Frist to call another vote on Bolton--cnn just now--he had a news

[rodeodance]

conference.

Will post link when I get it.

[Beetwasher]

1. Quickest Waffle/Flip-Flop in History?

:shrug:

[Goldmund]

3. No shit!

:wtf:

[cascadiance]

20. Yup!

[Hobarticus]

2. Hmmm...a little fancy footwork, to catch Dems off-guard?

That, or Von Cheney called from the dungeon and ordered a vote.

[rodeodance]

4. Frist and Repugs had lunch with Jr-and when he emerged he

called a press conf. and said they may have a vote as early as Friday.
Guess Bush offered them lots of carrots.

This is after Frist said this morning he would NOT call another vote.

[rodeodance]

10. it was a surprize to me--nothing on yahoo, cnn or msnbc web yet.

[KoKo]

12. McClellan said today that some Democrats had crossed over...but I thought

it was just more McClellan BS... I hope this isn't the case.. FBI digging out files on Dems and threatening blackmail...

[BattyDem]

22. If Dems cross over on this and confirm Bolton ...

I'm going to have to seriously consider changing my political affiliation. Their "compromise" on judges got us three (so far) RW nutjobs on the bench for life. No more compromises. Either fight for us or get the f*ck out of Congress! :grr:

[Kelvin Mace]

77. Our last compromise

[BattyDem]

80. Yeah ... that pretty much sums up the whole deal!

:eyes:

[SaveAmerica]

75. Carrots - or was he threatened?

[BattyDem]

5. Enough is enough with this shit!

Aren't there more important things they could be discussing in the Senate? :grr:

[BrainRants]

6. Definition of insanity?

Or did he buy a vote or two?

[tk2kewl]

9. Maybe they think they need another NO vote before the obstructionist

label will stick? :shrug:

[cyberpj]

30. And then Jr won't look so bad when he makes his appointment anyway.

[BrainRants]

54. Recess appointment???? What about the "Up or Down vote" Mr. President?

We can make drop the obstructionist label by again painting him as with abuse of power.

As in:

"We wanted to try again, but the President chose to abuse his power and nominate Mr. Bolton during a recess, AGAINST the will of the Congress."

[cyberpj]

That's the ticket - learn to use their BushSpeak against them. nt.

[gratuitous]

I'm half expecting

That when the Senate breaks for its summer recess, that Frist will announce that the Senate is adjourned, bring down the gavel and stop just short of banging the session closed. When the Democrats all leave the chamber, Frist will lock the doors, utter the statutorily required "Nanny, nanny, boo-boo, I just fooled you!" and call for another vote on Bolton, to pass unanimously by the 55 Republican Senators still present.

[rodeodance]

34. well. ......that is a bit far fetched.

[gratuitous]

38. Which part?

:hi:

[still_one]

7. CNN is worthless

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050621/ap_on_go_co/un_ambassador

Frist Says No New Vote Planned for Bolton

Take the word News out of CNN

[rodeodance]

13. lots of web sites had that frist this morning said no new votes. It was

not only cnn headlines. when i was just checking for the frist flip flop, it was on yahoo, cnn and msnbc.

[still_one]

79. sorry, you are right

still screw CNN, FOX, CNBC, MSNBC, etc. etc. etc.

[KamaAina]

21. Okay, everyone, take a drink!

Frist said: "The president made it very clear that he expects an up or down vote."

It's the outasight new repuke drinking game! Any time a repuke says "up or down vote", do a parrot imitation ("Rawk! Up or down vote! Up or down vote! Rawk!"), then take a drink (of Parrot Bay rum perhaps?)

[lapfog_1]

37. STOP THAT - I was drinking a coke at work! Now look at the mess...

[uppityperson]

41. You made me laugh. Good drinking game idea

He didn't really flip flop since it was too fast, he only flflopped.

[Justitia]

60. Hilarious! I'd be shitfaced inside 15 minutes! -eom

[KoKo]

8. McClellan was pretty strong about Bolton in his press conference today

thought he'd gotten the message that Chimp was throwing a temper tantrum in the mens room on his break from his duties with the Vietnamese Rep.

