The Truth On Filibustering
Hugh Hewitt, has an excellent article today entitled, Old Media tries to cover the radicalism of Senate Democrats. That article does an excellent job of describing the “smoke and mirrors” of MSM, and their reasons for trying to provide a cover for their favorite political party. As for the reason to gloss over the Democrat obstructionism of the judicial nominees, he writes this:
“The reason the Post and others in old media refuse to tell this story in an objective way is because it throws a harsh light on their favored party. (See Patterico for one example of how the Los Angeles Times twists the facts.) But ignoring the history doesn’t change the history (Daly Thoughts has a lot of the history) and intoning that a Republican majority blocked 60 of Clinton’s judges in committee doesn’t change the history of the filibuster. Every single story like this one should rekindle the GOP’s commitment to new media, and the Democrats despair that the press monopoly they long enjoyed is shattered beyond repair. “
As to the truth of what is taking place Mr. Hewitt writes this:
“There would be no need to invoke the constitutional option had the Democrats refrained from disfiguring the filibuster, or at least had used it with caution on one or perhaps two instances. The root of the problem is that the left has come to rely on the power of judges to enforce its agenda –one which cannot pass through the Congress– and thus needs to protect “their” branch from the restraint that center-right judges would bring. For that reason, the left has consistently attempted to redefine what is the “mainstream” and to demand that any nominee to an appellate bench be within its definition of “mainstream.” Two successive sets of Senate elections have been fought over the Democrats’ dramatic escalation of the confirmation wars, and the GOP has decisively won both rounds, moving from a minority of one to a majority of 10. Now there is a demand from that majority for a return to the Senate tradition, and if the Democrats refuse and the Chair is forced to rule the filibuster out of order and the Chair is in turn supported by a majority of the senate, any “damage” done to the Senate as an institution will surely be the responsibility of a desperate and wildly ideological caucus of left-wing Democrats who decided in early 2003 that they would embrace all-out partisan war over appellate nominees rather than upset their task-masters in the People for the American Way, the Alliance for Justice etc.”
The rhetoric spewed by Senate Democrats, will only get worse the longer this confrontation drags out. MSM as willing accomplices, will continue to provide more cover to protect the minority rule of the Democrats. “Nervous Nellie” Republicans will only become more nervous. These results make it even more difficult for the public to distinguish who is telling the truth.
The best thing for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to do, is pull the trigger on the Nuclear-Constitutional-Byrd option, thereby restoring constitutionality to this process, and do it now!
