Filibuster Hullaballoo
Yesterday after work, I turned on Special Report with Brit Hume. The panel was discussing why some of President Bush's appellate court nominations are meeting resistance in the Senate. As a matter of fact, Senate Democrats are denying these nominees a vote because they feel the judges are "extremists." So they do what they can.This has always made me jumping mad. It isn't that I am opposed to a filibuster in general. They can be a valuable tool and a way to get your agenda out there. I am, however, offended at the tactics in this case. To me, judges are an integral part of law and justice. I simply don't feel that you should abandon any possibility of serving the noble and important goals of law and justice over petty political partisanship. At some point, you must get past the politics and govern. MAKE A DAMN DECISION! But Congress doesn't hold itself to this same standard. Nah. It is the Congressional equivalent of "i don' wanna and you can' make me! you're not the boss of me!", the petulant whining of a 4-year-old.
Is it possible that some of these judges are unsuitable? Of course. But if that is the case, vote "no." Then move on to the next nominee. Otherwise, you are just standing in the road. Don't obstruct justice by pulling a playground temper tantrum.
Taken another way, imagine this hypothetical circumstance:
I am upset with my current cable television provider. I feel that they are over-billing me, that the service and quality of reception are unsatisfactory, and that they are a substandard company. If I follow Congress's example, I would get rid of my cable and not replace it with something else, the replacements being equally subpar in some other way. So...no more television? No more 24-hour news?
This is ridiculous. Congress, the last time I checked, was inhabited by adults. I expect adults to fix problems, not just run around pointing fingers and screaming to talking heads. Frankly, I expect them to lead, follow, or get out of the damn way.
Noble Eagle weighs in on this too.
