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January 18, 2005

Comments

Torrid

I hope they're listening. Nice call to arms.

Tom

Excellent. If not Gonzales, who, and when?

I think the left is still trying to gauge the political climate and get their bearings in this new environment. Unfortunately, the Bushies are going to ram through as much as they can before the Dems marshall their strength and grow a backbone. Boxer and Leahy seem to be the lone wolves right now, will anyone join them? Why has Kerry hightailed it out of the limelight? Obama capitalizing on his national mojo? Hillary? Schumer? Come on guys, WAKE UP!

I keep thinking there will be a stand made at some point...perhaps not on Gonzales but it most definitely will have to come when it is time to vote on federal court appointees.

Zap

Well, today the Dems have asked for a week before commencing with confirmation. I guess they need time to decide if they have a spine. They'll be polling for input as to how the filibuster will play out. They'll be arguing amongst themselves. They'll probably lose the argument. Why? Their biggest fear will be being painted as soft on terror for opposing torture, because the broader argument that torture has spawned terror and hatred is too complicated for us dummies.

Torridjoe

Tom, Kerry had a very good day during the Rice hearings yesterday. He blistered her repeatedly, and unlike maddening people like Joe Biden, did not wink afterwards and say "but we're gonna vote you in, y'know." He said (get ready to cringe) that he didn't know how he was going to vote. :)

Hillary did a nice job coming out firmly against any kind of SS plan that looks like the leaked versions of Bush's. Slowly but surely, I'm seeing some signs from the brave. As a group, they've done pretty well with SS. The only one who really shot the party in the foot on that was Ed Rendell, and at least he's not in Congress.

Zap, they don't have to fillibuster. Just vote NO. Are they going to lose? Yes. But two years down the road, they'll be able to point to that vote and wash their hands of the scandals/fuckups that will have resulted from putting this guy in charge of DoJ. If they had fought Ashcroft in a similar manner, they'd have had a leg to stand on during the campaign about him.

Zap

That's great, torrid, but I don't want Gonzo as AG. Period. If voting NO leads to his confirmation, then the onslought against the Bill of Rights continues. I'm not as interested in how the Dems come out in 06 or 08 as I am in just seeing this country do the right thing in regards to the terror scandal.

Kevin

Astute observations on why and how the Congressional Dems continue to shoot themselves in the foot.

They're seemingly unable to grasp that the electorate wants strong leadership in times of uncertainty. Karl Rove brilliantly positioned Bush to capitalize on this basic desire inherent to all humans.

I still believe that Howard Dean would have faired better against Bush than Kerry did. And a large part of that is because he was willing to call a spade a spade and let the chips fall where they may. He came across as strong and decisive. And right, wrong or indifferent... I think the evidence points to a sizable number of Americans having voted for Bush precisely because of those perceived qualities, despite any number of issues on which they disagreed with him.

Kerry et al misunderstood the dynamics in play and thought they could win on the issues, when the issues weren't what made the difference in November.

Yesterday's Christian Science Monitor has a good piece on Ohio voters which really illustrates this, IMHO.

Torridjoe

Zap, I'm sympathetic--entirely so--about the peril involved in having this man run law enforcement for the next four years. But I think it's important to remember that DoJ chief is a political appointment that happens at least once every presidency. As such, I give the President a little more leeway with his choices, good or bad. We know they can be booted come next election. That's a far cry from judicial appointments, which are lifetime deals. Furthermore, Gonzales is a prime candidate to be nominated to SCOTUS, which means Dems are likely to get another shot at him. Certainly I'd rather have him at DoJ than on the bench. Consider Ashcroft--he tried to do a lot of damage, but federal judges repeatedly spanked his decisions.

The fillibuster is really the only true weapon of opposition the Democrats have in the 109th, and IMO it must be used (pun intended) judiciously. As much as I don't want to see Gonzo become AG, obstructing the President's choices for the Executive Branch is of a different cloth than for the Judicial Branch. The Democrats are going to lose plenty of fights, and I'd rather lose this one than the next.

Torridjoe

update on Kerry from Marshall--he's voting no on Rice:

"Dr. Rice is a principal architect, implementer, and defender of a series of Administration policies that have not made our country as secure as we should be and have alienated much-needed allies in our common cause of winning the war against terrorism. Regrettably, I did not see in Dr. Rice's testimony any acknowledgment of the need to change course or of a new vision for America's role in the world."

Torridjoe

another update on Gonzo--the Dems are taking a week to think about it:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20696-2005Jan19.html

Attorney General designate Alberto Gonzales will have to wait at least another week before getting a Senate committee vote on his nomination to be the nation's top law enforcement officer.

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee decided Wednesday to ask for a one-week hold on Gonzales' nomination.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said the committee should not vote on Gonzales yet because the nominee has not yet answered all of the Democrats' questions. Democrats have complained that Gonzales has been evasive with his answers to their questions about White House policies on the war on terror and they want him delayed until they are satisfied.

Tom

I agree that the fillibuster is the only arrow left in the quiver but, Frist will cut that down with procedural bullsqueeze. If Frist's rhetoric on that has been toned down, I haven;t seen it.

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