He was railing on about "obstructionist, partisan Democrats denying Bolton a vote for "political reasons." He said that he thought some Democrats had broken with their party and come over to their side, though. I hope that wasn't true..and that's why they are holding another vote. :scared:

[lancdem]

18. Three Dems voted with the Repukes yesterday

and one Repuke with the Dems. I doubt if there are any new converts between this morning, when Frist said there will be no more votes, and now.

[KoKo]

33. This has got to mean that Bolton is TOP Priority...Plans something big

for UN or that he might become a loose cannon if he doesn't get the job.

It's hard to understand any other reason they are pushing this hard unless it's fear or something in the works that Bolton is crucial to managing. :tinfoilhat:

[stevedeshazer]

56. That's what I think too.

Bolton must be central to plans to the Iran invasion. They wouldn't risk the political damage if it were otherwise.

[peacetalksforall]

11. What is in the rules of the Senate that allows another vote? n/t

[Jose Diablo]

14. Maybe a 'compromise' was reached

Bu$h will kill all media talk about mercury in vaccines, thus removing the future heat from the Dino's and they will let the Bolton up down vote happen.

True partisanship in operation. Shouldn't we be proud our system of gaining consensus among the politicians works?

[maddezmom]

15. AP article has been updated: Frist Reverses Himself, Pushes Bolton Vote

Frist Reverses Himself, Pushes Bolton Vote

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050621/ap_on_go_co/un_ambassador

[gkhouston]

19. maybe they thought they could slide him in on a recess appointment

like a judge and no one would care but the negative reaction in the press and informal polls has caused them to reconsider...

[rodeodance]

31. bard bark--yes i am your lapdog--!!

......Talking to reporters in the White House driveway after he joined other GOP lawmakers for a luncheon with Bush, Frist said: "The president made it very clear that he expects an up or down vote."

[maddezmom]

82. kick

[kansasblue]

16. Link

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/06/21/bolton.vote.ap/index.html

[greenbriar]

17. Makes me think of that West Wing episode

where smitts and others holed up in a secret room and then appeared when it was crucial!

[rodeodance]

23. Frist changes course on Bolton vote (link to cnn article now available)

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/06/21/bolton.vote.ap/index.html

Frist changes course on Bolton vote

Majority leader first says no, then plans to go ahead

Tuesday, June 21, 2005; Posted: 2:16 p.m. EDT (18:16 GMT)


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist reversed himself Tuesday and told reporters he will push anew for the Senate to have an up-or-down vote on John Bolton's nomination as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Just an hour or so earlier, Frist had said he wouldn't schedule another vote on Bolton's nomination.

In so doing, the Tennessee Republican had seemed to acknowledge there was nothing further he could do to break a Democratic stalemate with the Bush White House over Bolton.

"That's been exhausted," Frist said a day after Democrats again blocked a vote on the floor on Bolton's nomination. It was the second time the minority party in the Senate mustered enough votes to prevent Bolton's confirmation process from advancing.

[Ezlivin]

24. I was not going to call a vote before I decided to call a vote

Flip flopper

[DebinTx]

25. Doesn't that set some speed record on flip flops?

I think it does.

[Ezlivin]

27. Can we send Bill Frist to Gitmo in his flip flops?

Now that's an image I'd like to see.

We'll even serve him some rice pilaf to make his torture a bit more bearable.

[DebinTx]

35. Works for me and the rest of his cronies too...

.

[catmandu57]

26. they have to buy six votes

makes you wonder who they dug the dirt on, or what was promised in return. I don't know how they could turn this so quickly, if those six do give in they need to be put under a microscope.
Amrmageddon is not worth keeping a base open.

[gkhouston]

28. I don't think anything's changed

this is just to give blivet** an excuse to make the recess appointment since the "obstructionist" Dems wouldn't give Bolton the "up-or-down" vote he deserved. Apparently, giving the Sentate the background information they deserve to make an informed decision doesn't enter into the equation, but math is hard work.

[maxrandb]

39. Or They May Have Decided to Go "New-kue-lure" n/t

[rodeodance]

29. well, they said the the Repugs were invited to lunch with Bush--makes

me think BushCo did some are twisting, offered carrents--etc etc.
The WH does NOT want a lose on this--makes me think they-the WH now has the votes or why would they risk another vote!!!!!!

[seemslikeadream]

32. Precedent setting recess appointment

Interestingly, the Congressional Research Service reports that there has been no recess appointment in the last 20 years that has occurred during a recess shorter than 10 days.

