The American Spectator

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(Page 6 of 10)

/p> p> It kind of looks like it is time to call Mr. Reid's bluff. Do you remember what happened when the Republicans shut down the government? Well, the shoe is on the other foot now, and Mr. Reid and his friends had better start packing their bags. If they lose this one, they will be put in the box of irrelevancy for the next year and a half, or quite possibly the next three and a half years. br> -- Sid Morris /p> p> One correction in this story. Sixty votes are not required for confirmation. Sixty votes are required for "cloture." It seems to add legitimacy to a Democrat filibuster to forestall a "vote" on the candidate. Harry Reid is doing nothing less than fighting against taking a vote, either in the Senate, or in the committee. Incidentally, Rush had it right yesterday: It's not a nuclear option; it's a "constitutional" option for a simple majority to affirm. br> -- G.B. Hall br> Marietta, Georgia /p> p> I find it extraordinary that the issue of judicial nomination confirmations is being reported completely incorrectly. Even you speak of the Republicans changing parliamentary procedure to require a simple majority instead of sixty votes to confirm a judge, but that is what the Constitution requires. It is the Democrats who introduced unconstitutional practices, with their so-called "filibusters," not the Republicans, who should insist that the Constitution be followed. Furthermore, if the Democrats want to threaten a "filibuster," then they should be forced to make good on their threat, or back down. That means that they really conduct a filibuster, with one of them speaking for hours and hours on end, as was done by such leading Democrats as the late Senator Gore of Tennessee in an attempt to kill off the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It is about time that the Republican majority started conducting itself as the majority. br> -- W. B. Heffernan, Jr. /p> p> The Democrats need not worry about the Republicans exercising the nuclear option. Their clay feet, the half dozen "moderate" Republican Senators, and their liberal media masters will once again cower the Republican majority. I would happily be proven wrong on this prediction. Furthermore the topic of the luncheon was probably more to do with the publicity fallout aspect and not the principle for exercising the option. In the end a deal will probably be struck with the minority party to avoid using a sure fire strategy and once again the Republican Senate will resemble a box of frightened felines. Good grief Charley Brown!

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