Now we know. Harry Reid is no Tom Daschle.
Harry couldn’t keep a note of actual sympathy out of his voice when he sort-of apologized to Bill Frist tonight while explaining that the failure of a cloture vote on John Bolton’s nomination as UN ambassador didn’t mean the Democrats were filibustering John Bolton’s nomination as UN ambassador.
Daschle wouldn’t have had that problem.
Still, Harry maintained a superior level of disingenuity. Cloture is required only if the minority party is refusing to let a motion go forward. I.e., cloture is what is required to end a filibuster.
Harry seems to be saying that the Democrats forced a cloture vote just for fun. It was an “accidental” filibuster.
So sorry, Bill.
The Democrats took only 3 days to betray any spirit of comity with their GOP dupes colleagues. The “we can all get along” good feelings of Monday proved as illusory as Democrat party honor.
Some Republicans will act surprised. This is because they are too stupid to be in even the Senate. It is wonder they are able to breathe without mechanical assistance.
The Republican Senators who defied their leadership to form a bond with Democrats on judicial nominations should be subject to recall petitons ASAP.
Bill Frist will suffer for this, but it is primarily the fault of that popinjay populist, John McCain. See Peggy Noonan, Mr. Narcissus Goes to Washington.
Shame!
I think everyone in politics now has been affected by the linguistic sleight-of-hand, which began with the Kennedys in the 1960s, in which politics is called “public service,” and politicians are allowed and even urged to call themselves “public servants.” Public servants are heroic and self-denying. Yesterday’s WSJ had a similar opinion to Hershblogger’s and is worth the read. Heroism and self-denial are seemingly antithetical to “Award Acceptance Speeches”. And speaking of which, might it be possible to bring RICO into play to break up the “posses” that have become requisite backdrops for whomever is announcing the senatorial brilliance of the day?
jpm may be referring to this WSJ editorial:http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110006734