Senate Repukes Cave! We won! We won!

[IStriker]

Evidently Frist was unable to muster the 51 votes needed to stop the fillibuster against judicial nominees because all he did was threaten that the Repukes MIGHT have to do something at some later date if we insist on fillibustering *'s nominees.

He will now need 60 votes to do that later on and if he had even 51, he would have done it today.

I told you they would cave and the other day I got ripped up one side and down the other because some DUers thought we would cave.

[Emboldened Chimp]

1. Whoa! Who helped our side?

[IStriker]

7. Nobody helped us.

Frist gave a speech to open the senate and said he was not going to take a vote and just threatened us and offered a truce hoping we would not fillibuster judicial nominees. You know damned well if he'd had 51 votes to stop us, he would have. If he'd had 51 to stop us in the last senate, he would have!

[papau]

15. A US media/GOP lie-plan is to rule from the chair that filibuster doesn't

apply to advise and consent

It can be done at anytime. At least the GOP SAID they could at anytime last year - perhaps they have a new parlimentarian this year with the ethics to say that they can't?

Or perhaps It is like the "cave" on the House Ethics rules that put a new rule out rather than change the old rules - namely a new rule that a House Ethics complaint can not move forward without at least one of the 3 GOP votes on the committee

The old 3 to 3 tie no longer means move forward - Delay is safe.

And Delay says he is safe from the only remaining danger - the inditement rule - because he has a lock on no action in Texas.

[IStriker]

21. Reid has already warned them that we will shut down the senate if...

they do this - no budget, no nothing. They don't have the balls to do this and take the heat from the press. This is the senate we're talking about, not the house. The house is hopeless; forget it. But we can block anything and everything in the senate. AND we can make them put good judges on the courts.

[papau]

24. I might begin to like Reid! :-) n/t

n/t

[trogdor]

25. Maybe because he realizes that...

..."working with the Republicans" requires Republicans working with him.

Frist: "Oh, shit! This guy remembers what the word 'bipartisan' really means!"

[w4rma]

35. No. We can't make them put good judges on the courts.

We can only prevent a few of the very very worst judges from being placed on the courts.

[IStriker]

38. And at some point, they will give up and settle for someone acceptable...

After they fight a couple of big battles and lose, they will send up somebody like Souter. He is maybe the 2nd best appointment to the court in recent times. I would put Ginzburg as better, but I'm not certain that he isn't better than Breyer. They will now be forced to put someone on there acceptable to us or PUT NO ONE ON THE COURT. And they will find someone just like Souter that doesn't have any paper trail, but everybody except their voters know exactly what he is so they can feign surprise when he is a progressive.

[w4rma]

39. Bush just renominated practically all 20 or so that Dems stopped.

That shows that they don't give a flip what anyone else thinks, they'll FORCE them through.

To keep things in perspective, they've put over 200 judges on benches that Dems have NOT filibustered.

[IStriker]

43. They CAN'T force them through. We can just fillibuster any or all again...

Let Chimp send them up again after that and again after that. They are going nowhere. They blew it. Yesterday was their ONLY opportunity to stop us. What is so hard to understand about this? Reid said he planned to play hardball and all we have to do is keep cheering them on.

[w4rma]

44. Two words: Interim appointment (nt)

[IStriker]

46. He can give them all temporary jobs, but they all end up OUT at the end...

of the session. Do you think he's a big enough fool to put someone temporarily on the SC? No, they will deal when we dig in our heels and they will come up with a liberal justice, not even a moderate one.

[w4rma]

47. A liberal justice? LOL! Give me toke of whatever you are smoking. (nt)

[IStriker]

48. What would you call Souter? Conservative? Come on...

He's the first gay justice that I know of and the only person put on the court in the last 15 yrs. to the left of him is Ginzburg.

[crispini]

54. No shit, really, Reid said "shut down the Senate?"

A MAN WITH BALLS! Woohoo!

Ok, floaty hearts for Reid. :loveya:

[ConservativeDemocrat]

20. Answer: GOP Senators

Removing the ability to filibuster is a major power shift from the Senate to the Presidency. It means that a President with a bare majority can do whatever the hell he wants.

