5-30-2005

John McCain: Senator from Arizona, war hero, moderate, Republican, statesman, maverick, savior of America from right-wing, radical, activist, extremist judges.

On the Ides of May, Maverick McCain leaned in closer to the ear of the Majority Leader and whispered ever so statesmanlike, "Fourteen people -- and I was not the leader, all of us were together -- fourteen people sat down. We wanted to preserve the institution; we wanted to move forward; the Democrats had threatened to slow down or stop the Senate; we're tired of this fighting. I think we've got a good agreement -- it's based on trust -- and we'll move forward."

Just as Senator Frist signaled the slightest nod of understanding, he felt the razor sharp sting of the philosophical blade as it broke the flesh and nicked his rib.

Dancing on the floor of the ballroom, the band of fourteen accomplishes smile in glee as they delight in the glow of media adoration bestowed upon them in the aftermath of the mutiny they started. Revered by elitists who never waste a moment to rail against those they consider to be haughty, imperialistic, right-wing extremists, the fourteen mavericks pose for the cameras and seek the awaiting microphones to justify their Machiavellian deed.

“This agreement is meant in the finest traditions of the Senate it was entered into,” Maverick McCain said in his most mild mannered voice. “Trust, respect and mutual desire to see the institution of the Senate function in ways that protect the rights of the minority.”

What maverick McCain either never considered or really didn’t care was that the ‘rights of the minority’ were never in jeopardy. Many felt that the back room deal was little more than a power play positioned so that those who bound themselves to the agreement could raise themselves above the partisan fray and present themselves as the moderates who represent mainstream America.

Being a moderate is acceptable if you aren’t violating your ideological principles along the way, which is exactly the conundrum created by moderates, because trying to balance the two sides leaves you defending a principle with no position.

In this situation where the minority (Democrats) had decided to circumvent the traditional practice of an up-or-down vote on committee cleared judges that was established based on Article II in the Constitution, Republicans were attacked vehemently by media elitists as being imperialistic for simply trying to reinstate a procedure that had always existed.

The minority never has had the right to filibuster a judicial nominee, no matter how extreme, on the Senate floor. The nominee is brought up for a vote and if the person is truly so extreme that they could in no way respect the rule of law, then enough Senators would vote against that person, preventing them from sitting on a higher bench.

And if that judge was really that extreme, they never would have made it through the investigative committee. There is a reason the process exists and has been in place. But Liberals, once able to see an outcome, always fight to change the rules of the process during the procedure or shortly thereafter when the result is not going to work in their favor.

One of the band of fourteen said, “I am very proud of the colleagues of mine on the Republican side and the Democratic side,” muttered Senator Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.). “We have lifted ourselves above politics. And we have signed this document in the interest of United States Senate, in the interest of freedom of speech, freedom of debate and freedom to dissent in the United States Senate.”

The barely coherent rambling of this once masked marauder begs the question, when was freedom of speech, debate, or dissent in jeopardy? Justice Priscilla Owen alone over the span of several years had endured nine hours of judicial testimony in front of the investigative committee, 900 pages of written answers for questions asked by the committee, and 22 days of debate in the Senate.

The very inanity of his statement proves how desperate his party was in painting themselves as the harmless victim being assaulted by the imperialistic right-wing extremists and the willful associates in the media helped them smooth the canvas, clean the brushes and mix the paint.

As the band of fourteen raise their jewel encrusted goblets in a toast to their salutary accomplishment, exactly what achievement did they realize?

In the short view, the confirmation of three of the extreme, right-wing, activist judges in exchange for Democrat usage of the filibuster on judge nominations only in ‘extraordinary circumstances’.

An explanation of those circumstances does not exist, yet Justice Priscilla Owen who became the first recipient of the ‘new deal’ was originally vilified in the press and filibustered by Democrats because of her ‘extreme’ view that it should be harder for children to get abortions without their parents consent.

So how does that bode in the long run? It means the new tactic will be the same as the old tactic and in the end, the only thing that might change could be the names of newly selected participants who have yet to experience the tortuous rage of Democrat character assassination in the name of saving minority Senatorial rights and stopping the governmental takeover of the imperialistic Republicans.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) produces a grandfatherly smile while in his mind’s eye he smoothes an eyebrow for the cameras with a wet finger then says, “And your attempt, I say to the Vice President and to the President, to trample the Constitution and grab absolute control is over.” What absolute power is being taken or how is the Constitution being trampled by allowing a vote on qualified judicial nominees, Senator Reid?

“We must give up-or-down votes to other previously blocked nominees,” pointed out Bill Frist. “It is the only way to close this miserable and unprecedented chapter in Senate history.”

The reality here is that the vaunted mavericks didn’t really save anything, but actually succeeded in turning an already partisan environment into an even more partisan environment as both sides maneuver to regain their footing and the mavericks bask in media spotlights.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said, “The Senate is back in business.” Senator Graham may soon learn that his Conservative home state of South Carolina has it’s own ‘nuclear option’ and it may detonate during his re-election campaign!

Lee P Butler