Reid blasts Frist in Senate

[drfemoe]

GOP to protest Democratic filibusters on judges
By Steve Turnham
CNN Washington Bureau
Monday, November 10, 2003 Posted: 3:38 PM EST (2038 GMT)


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The No. 2 Democrat in the Senate brought legislative action in the chamber to a halt Monday, vowing to speak continuously for up to five hours to protest what he called the "rank amateur" leadership of the Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tennessee.

...
"It's inappropriate that we are not going to be able to work through this week; we're going to take two days to talk about judges," said Reid. "I've been told the reason it's being done, deliver a message to the base. Well, I don't know what that means except it's being done for reasons that I don't think are appropriate for the Senate."

...

Reid "really thinks they've turned this place into a circus," said a senior Democratic aide. "And he isn't going to give them an easy vote."

...

Reid's protest delays an expected vote on another major appropriations bill. Senate Republicans, who had hoped to fly in for a vote Monday then fly back home for Veterans day before returning for the 30 hours of debate on the judges, will now have to alter their plans.

Anticipating a difficult week, Senate Chaplain Barry Black opened Monday's session with an appeal to God to calm frayed tempers.

...

[La_Serpiente]

1. Screw the Repukes

I think Byrd will have the longest tirade on the floor.

I hope they beat Strom Thurmond's record of 24 hours 18 minutes. If they do, they would have done it for a good purpose.

[drfemoe]

2. they sure don't like their

own brand of fire water do they? What would they do if you actually held a mirror up to them???

[Leados]

3. You probably wouldn't see anything

in the mirror.

[Voltaire99]

7. Go, Byrd!

This will force some of his colleagues to be present for a change when he speaks. He's been delivering some of the best American speeches in half a century - to an empty senate.

May his tongue be ablaze and may the words sear their foul black hearts!

[leftyandproud]

11. update?

I only have cspan 1 & 2 and they haven't shown the senate floor for hours..Are they pulling an all-nighter?

[TacticalPeek]

4. Fire for effect.

"Might I remind you that extremism in the pursuit of liberty is no vice, and moderation in the pursuit of justice, is no virtue."

[jsw_81]

5. Reid is my new hero

He's been a little too quiet and low-key in the past, but after last night he's definitely one of my new heroes.

[tedoll78]

6. Standing up against right-wing judges..

automatically gets him a gold star in my book!

[drfemoe]

8. another reason to like him .

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/11/07/intelligence.flap/
... snips
The memo says in part that Democrats "have an important role to play in revealing the misleading, if not flagrantly dishonest, methods and motives of senior administration officials who made the case for unilateral pre-emptive war. The approach outlined above seems to offer the best prospect for exposing the administration's dubious motives."
...
Rockefeller and other committee Democrats have been pressing Roberts to expand the investigation beyond the quality of pre- war intelligence about weapons of mass destruction and into whether analysts were pressured to produce intelligence supporting the administration's policy or if policy makers later spun the intelligence to bolster their case for war.
...
Among the options outlined in the memo is a rarely used procedure by which the committee minority can force a broader investigation. The memo suggested that the procedure could be attempted next year.

Defending Rockefeller, Democratic Whip Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said, "The investigation should be more than looking at what the civil servants did ... but at what what the policymakers did."

Reid suggested Republicans might have stolen the memo from the secure offices of the Intelligence Committee.

"The American people must understand that this memo that has been talked about was somehow stolen from the offices of Senator Rockefeller and his people that work in the Intelligence Committee," said Reid. "It was purloined ... and then made public by the majority. "

[tedoll78]

9. Thank goodness..

it looks like Reid is safe for re-election next year. His top opponent has passed on the race, right?

I'm actually hoping that Reid will have a decent ground organization so that it helps our presidential nominee carry the state (and vice-versa). Yucca will help too, of course..

[Democat]

10. These are the kind of Democrats we need

Not once in a while, though, we must fight just as hard and just as dirty as they do all of the time. Every minute that our elected Democrats are awake, they need to be finding ways to beat the Republicans. Anything less and we will continue to lose.

Great job Senator Reid!

[dusty64]

12. I hope this will backfire

on the rethugs. I think the Democrats have blocked 4-5 unqualified and extremist nominees compared to the rethugs treatment of President Clinton's moderate ones. The fact of this needs to be known and now it may be.