Believe it or not, there are many Republican Senators who are very much opposed to this idea. Not all of them have drunk Bush's cool-aid.

In fact, with his approval ratings where they are, some of them are getting pretty nervous.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[Pirate Smile]

2. Link? Watching C-span? Where are you getting this?

[bobbieinok]

3. more info, please....who voted how? .... or a link

[IStriker]

8. There was NO VOTE TAKEN. The Repukes didn't have 51 or...

there would have been a vote to stop us, not just threats to behave ourselves.

[rednitej]

4. have a link?

n/t

[IStriker]

10. Frist Caves on Fillibuster Rule Change for Judicial Nominees...

from Human Events Online by Robert B. Bluey

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=6200

[Jo March]

5. Link? Please?

I love it when Frist loses.

He's a darn CAT KILLER!!!!

[elshiva]

58. A Cat Killer?

This is getting bad. The Hamsters For Kerry said Dubya was a hamster killer...Now Frist a cat killer! I invoke the protection of St Gertrude of Nivelles, patron saint of cats, for all felines against Frist. What is it with Republicans killing small animals?

[WLKjr]

6. Good.

All of those nominees, if you wish to call them that, are flaming piles of shit to me, and not worthy of any office in the US governent. Damn ingrates.

[Gloria]

9. I wouldn't be so sure...maybe the threats and offer of a "truce"

is just a setup...as in, "we tried to work with Democrats, but they won't" so we'll have to screw them on the filibuster.

I bet this comes up again at the appropriate moment.

Look at what happened with the ethics "back off" in the House. According to the USA Today reporter on CSpan at the House, the GOP planned to put through OTHER rules that would basically let sr. members off the ethics hook, thus pretty much off-setting the original rules that were "shelved."

She said she expected some "wrangling" (her word)(debate) on this which would be unusual for a first day...was there any? I don't know...if not, if it was introduced then it was done under everyone's noses.

Now, if it's unusual to have any sort of partisan "wrangling" the first day in the House, then I bet it is in the Senate as well....and Frist's pronuncements are a prelude of things to come and NOT an indicator that we won anything....


THIS JUST IN: Orenstein on the Lehrer News Hour just described what the GOP did and guess what?? EVERY GOP member voted for the redone rules, and every Dem voted against it.

[IStriker]

12. All the talk until he gave his speech was that he was going to...

take a vote when the senate organized today and put an end to the fillibuster of judicial nominees. Evidently with 55 senators, he could NOT come up with 51 votes. Those Repukes sure have great discipline!! So he just threatened us that he could change it later if we fillibustered and gave the excuse that he wanted to give us a chance to work together in a bipartisan manner, blah, blah, blah. If he wants to change the rules later on, he needs 60 votes to do that.

[shance]

11. I hope we don't consider a potentially robbery a "victory".

We need to get off of the 'breadcrumb' wagon folks and realize we need to focused on the gravy train of whats ours by LAW!!!

This isnt a victory.

This is a bullshit shakedown where they are trying to rob us of the bottom floor.

Not a time to celebrate. Its a time to say YOU TRY AND TAKE OUR FILIBUSTER!!

[IStriker]

14. It is a victory. THEY CAVED just like they always do...

It would take 75 or 85 Repukes to get 51 votes to pass this. There are bunches of Repuke Senators who pretend to be "pro-life" because it gets them elected in red states, but they don't want any changes on the court except maybe for it to get more liberal. They just don't want to be challenged on this and have to go on record. I wish there was a way to get them to take a vote so the Repuke voters could flush them out and they'd be so mad they'd get rid of them at the next opportunity.

[robbedvoter]

18. Good point.

But people think that W won, so they can think this is a victory....
reality is too dark to face for some. And more thing: it's not "4 more years of bush" - but 1000 years of BFEE.

[Mr.Green93]

13. We Own them.

They have no balls. Nothing will get done unless we want it done. Can you say Lame Duck?

[IStriker]

16. EXACTLY!

They are totally neutered and this is a big indication that we may have lost seats, but we have not lost the upper hand. If Reid is as smart as Daschall was, he will be running Frist just like Daschall did.

