Senate Republicans are so outraged by the Democrats’ audacity to block four of Bush’s most ideologically extreme judicial nominees that they began hosting a 30-hour whine-a-thon late yesterday. The stunt lasted all night and is still on right now. (You can tune into C-SPAN 2 right now to watch some very tired Senators go on and on about this.)
Bear in mind, this marathon Senate session isn’t about accomplishing anything. By the Republicans’ own admission, this is a publicity stunt intended to bring public attention to the poor Bush White House, which has seen only 98% of its conservative judicial nominees approved to the federal bench by the Senate. It’s amazing democracy continues to thrive under these draconian circumstances.
As Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) said last night, “We begin tonight what I view to be a colossal waste of time.”
Indeed. It’s kind of sad, really, that the one issue that Republicans feel so strongly about that they’re willing to orchestrate this bizarre political theater is the Dems’ blockage of four ultra-conservative judicial nominees. The Senate GOP barely says a word about three million lost jobs, the debacle in Iraq, our ongoing problems in Afghanistan, missing WMD, the largest deficit in the history of the world, the plight of 42 million Americans without health insurance, North Korea’s nuclear threat, and the fact that the White House is under criminal investigation for illegally leaking classified information to the press. The Dems block four of Bush’s right-wing judicial nominees? Let’s choreograph non-stop whining for 30 consecutive hours!
Nevertheless, the Senate GOP insists we have a genuine “crisis” on our hands because the Democrats have successfully filibustered four of Bush’s 172 judicial nominees. As Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) described the Dems’ efforts as “a constitutional disaster waiting to happen.”
With a tip of the hat to useful facts raised by the Center for American Progress, I thought I’d mention a few points to consider while the Republicans drone on endlessly:
* In Bush’s first three years, Democrats have blocked just four of Bush’s judicial nominees, while allowing 168 to be confirmed to the federal bench. In Clinton’s last six years in the White House, Republicans blocked 62 of Clinton’s judicial nominees — more than a third of all the judicial nominees sent to the Senate by the Clinton White House. Let’s see, 4 to 62. Yeah, that sounds pretty fair.
* Though Senate Republicans have been complaining about the need to fill judicial vacancies, Bush has had more of his judicial nominees confirmed that Reagan did in his entire first term and more than Clinton did in seven of his eight years as president.
* Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist claims that filibusters of judicial nominees are unprecedented in the last 200 years. The truth is there were 11 motions for cloture filed for votes on federal judges between 1980 and 2000.
* In fact, while Frist insists that all he wants for Bush’s nominees is an “up-or-down vote,” the fact remains that Frist supported a GOP filibuster of a Clinton nominee four years ago.
Ultimately, this controversy, if it can even be labeled as such, has not been caused by Senate Democrats, but rather the Bush White House that has insisted on nominating some of the most ideological extremists they can find for lifetime appointments to the federal bench. As the New York Times put it earlier this week, “If all the facts came out, the public would see that the real problems are caused by the Bush administration, Senate Republicans and the hard-driving conservative activists who, when it comes to judicial nominations, are pulling the strings.”
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m heading back to C-SPAN 2. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) is on and he’s looking kind of sleepy…