Huffington: Will The GOP Nuke The Constitution?

[Robbien]

Right now, somewhere in the White House, administration strategists are hatching plans to go to war. Battle plans are being drawn. Timing and tactics are being finalized. A nuclear option is even being openly discussed.

The designated target? Iran? Syria? North Korea?

No, much closer to home: the United States Senate.

Salivating at the chance to radically remake the Supreme Court, the president and his loyal lapdogs in the World's Most Exclusive Club are plotting to obliterate over 200 years of Senate tradition by eliminating the use of filibusters against judicial nominees.

The Robert's Rules of Disorder scheme would involve — who else? — Vice President Dick Cheney, in his role as presiding Senate officer, ruling that judicial filibusters are unconstitutional and Majority Leader Bill Frist squashing the Democrats' inevitable objection to such an edict by tabling the motion. As long as we're "spreading democracy" abroad, no reason to leave out the home front, right?

This is the so-called "nuclear option," embraced with a wink and a nudge by Frist in November when he told the conservative Federalist Society: "One way or another, the filibuster of judicial nominees must end."

http://www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_16462.shtml

[beam me up scottie]

1. I just got a chill down my spine. seriously.

[secedeeconomically]

2. This country is going down the toilet

And the main turds are Bush, Cheney and Frist

[fryguy]

3. it scares the crap out of me....

just thinking about what will happen to the court and the administration of the government under the current leadership.

i guess this complete disregard to history and legal precedent should be expected from president who barely made it through business school and a senate leader who's only leasson in the law was being on the receiving end of medical malpractice suits....

[rkc3]

4. We can only hope we get to use this in 2008.

Much more hope is needed to ensure no one resigns from or dies while on the bench.

[AndyTiedye]

5. If That Happens, It's All Over

The Dominion takeover of the US will then be complete and irreversible.

At this point I don't see anything that can stop them.

Don't hold out any hopes for 2008. It will be even more stolen
than this year's election was.

[Robbien]

6. Her solution is for the Dems to get out there and educate the public

How in heck could they do that since the Democrats do not have a spin machine and the global capitalists have a lock on the so called liberal media. Until the Democrats get some kind of media system going their messages will being going nowhere, just as they have been for the last four years.

[indepat]

7. The GOP has already nuked the Constitution with the Patriot Act et al

[Mike C]

8. I don't get it.

Does the President of the Senate have the power to declare the rules of the Senate void ? I don't think he does. I know for certain the President of the Senate doesn't have the power to declare anything unconstitutional. The filibuster rule of the Senate is de facto and de jure constitutional (see Article 1, Section 5, Clause 2). And if the Senate did away with the filibuster rule, that too would be constitutional. This whole issue seems constructed of hype to me.

[Blue Wally]

10. No

The filibuster/cloture rule is not in the Constitution, it is in the procedural rules the Senate has established for itself. Originally, cloture required a two-thirds vote. Some time back (when liberals controlled the Senate) it was changed to a 60% vote to stop consrvative obstruction. Now the conservatives want to change cloture to 51%. I agree that it certainly would put us at a disadvantage, but it is hardly unconstitutional.

[Skittles]

9. they nuked the Constitution

they day they stole the 2000 election and installed that piece of shit into the White House