[AussieDave]

17. It ain't over until the Dems get at least 51 Senators, folks

- Frist backed down for now, but reserved the right to "bring it on" later. Whether he actually does try later on is anyone's guess - these right-wing religio-crazies will do or say anything under the guise of moderation and reason.

Here's Frist's speech from his Senate website:

http://frist.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Speeches.Detail&Speech_id=129

[IStriker]

22. There is NO WAY we will not pick up seats in '06...

This will drive the conservatives up the wall. They've been screwed again by their our Pukes! You will see such a teeny turnout to vote next election from them, we're going to pick up seats in red states just as long as we keep them cowering and scared of what we will do if they don't leave things just like they are.

[Pepperbelly]

19. The few level headed among them realize that today's majority might be ...

tomorrow's minority.

[IStriker]

23. We should be celebrating. This is an excellent omen as to how...

the next two years will go and after that we're going to be on our way back to majority status in the senate. All we need is for Reid to hold the line.

[mattclearing]

26. We better celebrate!

This is great news. It is so depressing to find ourselves on the short end lately. Better make it count when we get something worth celebrating.

:toast: :party: :bounce: :dunce: :toast: :party: :bounce: :dunce: :toast: :party: :bounce: :dunce: :toast: :party: :bounce: :dunce: :toast: :party: :bounce: :dunce: :toast: :party: :bounce: :dunce: :toast: :party: :bounce: :dunce: :toast: :party: :bounce: :dunce: :toast: :party: :bounce: :dunce: :toast: :party: :bounce: :dunce: :toast: :party: :bounce: :dunce: :toast: :party: :bounce: :dunce: :toast: :party: :bounce: :dunce: :toast: :party: :bounce: :dunce: :toast: :party: :bounce: :dunce:

[kentuck]

27. We won nothing.

They are planning their battles. They still have Social Security and other issues to fight over. No use to spend their capital at this moment. They have not caved - they have only postponed for what they think is a more opportune time...

[mattclearing]

28. The fact that the postponed it means they couldn't have done it

and everything else they wanted to at the same time. If they could have done both, we know they would have.

[kentuck]

29. at this moment....i

But they still have the majority and they can call the vote anytime they have adequately twisted enough arms...They control the agenda.

[mattclearing]

30. Hey, any excuse to celebrate is a good one lately.

I don't dispute the truth of your statements. I still think people should appreciate it when good things happen.

[IStriker]

40. Yes, it looks like they have a majority, but there are 8 or 9 senators...

maybe more, that they can't control. They are "independent operators" who will vote with us enough so we can control the agenda even if we can't set it. We can fillibuster anything because they don't have 51 votes to stop us let alone 60 votes to cut off a fillibuster. We are in the driver's seat because those fools have let us take over and this move (not stopping the fillibuster by changing the rules) is sure to provoke their voters enough for them to sit out '06 and give us an opportunity to get back in control. Nothing like having "a little help from 'your friends.'"

[IStriker]

33. They have caved. WE WON on the matter of judicial nominees...

What is wrong with some of you? There will be NO nominee to the Supreme Court that we don't approve of. We should be rejoicing about this and trying to pick off some of the Repukes who would not back Frist for the other battles, but this is the biggest battle and WE WON!

[knight_of_the_star]

57. For the record

Hitler "postponed" Sea Lion.

[itcfish1]

31. I am Lost

Dam I am dense. I just don't understand it.

[IStriker]

34. You don't understand what? That the Repukes have no balls?

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[IStriker]

36. I don't understand what is wrong with some. Do they want to be down...

no matter how good the news is? That's all I can figure. If we don't own both houses and the WH and all 9 SC seats, they have something to bitch and moan about.

[Name removed]

59. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[w4rma]

37. Things ARE changing. In the same way that a live frog is boiled. (nt)

[IStriker]

41. If you mean slow steady progress, yes...

We have hit bottom and we're turning it around. '06 will be a very good year for us.

[w4rma]

42. That's not what I mean at all. I don't see how you can be so nonchalant

about what is going on in our country, right now, either.