Thus, if the White House does resort to appointing Bolton to the UN Ambassadorship this way, it would also be precedent-setting. And it would be remarkable that the Bush administration would send someone to the UN to do battle over reform efforts, over Iran and North Korea Security Council resolutions, and over other global policy challenges who was not stamped with a "mark of legitimacy" by the United States Senate.

Lastly, Bush could pound his feet and wag his finger at Democrats blocking him on Bolton, thump and holler that this is all the Dems want to do -- obstruct, obstruct, obstruct. And then blame the Dems for taking out someone Bush called a "good man."

Bush could then withdraw Bolton, offer him a position on Vice President Cheney's staff, and suggest someone else for the job -- probably Paula Dobriansky who is currently Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs. Some folks have a problem with Paula, but she is simply vastly better than Bolton, and if not Dobriansky, then nearly anyone else would be better.

It's impossible to tell which option the White House will choose. They are losing this battle after a series of flamboyantly bad decisions and miscalculations.

Bolton is now practically a household name. Doonesbury spoofs him. Jon Stewart as well. The White House thought they would get Bolton through on the basis that he was an obscure bureaucrat being appointed to a job Americans really didn't care about.

Now everyone is watching -- and the Bolton battle has become enormously consequential to the White House, to Republican moderates, and to the Democrats.

The White House now loses whichever direction it turns. The question will be to what degree?

http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/6/21/115616/853

[WillyT]

36. Methinks Junior Threw A Temper Tantrum !!!

Sorry your liege, but go pound rock at a penitentiary, why don't ya???

:fuckyou:

[Renew Deal]

40. lol

Fucking losers

[bunny planet]

42. I'm starting to think all the shenanigi on Bolton is designed to

distract Dems attention from other things, like DSM and what's the matter with Ohio (Coingate, winegate, take your pick). It's how the Republicans govern, like a three card monte game 24/7.

[Career Prole]

43. Frist Reverses Himself, Pushes Bolton Vote

WASHINGTON - Reversing field after a meeting with President Bush, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said he will continue pushing for a floor vote on John R. Bolton for U.N. ambassador. Frist switched his position after initially saying Tuesday that negotiations with Democrats to get a vote on Bolton had been exhausted.

Talking to reporters in the White House driveway after he joined other GOP lawmakers for a luncheon with Bush, Frist said: "The president made it very clear that he expects an up or down vote."

Just about two hours hour earlier, Frist said he wouldn't schedule another vote on Bolton's nomination and said that Bush must decide the next move. Frist, R-Tenn., had said there was nothing further he could do to break a Democratic stalemate with the Bush White House over Bolton, an outspoken conservative who, opponents argue, would undermine U.S. interests at the world body.

But he changed his tune after talking to Bush.

Frist's abrupt public turnabout underscored the political pressures that the long-running battle over Bolton have heaped upon himself and Bush...

http://tinyurl.com/ey9m6

[bushisanidiot]

44. FLIP FLOPPER! Make up yer damned minds

idiots

[knowbody0]

45. whose your daddy, Frist?

[xultar]

46. ***BREAKING***THERE'S A CHIMP LOOSE IN THE SENATE!!!

[SaveElmer]

47. As Al Franken would say...

"Flippity Floppity"

[CottonBear]

48. BRAWK! Up or down vote. Up or down vote. BRAWK!

I can't take hearing that phrase any more. :(

[ET Awful]

49. Hey Frist . . . I've got news for you, your job is NOT to follow orders

from the President. I know that may come as a shock, but "Commander In Chief" refers to the armed forces, not the Senate.

[Career Prole]

81. You've got that right!

Pity Frist doesn't get it...

Describing his talk with Bush, Frist said: "The decision in talking to the president is that he strongly supports John Bolton, as we know, and he asked that we to continue to work. And we'll continue to work."

I believe before edit that went more like this...

Describing his talk with Bush, Frist said: "He said if I don't get him an up or down vote he was going to have my ass tanned and made into boots for Pickles. He frightened me!" :cry:

[newscott]

50. Sounds like the Repub strategy will be to paint Democrats

as obstructionists. The more blocks they can ellicit from the Democrats, the more fodder they feel they have I assume.

[BrainRants]

51. "Up or Down vote" MEANS no recess appointments assholes!

