The Deal: Cry "Wolf" But Let the Beast In. Extraordinary Indeed!

"Trust, mutual respect, extraordinary circumstances, working together, saved the Senate," and all the rest of bullcrap we've heard from both sides on Monday night when the U.S. Senate reached a compromise on the filibuster. Of course, no one has bothered to define those "extraordinary circumstances," and Frist was quick to say that he hadn't given up his "right" to go ballistic and bring back the "nuclear option." What were those people thinking? Were they pleasuring each other in their chambers? The president and the Republican-controlled Congress have been in a free fall in the approval ratings. Was this a way to stop the bleeding? Or, was it a case of wool-over-the-eyes?
As it is today, the Republicans are getting those extreme judges, Owen and Brown, and a few other ultra-conservatives through the Senate. Weren't these people way out of the mainstream? Of course they were! By giving in, the Dems now have set a benchmark of what's acceptable; this is a big mistake. Maybe they wanted to reserve the big fight for the Supreme Court. Yet, the Dems lost some respect if they said that Owen and Brown were not qualified to be on the federal bench but the Dems let them in anyway. Well, aren't the Dems in the Senate supposedly safeguarding not only the rights of the minority but also the interests of the country? Why is it OK now to allow those extremists to serve life-time appointments on federal courts? It sounds very wishy-washy to me.
Secondly, I don't think president Bush will hesitate to nominate someone, even the most extreme judge, to fill the anticipated Supreme Court vacancy this year. Dubya is an advocate of "in your face politics!" When the last Congress rebuffed Owen and Brown, he promptly re-nominated them this year! The only qualification Bush cares for is how good the nominee is in promoting the neo-con, far-right agenda. This is a president who rewards people that have failed miserably! Just think of Rice, Rumsfeld, Tenet, Franks, Bremer, Wolfowitz, Bolton, Gonzales....to name a few.
The Dems made a mistake in accepting the compromise. If nothing else, there is no guarantee that the other side will be reasonable in the future. The Republican leadership is far to the right, not interested in compromising, not interested in checks & balances, not interested in a general consensus. It wants to implement an extreme agenda as dictated by the theocrats and their buddies of the fat corporations. It wants to built a totalitarian society according to their apocalyptic, rapturist views. They are not interested in "working together" as they have no respect for anyone who disagrees with them. Haven't the Dems realized this? Delay and Frist, the two leaders of the majority in Congress, have been usurping power, changing the rules at will, silencing dissent, and having their ..flock vote on bills without even reading them! It was only last week, when a serious bill, the so-called Real ID Act, that was attached to a spending bill and was passed without any debate. A Big Brother bill with serious implications on privacy and security and wasn't even discussed in the people's House! Need to say more?
The Dems cried "wolf" in the cases of Owen and Brown. They correctly identified the beasts, but they let them in anyway. That's twice already. Are the Dems going to be believed the next time?