WP: Frist Likely to Push for Ban on Filibusters

[Pirate Smile]

Frist Likely to Push for Ban on Filibusters
Failure Risks Conservatives' Ire; Success May Prompt Legislative Stalemate

By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 15, 2005; Page A04

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is all but certain to press for a rule change that would ban filibusters of judicial nominations in the next few weeks, despite misgivings by some of his fellow Republicans and a possible Democratic backlash that could paralyze the chamber, close associates said yesterday.

The strategy carries significant risks for the Tennessee Republican, who is weighing a 2008 presidential bid. It could embroil the Senate in a bitter stalemate that would complicate passage of President Bush's agenda and raise questions about Frist's leadership capabilities. Should he fail to make the move or to get the necessary votes, however, Frist risks the ire of key conservative groups that will play big roles in the 2008 GOP primaries.

Frist feels he has no acceptable options to seeking the rule change unless there is a last-minute compromise, which neither party considers plausible, according to senators and aides close to the situation. "I think it's going to happen," Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said this week, although he would prefer that Frist wait to allow more legislation to pass before the Senate explodes in partisan recriminations. Aides privy to senior Republicans' thinking concur with Thune.

In response to the rising stakes and sense of an inevitable showdown, Frist and his allies are churning out speeches, articles and talking points, and enlisting the aid of Ed Gillespie, former chairman of the National Republican Committee. Frist said he is trying to catch up to Democrats and their allies, who set up a Capitol "war room" and are spending millions of dollars on TV ads denouncing the proposed rule change -- or "nuclear option" -- as a power grab.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54661-2005Apr14.html

This seems to fit with this thread

Frist Set to Join Religious Effort on Judicial Issue
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

Published: April 15, 2005

WASHINGTON, April 14 - As the Senate heads toward a showdown over the rules governing judicial confirmations, Senator Bill Frist, the majority leader, has agreed to join a handful of prominent Christian conservatives in a telecast portraying Democrats as "against people of faith" for blocking President Bush's nominees.

Fliers for the telecast, organized by the Family Research Council and scheduled to originate at a Kentucky megachurch the evening of April 24, call the day "Justice Sunday" and depict a young man holding a Bible in one hand and a gavel in the other. The flier does not name participants, but under the heading "the filibuster against people of faith," it reads: "The filibuster was once abused to protect racial bias, and it is now being used against people of faith."

snip

"As the liberal, anti-Christian dogma of the left has been repudiated in almost every recent election, the courts have become the last great bastion for liberalism," Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council and organizer of the telecast, wrote in a message on the group's Web site. "For years activist courts, aided by liberal interest groups like the A.C.L.U., have been quietly working under the veil of the judiciary, like thieves in the night, to rob us of our Christian heritage and our religious freedoms."

More

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/15/politics/15judges.htm...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?
az=view_all&address=102x1395863

Hmmm, I wonder who Frist is counting on to win him the Republican Presidential nomination? :think:

edit to add: From the NYT article - Thank you for this quote Sen. McCain, perhaps we could use it in some commercials.

"On Thursday, one wavering Republican, Senator John McCain of Arizona, told the television interviewer Chris Matthews that he would vote against the change.

"By the way, when Bill Clinton was president, we, effectively, in the Judiciary Committee blocked a number of his nominees," Mr. McCain said.

[Erika]

1. Picture him at the humane shelter "I will love that cat"

He claims to wish to adopt a cat in good faith to give it a good home. Then he performs medical experiments on it. Just your everyday Republican brand of Christian.

[Rex_Goodheart]

5. Wha? wha? wha?

Frist really did that? OK... googling.

[Lochloosa]

9. Here is the link

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20021231-071056-3546r

[stevedeshazer]

2. Political hari-kari

The Radical Right is keeping the pressure up for Frist's self-disembowelment as the next GOP nominee.

The good news is that Frist is cooperating!

[TahitiNut]

3. Well, seppuku is a part of the BUSHido code.

The resemblance between an honorable tradition and the honorless Bushoilini regime is, however, totally non-existent. Even so, let me be the first to volunteer to be a kaishakunin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seppuku

[stevedeshazer]

4. I see the difference

From your link:

Seppuku was traditionally used as the ultimate protest when one's own morals stood in the way of executing an order from the master. It was also permissible as a form of repentance when one had committed an unforgivable sin, either by accident or on purpose.

=========================================================================

Frist's actions are pretty much the opposite of that which was considered honorable.

[Hand]

12. Hmm...

Death by Wonga Wonga would be more a appropriate way for this pious asshat to make amends... :evilgrin:

[NVMojo]

6. So is anyone inside the Dem Party working on research to dig up

the bones on the Frist family robinson so we can out this greedy fecker for what he really is???

[truthisfreedom]

7. this is just rove floating an idea to see what the reaction is.

he's measuring the tempurature... and he'll make a deadly mistake when he misreads a bored public reaction and says "go" to the filibuster block... and then all hell will break loose. watch and enjoy!

[arwalden]

8. Because This Only Benefits The Majority...

... you can rest assured that as soon as the Repubes are in the minority, they will wail and moan and whine and complain like mad at how UNFAIR such a measure is.

[bkcc]

13. If and when that ever happens again...

I seriously hope the Dems have learned a lesson and stop playing nice.
The next time they have power in Washington, they need to stomp on the Republicans' heads.

[Mountainman]

10. There is the alternative world were judges that both parties can agree on

exist.

But that is not what the fundies want so we won't go there. Maybe some of the more practical repukes will see what their party has come to when it is stuck in the extreme right position and can't move back.

[JRob]

11. THE DEBATE IS OVER

THE DEBATE IS OVER
Forget your party alignment, be an American and protect our freedom

If recent actions by our Government can be viewed as an erosion of our Democracy, then the Filibuster issue or "nuclear option" should be characterized as a landslide.

This is bad for everyone, giving direct power to a select few. If you believe that this power will not be abused, that they will not use it to perpetuate their own control over this country for years to come, wake up!

The people of America need to unite (Republicans and Democrats) and see this Administration, the House and Senate for what they really are: Opportunists that are working rapidly to undermine the power of the people regardless of your party affiliation. Whether it’s Bankruptcy, Social Security Reform, the Inheritance Tax, stacking the deck at the UN and World Bank, Government produced “News” aired as real news or the lowering Governmental ethical standards to protect one man etc. how is our Government representing our best interest? What will any of these things do for us? A select few are setting the stage for never needing to be accountable to anyone ever again and least of all the common people of this country.

Try setting aside party devotion long enough to examine closely the implications of the issues. I see a lot of this in terms of how it impacts all of us, Americans that don’t make millions and depend on a reasonable Government to protect them and their access to the "American Dream" whatever that is... Radicals on both sides dominate the debate. Pundits and the Corporate Media promote anger and/or indifference; they are predominately responsible for the division that’s taking National focus off of what really matters while inspiring hatred among our population.

Debate, diversity, checks and balances have been instrumental in making us the most powerful Nation in the World. And while Americans on both sides of the political argument generally have an interest in fixing the game to favor their beliefs, what is being missed by America is that our Government is fixing the game to exclude Americans.

Call, write or email your Senator and voice your opposition to this assault on our Democracy while we still have one…

Filibuster and Cloture background

http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Filibuster_Cloture.htm