Judges? Filibuster rule? I don't care.

[El Supremo]

I've been listening to and watching this Senate debate for two days. IMO, it is not "historic" at all. It is just a big waste of time.

What a woose-out.

We should be going after these Bush criminals for leading us into an unjust and disastrous war. Congress turned over it's power to declare war to the Executive Branch in 1964 and 2003. That is the more important issue.

[zapp]

1. I've been wondering what is going on out of sight while....

This BS takes over the TV and radio and print media

[shraby]

2. They are busy writing a new "Patriot Act"

not good...not good at all.

[The Doctor.]

3. That would depend on the outcome...

I think that creating cicumstances where a president could, ostensibly, get 100% of his nominees to pass the senate would be historical indeed.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

7. It's all bull

They can make all the Senate rules they want, but they're going to be challenged in court and that's going to tie everything up, and that's why we have a tripartite form of government.

This is nothing but bullshit to make sure no one notices that Ratface's ratings are under the toilet and our kids - as well as Iraqi kids - are being slaughtered daily.

Where is the outrage? Why is the MSM so sucked in by these non-stories?

WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE????

[FourStarDemocrat]

4. It is not a waste of time at all

Not if you look at the consequences if they succeed-- a rabidly right wing appelate, circuit, then eventully Supreme Court. With all privacy rights removed, rights taken from individuals and given to corporations, etc. our country will totally cease to be the one that we grew up with. And while it would be wonderful to go after the Bush criminals, that will be unlikely to happen unless the Dem's manage to become a majority in the House and/or Senate.

[napi21]

8. Well, I read Owen's record on rulings,, and she is a wingnut, but

she is nominated for the most conservative circit court in the country, so it probably won't make much difference.

Brown is a bit of a different story. She's nominated for the 9th circit and that's the one where most of the SCOTUS judges have come from. She's actually not as bad as Owen, but very Business oriented!

[sendero]

5. I disagree....

.... there isn't a more pressing issue facing us right now.

If they get away with this, they can pack the courts, including the Supreme Court, with wingnut assholes. Once they have enough wingnut assholes in the courts, they can pretty much do anything they want, goodbye checks and balances.

This is not a situation to be cavalier about.

[El Supremo]

9. I hate to inform you...

But the conversion of the judiciary has already has happened. How do you think we ended up with this idiot to start with?

They have to be removed. And if it means revolution, then to paraphrase, let's make the most of it!

[sendero]

10. Nonsense..

... if you think it's bad now, you have no freaking idea.

[tabasco]

6. I'm afraid you don't know how important an impartial judiciary ..

is to this Nation. Our freedom, what remains of it, is dependent on the Bill of Rights. If the neocons pack the courts with politically-biased judges, we can kiss liberty goodbye.

Do you really want to be searched without any reason whatsoever?

Do you want abortion outlawed?

Do you want to lose your right to free speech?

I could go on and on. We have lost too much of our liberty already under this evil regime.

[El Supremo]

11. None of those issues has affected me or anyone I know yet.

But the war deaths and our economy certainly have.

Look, I appreciate the Democratic Senators standing up for something. We were dealt quite a blow in November. But, we should be going for the jugular. The Downing Street Memo and the prisoner abuses should have been turned into impeachable offenses.

[bonzotex]

12. this is part of that fight...

Yeah it's mind numbing, yeah there is lots of bad shit going on under the radar, yeah there is a lot of criminal misconduct that has gone unpunished.

This is the gut check for the Senate Dems. They draw the line here, then they can begin truly fighting back. As long as the Dems in the Senate and House can fool themselves that there is some hope of working with the Republicans the whole country will continue to get slow rolled into the ditch.

These rules matter, arguing about them matters, because it will be through truth and rule of law that we will take our Nation back and prosecute the criminals responsible. We can't correct the wrongs or restore Constitutional rule unless we maintain some power to affect legislation while we are in the minority. We won't win back a majority unless as a party the Democrats show they will fight and not compromise on principle any more.

If the Dems fail here, don't fight now, there's no hope for the party. We have to win this fight even if it means we shut down the Senate. Otherwise we will never have the chance to "go after these Bush criminals for leading us into an unjust and disastrous war"....or anything else.

[lyonn]

13. Yup, we gotta take a stand

and this issue is about as important as any, to me more so. A walk out if we fail. Make the public pay attention. Sure we risk some thinking the Dems are bad losers, well, I am a bad loser. We are losing so much because of this Admin., let's get some traction instead of our congressmen being yes men all the time.