, and it does not appear to be aware of the fact.  They think they are losing a public relations war with the media elite when in fact they are losing something far more critical –the allegiance of their base.

More importantly, they’re surrendering in perhaps the most important ideological battle of the past half century. If Bush is unable to break the Dems on this one, he either won’t get a Supreme Court appointment at all (in eight years!) or he’ll have to fold and nominate a "moderate," meaning someone significantly to the left of Rehnquist. Since Rehnquist is likely the first vacancy, this means the court will move significantly to the left if the Senate Republicans don’t win this battle.

If your’e a Colorado resident, write and call Sen. Salazar. During the campaign, he said that all judicial nominees deserved an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor. Remind him of that and insist that he stick to it. Everybody, Colorado or not, should write and call the Republican wobblies — Alexander, Chafee, Collins, Hagel, Snowe, Sununu and Warner. 

Don’t just email, they pretty much ignore that. Write a real letter and/or call. So you’re not a constituent? Never mind, talk money. Tell them that if they don’t back their president on this issue, you’ll donate money to whoever opposes them, primary or general election, in the future.

Also, contact McCain, who’s already bailed on this issue, and totally unload on him. With the wobblies, it’s best to be firm, but polite. With McCain, forget polite.

As Captain Ed says:

To hell with Frist, to hell with Thune, and to hell with the GOP if they wait until the session is half-over before finding their spine or other significant parts of their anatomy. The GOP campaigned on judicial nominations as the second-highest priority for the Senate, and the electorate rewarded them with a healthy gain of four seats, remarkable for an election in which the incumbent president won by a tight margin. …

What has this bunch of Republican milquetoasts done? Nothing.

Why? Apparently, they’ve changed their priorities since the election. No longer are judicial nominations the leading priority. In fact, they’ve done everything they can to backpedal from the frightening spectre of Harry Reid, for Pete’s sake. Now they claim that they want to pass as much legislation as they can before the vote on nominations comes up … meaning that the judges are actually the lowest priority for Frist and his band of merry cowards.

I’m with Captain Ed. Normally, I don’t contribute to any Senate candidates, and most of the exceptions have been Libertarians. But I intend to let the "wobbly" Republicans — Alexander, Chafee, Collins, Hagel, Snowe, Sununu, and Warner — know that, if they don’t support simple majority consent on judicial appointments, I’ll be contributing to their future opponents, whoever they may be.

This is getting ridiculous.

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