Could We Cut Senate Dems Some Slack?

[cali]

Gonzalez, Rice and other cabinet appointments are not the battle they need to fight. And they can't afford to waste their efforts on fighting these appointments. Presidents are traditionally given great leeway when it comes to cabinet picks. They need to fight extremist Judges, both those picked by bushco for the lower courts, and particularly those chosen for SCOTUS. I'm not about to come down on my Senators (Leahy and Jeffords) if they vote for the President's cabinet choices. I expect Sen. Leahy and others to ask tough and revealing questions during confirmation hearings. I expect them to hold the line when it comes to judges. If, and when, they don't do that, I'll jump on the criticism bandwagon.

[billyoc]

1. I just want them to grill the living shit out of them.

No need to give them a pass on their misdeeds.

[pnutchuck]

2. Fillibuster everything!!!

If Bush is going to steal elections and make a farse out of our democracy, I say it is our senators' responsibility to make Bush's administration pay. If they have to fillibuster on every confirmation, every bill, then do it.

[quisp]

3. I'm not saying they shouldn't be able to choose their fights...

but haven't we given them ENOUGH SLACK OVER THE LAST FOUR YEARS???

I swear to God some of the Senate Democrats just drive me freakin' crazy.

If they have to go down, they better damn well go down swinging.

[sui generis]

4. where in the hell were the dems weighing in on the republicans

removing the indictment challenge on De Lay? Are they all brain dead?

[cali]

5. Pelosi spoke out

so did Steny Hoyer and others, and they weren't reticent about it.
They held a press conference about it yesterday. It's hardly their fault if the press doesn't cover it.

[sui generis]

6. I'll grant you that -

NO coverage here.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

10. Seems to me they all spoke up about that.

maybe it isn't getting the coverage it deserves, but I've seen at least 5 of them on the news screaming about it.

[Bridget Burke]

7. While I'll agree that the judicial appointments may be more important...

But the Dems must really ask some serious questions. Like asking Condi about that 8/2001 memo.

And I don't care at all about how presidents "are traditionally given great leeway wnen it comes to cabinet picks". Traditionally, presidents are elected by the people. Bush definitely was not in 2000 & 2004 is still highly questionable.

[wug37]

8. Everything should be their battle

Why should they only fight some things and not others? Why can't they fight everything that they don't think is right? They roll over on everything and we keep excusing it saying "They need to pick a different battle". Is there any battle worth fighting?

[WyLoochka]

9. Nope - not on Gonzalez

No slack if they vote for Gonzalez. The Attorney General is the top law enforcement job in the country. In serving as consigliere to a criminal operation, Gonzalez is not qualified for this extremely important job as a law enforcer.

Clinton did not get his first pick for AG, Zoe Baird, because she broke the law in failing to pay her kids' nanny's FICA taxes, which pales in comparison to the laws Consigliere Torture has assisted BushCo in breaking.

[RuleofLaw]

11. Time for a fairytale:

(Rough translation from Danish)

Once upon a time, The three goats wanted to cross a bridge to eat grass on the other side. However under the bridge resides a nasty troll, a nasty troll. The first goat to cross is The Smallest Goat. Trip, trap, trip, however amid the bridge sounds there is a bellow: Who's that, walking on my bridge? It is only me The Smallest Goat. I shall eat grass. Now I will come and eat you! Yells the Troll. No, no, wait awhile, wait awhile, says The Smallest Goat. I am much too little. My big brother is coming – The Middle Goat- he is bigger than I. O.K. go along, says the Troll

Trip, trap, trip, staircase sounds that at the bridge, however amid the bridge sounds there a bellow: Who's that, walking on my bridge? It is only me The Middle Goat. I shall eat grass. Now I will come and eat you! Yells the Troll. No, no, wait awhile, wait awhile, says The Middle Goat. I am much too little. My big brother is coming – The Biggest Goat- he is bigger than I. O.K. Go along, says the Troll.

Trip, trap, trip, staircase sounds that at the bridge, however amid the bridge sounds there a bellow: Who's that, walking on my bridge? It is only me The Biggest Goat. I shall eat grass. Now I will come and eat you! Yells the Troll. Certainly, come on you nasty troll, Says The Biggest Goat. I'll ram you myself. And The Biggest Goat rams the troll far, far, far away. Come, mine brothers, says The Biggest Goat. The troll is far away, Far, far away. The three goats go and eat the nice grass and become big and fat.



Moral of the story: By the time you decide to pick your battle, you might not be able to win it!

[cali]

12. That's a really good point.

Alas, Gonzalez is a done deal. Even Leahy has said he'll vote for him.

[Walt Starr]

13. Not using a filibuster is one thing and they cannot use it on these

appointments.

Watch the hearings, though. These pink tutus are puckering up for some major league ass-kissing, and THAT is where the problem lies.

[cali]

15. I'll defend Leahy on judicial

appointments. He's NEVER puckered up. He's repeatedly slammed the administration for it's wingnut ways. He did so yesterday on C-SPAN.

[fujiyama]

14. What the hell does the party have to lose?

Let's not live in denial. We're living in what will now be a semi-permanent one party state. The national political scene will be dominated by the republicans for the near future.

Judicial nominees are the most important because their impact is the longest lasting, but other cabinet positions are just as vital for the near term (atleaast 4 years).

The least we can do is pound them as to their choices. We're going to lose a system of checks and balances. I know this sounds alarmist but the situation IS that bad.

[The Flaming Red Head]

16. Not fight, Torture Gonzales? Are you kidding?

That much slack and we'll all end up hanging out in a basement room somewhere.