[IStriker]

45. I am not nonchalant, but I KNOW good news when I see it...

I came here all down and depressed looking for consolation after the election, but I refuse to stay down when things have turned around. The Repukes have just handed us our ticket to get back into the game. They have cut their own voters off at the knees (and believe me they will notice sooner or later) and all we have to do is get to work on the next election to take advantage of the gift they have given us.

[rockymountaindem]

49. I'll agree that this is good news for us legislatively

but electorally it will mean nothing. You say their voters will notice eventually, but I think not. Our work is cut out for us in any election, as is the case for any party, so I won't fall for that "the next election will be a cakewalk" rhetoric again.

That said I'll take whatever good news I can get. This tidbit along with that good grade on an exam I got today have me in pretty good spirits!

[IStriker]

50. Are you kidding me that conservatives won't notice they caved?

The cultural conservatives only came out of the woodwork (like the Amish and Menonites the Repukes registered in Ohio) because they were promised that there would be anti-abortion nominees put on the Supreme Court. These first time voters will be last time voters when they get screwed. They are one issue voters and Frist shoved it to them via the backdoor yesterday. In addition to them, you have all those other fundies who have been voting election after election with the promise of ultra-conservative nominees. I can hardly wait to see the explosion when they get wind of what happened, not to mention the fun of seeing their reaction of being "had" again when they get that long-awaited nominee who turns out to be another stealth liberal!

The Repukes have handed us house and senate seats in '06. And you had better give Reid credit too because he is dug in just like he said he would be and he's got all our shakey guys from the red states standing in line and not breaking ranks.

[rockymountaindem]

52. Good for Reid, but I still don't think this will erode the Republican base

It's been over 30 years since Roe v. Wade was passed, and the evangelicals et. al. continue to vote Republican in the hopes of getting their agenda passed. The fact that the Republicans have been in control for at least half that time and haven't done anything about Roe hasn't stopped the evangelicals from voting Republican. Hope springs eternal, as they say. If we oppose them, the Republicans will just use it as more fodder to prove why evangelicals should vote for them, and kick more of our reps. out. They'll just keep thinking that "if I vote Republican this time, it'll work". As Einstein said, "stupidity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result". I don't think this will give us an advantage. Republicans have been selling out the evangelicals for years, and the only people who don't notice are the evangelicals.

[DaedelusNemo]

53. Some notice - it's about turnout, not changing allegiance /nt

[IStriker]

55. These are ONE issue voters and when they see payoffs to everyone...

except them, there will be BIG problems inside their party. These are people who have been told repeatedly to sit down, shut up, go to the back of the bus and don't let anybody see you, and if you behave, we will deliver. I don't think they're going to wait any longer. When they find out that they had the votes (they really don't, but the fundies think they should) and they still did nothing to stop us, they are through sitting still. They have been waiting 30 yrs., just like you said, waiting for that payoff that never comes, and there isn't going to be any excuse that can paper over this faux paus. When they find out about this, all the air is going to go out of that balloon in a hurry. These are the people who carry out the ground war to get their voters to the polls. They do all the heavy lifting. Just think what it would do if our party decided we should drop the pro-choice position. Think how damaging it would be as far as enthusiasm is concerned.

[Name removed]

60. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[buddhamama]

51. excellent news !

cheers :toast:

[linus]

56. majority

The only way that the dems get back to be the majority or get back any seats in the congress or senate is to make sure that the election voting machines are fixed. Fixed, I mean by having a paper ballot in the following states:

Florida
Ohio
New Mexico
Texas

Also get Delay out of congress and put back Texas the way it was before they redistricted it 10 years to early.

Just me observations.

:) :) :) :)

[DemocracyInaction]

61. Snow...Collins...Chafee, etc.

Before we pop the corks and pour the bubbly let us remember that our great accomplishments rest solely in the hands of a few REPUBLICAN Senators. As long as they remember "where they came from" (i.e., non-Repbulican states that don't swallow Bushshit and where they are elected because Dems cross over for them)we will look like tigers. If they are "pressured" or get on one too many airplanes, then we become paper tigers once again..............