Did anyone notice the GOP shut down the Senate yesterday over judicial nominees?

[babylonsister]

http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/0608/Not_that_anyones_watching_but_the_Senate_has_shut_down.html

Not that anyone's watching, but the Senate has shut down


Overshadowed by the hype of Barack Obama's victory lap on the Senate floor today is a simmering dispute between Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell over President Bush's remaining judicial nominees.

McConnell has essentially shut down the Senate floor this afternoon by forcing the Senate clerk to read aloud the entire 500 page global warming bill. So if legislative language is your thing, turn on C-SPAN and watch the Senate at its best, or worst, depending on your perspective.

McConnell (R-Ky.) believes Reid (D-Nev.) has backtracked on a promise to clear a significant number of Republican judicial nominees, but Democrats are becoming more and more hesitant to give Bush judges a lifelong appointment to the federal bench in the waning months of this White House.

"The Democratic majority has refused to honor its commitments," McConnell said. "It apparently believes that commitments do not matter in the United States Senate, and that actions do not have consequences."

One of those consquences, apparently, is a complete shut down of the Senate.

Here's a snippet of the full response from Reid spokesman Jim Manley on the Republican maneuver.

"Devoid of ideas for addressing global warming and unwilling to work with us to strengthen our weakening economy and energy policy, Republicans have now resorted to changing the subject with inaccurate attacks.

“Senator Reid pledged a good-faith effort to have the Senate consider three court of appeals nominees before the Memorial Day recess, with the explicit caveat that achieving that goal depended on Republican cooperation. The Senate did, in fact, confirm Virginia Supreme Court Judge Steven Agee to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in May, and Chairman Leahy expedited Judiciary Committee consideration of two nominees to Michigan seats on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. These nominations were the result of many years of negotiation between the White House and the Michigan Senators."

[KharmaTrain]

1. Not A Bad Thing, Sis...

Yep, Mitchie threw a tantrum cause the Democrats won't just rubber stamp a bunch of right wing hack judges. Damn, there just aren't enough out there. It's Mitchie being Mitchie...a total asshat extraordinare.

Let the Senate go into suspended animation for the remainder of the year...just pass the minimum. And let's see how pissed off we can get Mitchie...

[babylonsister]

2. I'm with you, KharmaTrain. Suspended animation sounds great to me,

because after November, we'll be in the catbird seat! And I have no problems messing with mitchy's mind. ;)

[malaise]

3. No more appointments n/t

[NotThisTime]

7. I'm okay with that

[NewJeffCT]

4. New Picture of Mitch McConnell

[bdamomma]

5. McConnell still doing the bidding for this thuggish regime.

why doesn't he just retire.

[Benhurst]

6. Does it strike anyone else how relatively powerful the Republicans

are when they are in the minority in the House and Senate, while we seem to be powerless even when we are in control?

We have war criminals in the White House, and Nancy Pelosi has taken impeachment off the table. Our nominee for president stressed his stand against the Iraq war running for the Senate, only to cast his first or second vote for the conformation of war criminal Condoleezza Rice as Secretary of State. Both our leading candidates have voted to fund the illegal and immoral occupation of Iraq.

Why are the Repubs willing to fight, when our people all to often roll over at the first sign of opposition?

Is there any wonder now we are facing the possibility of stronger control of both houses of congress and one of our own in the White House that some of us get a little worried about all the talk of reaching out to the opposition? Hell, the Repubs have been reaching across the aisle for years now, grabbing our members by the short hairs and dragging them along as accomplices to the renewal of the so-called "Patriot" Act, the treasonous shredding of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and the destruction of the balance of powers upon which our system of government was based?

Strengthening our "control" of Congress and taking over the White House will mean little if our "leaders" don't develop some backbone.

[lonestarnot]

8. Alrightie then!

:applause: The dictatorship needs close examination too.