Do it in recess and you'll eat your words!

[5X]

52. This is just so shrub can do a recess appt.

and say he had to, due to the obstructionsists.

[truthisfreedom]

53. frist is as susceptible to organized crime as the next guy

especially when they've got pictures.

things that would pale Michael by comparison, we'd imagine.

[July]

55. Distraction?

They're talking about Friday, right?

Abu Ghraib photo dump?

[Wabbajack]

57. Frist

"Misspoke" earlier.

[peterh]

58. My first thought on this….

Will the nuclear option come into play? Me thinks the threat has been put forth….who will blink?

[Vinca]

59. This is getting to be like Groundhog Day. I've never seen another

person as stubborn as Shrub. He's nothing but a spoiled, little, rich kid. And this is just the beginning. Wait till there's a Supreme Court nominee.

[Justitia]

61. Fresh Spanking for Dr. Boneless Chicken. Who's yer Daddy, Frist?

Clueless Sock Puppet.

upordownupordownupordownupordown....blah, blah, blah

[dave29]

62. I wish Frist would quit Bolton from his positions

;)

[graywarrior]

63. I guess when your pimp bitch slaps you, you do what he tells you

[catmandu57]

64. I see now, Gestapo Spank

Do it now beatch. Either way the shrub* is going to be fucked isn't he.

[maxrandb]

67. Or Like Corleone

"I'll Make him an offer he can't refuse"

Who put the horse's head, or cat's head in Frist' bed??

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

65. Maybe it ties into this "Bush administration is now in total panic mode

...over the erosion of public support for the occupation".

"The White House spin cycle" (David Shuster)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5445086/

snip:
"The administration seems to think that by shifting the justification for the war or changing what administration officials said 3 years ago, the president's poll numbers will magically turn around. The pretzel shaped logic of this strategy is mind-boggling. And one begins to wonder if the gang that helped President Bush win a 2nd term has been stuffed into a closet."

[demo dutch]

76. It's taking a while, but the American people are slowly "getting" it!

[DemBeans]

66. isn't this shameful

The concept that the legislative branch is a separate and equal branch of government is now officially fiction.

Bush tells them where and when to jump, and they do whatever he commands. I guess he's not only president, but now he's the majority leader of the Senate. Pathetic. I've never seen such a spineless Republican party.

[ElectroPrincess]

68. Yes, Frist needs to realize that * is his KING - King George has spoken !

:puke:

[Rob H.]

69. Bolton should be Ambassador to the UN

because who better to serve as our ambassador to that world body than someone who openly hates it and everything it stands for?

:sarcasm:

Here's an idea, Shrubbo--maybe Bolton is being blocked because he's unqualified. Then again, it could also have something to do with the fact that there are documents regarding Bolton that you and the rest of your nutjob cronies refuse to turn over. It could also have something to do with the fact that he's an abusive asshole who's a nightmare to work with.

That seems to be the rule in the Bush administration, though--unfetttered advancement via mind-boggling incompetence (see Rice, Condoleeza).

[bunny planet]

70. Sounds like His Fraudulency the Bushbaby had another hissy fit, stamped

his feet and said ' I want an up and down vote, and I always get what I want.'

How many Dems and Repubs have they strongarmed since yesterday afternoon?

[Bleacher Creature]

71. This is NOT a flip-flop!!!!

Haven't you all learned by now?? It's not a flip-flop when Republicans do it. It is simply a well-crafted strategic reconsideration.

Geesh!!!

[AlGore-08.com]

72. It's not a flip-flop! Kitty Killer is REINVENTING HIMSELF.

The guy will pander to anybody. He just does not know who he is. He'll do anything to win the White House. It's a mental illness, really.

[MaineDem]

73. Waffle king!

Just doing what he's told to do, I imagine.

How pathetic!

[Justitia]

74. Waffle House (of Representatives) -eom

[MzShellG]

78. Wonder if Frist would like some syrup with that waffle? nt

[mdelaguna2000]

83. maybe the dems who didn't vote will get the chance now

Weren't there 3 or 4 dems who didn't vote? Saw that in a list of who voted read (from the NYT??) on C-Span yesterday morning.

Anyone remember who didn't vote? Not sure why ANY dems would excuse themselves from voting NO on this one.