Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Extraordinary Circumstances

Dems offered a "deal" whereby they would not filibuster any nominees, except in "extraordinary circumstances", in exchange for the GOP not going nuclear and the withdrawal of all but a handful of the filibustered nominees. As I discussed, that's not a real deal, but the Dems weren't that clear under what circumstances they would resort to the filibuster. Well, here's a clarification on the definition of "extraordinary circumstances" means
'From what we have been told, Reid joked that it was like the old Clinton line about the meaning of the word 'is,'' says a Democratic leadership staffer. 'Basically, 'extraordinary' for the leadership would mean any Supreme Court justice nomination that was not approved beforehand by the minority leader and ranking Democrat on Judiciary.'"
SO, the circumstances under which the Dems would NOT filibuster are those that the Democrat's Senate leadership approves (a role not even in the living constitution). A: that's not a deal. B: That's not Constitutional. C: Republicans have won the last several elections and are the majority party. To the Dems: forget it. To the GOP: enforce the will of the majority of voters, NOW!