As Of Tonight, I Am Done With The GOP

I am going to be ill.

Deal Averts Filibuster Showdown
Agreement preserves Senate rules

WASHINGTON - Averting a showdown, 14 centrists from both parties in the Senate reached agreement Monday night on a compromise that clears the way for confirmation votes on many of President Bush's stalled judicial nominees, leaves others in limbo and preserves venerable Senate filibuster rules.

"In a Senate that is increasingly polarized, the bipartisan center held," said Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn.

"The Senate is back in business," echoed Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

"We have reached an agreement ... to pull the institution back from a precipice … that would have had damaging impact on the institution," said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., at a news conference where the agreement was announced.

Officials from both parties said the agreement would clear the way for yes or no votes on some of Bush's nominees but make no guarantee.

Under the agreement, Democrats would pledge not to filibuster any of Bush's future appeals court or Supreme Court nominees except in "extraordinary circumstances."

For their part, Republicans agreed not to support an attempt to strip Democrats of their right to block votes.

The two-page memorandum of agreement said it is "based upon mutual trust and confidence."

My Comments:
So, tell me. What did I and thousands of other committed volunteers gain from working our tails off to regain a Republican Senate majority in 2002 and then build a 55-seat majority in 2004? If a 55-seat majority isn't good enough to ensure that judicial nominees who make it out of committee get a vote on the Senate floor, then why bother wasting my time with politics?

This isn't some rash decision on my part. Long ago, I drew a line in the sand on the confirmation of the President's judicial nominees because I honestly believe the future of the out-of-control activist federal courts is the most important issue facing this country. But it's not just judges - the GOP has failed to deliver on most of its other domestic legislative priorities, as well.

I'm afraid November 2, 2004 through May 23, 2005 will be viewed by historians as the high-water mark of GOP ascendancy at the national level - and in the end, they accomplished exactly nothing on the domestic level. No Social Security reform. No real tax reform. No budget discipline. No ban on cloning. An unwillingness or inability to enforce Congressional subpoenas that might have prolonged the life of Terri Schiavo. And now, a capitulation on ending the filibuster of judicial nominees with no guarantees that future conservative or strict constructionist nominees will not be filibustered.

As a result, the elections in 2006 look to be particularly ugly for the majority party. Those of us who worked hard in the past to give the President a larger Senate majority to work with understandably feel like we have been stabbed in the back. I won't forget it. And I plan to do all I can to work for the defeat of Senator Mike DeWine - who is one of the ringleaders in this sell-out - once my family and I relocate to Ohio. (Unfortunately, there's probably not much I can do about my current Senator, the dirtbag John Warner, because he's unlikely to run for reelection.)

UPDATE:
The Anchoress has a fairly comprehensive rundown on all the post-capitulation commentary.

And here the Anchoress revisits the issue to discuss some of the positive spin on this "deal" coming from the Republican/conservative side.

For my part, I ain't buying the spin. I've seen the Democrats run legislative circles around the Republicans for too many years to believe that, in the end, the Republicans will have gotten the better of the bargain. Let's just say I'll watch to see what happens, but, in the immortal words of Yogi Berra, "I'll believe it when I believe it."