'Nuclear option' vote as soon as next Tuesday?

Daily Kos has the comprehensive wrap-up.

At this point I think I'll just post the inflamed rhetoric coming out of the mouths of the far right radical extremists and let you judge for yourself:

"I believe it's concrete," (Manuel) Miranda (chairman of the National Coalition to End the Judicial Filibuster) said. "It must happen next week. It would be considered intolerable to delay any further than next week." He added, "Were it to be delayed beyond the next week, the Senate GOP should expect tens of thousands of angry phone calls and faxes to tie up their lines." (PD's note: Formerly a senior aide to Frist, one of Miranda's responsibilities in that capacity was to screen judicial nominees.)

“We’ve made it clear that patience is running out,” said Richard Lessner, executive director of the American Conservative Union.

This from the Right Hook:

"The art of politics today is not to compromise, but to demonize," Brian Fahling of the American Family Association aptly noted on Wednesday. He was in fact referring to a recent speech by Al Gore denouncing the Republican effort to dismantle the filibuster as "an American heresy." Fahling went on to say that "Democrats like Mr. Gore wish to continue populating the federal courts with judges who fancy themselves masters of good and evil," and that "holding President Bush's nominees hostage is their only hope, as they see it, of continuing to impose their radical social agenda on a reluctant nation."

James Dobson of Focus on the Family, who previously offered glowing remarks likening Supreme Court justices to members of the Ku Klux Klan, revisited the Terri Schiavo saga in his April newsletter to constituents. "This cooperative effort between the judiciary and the media to kill an innocent woman," he said, "is one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in American history."

"Judicial hostility to faith, and especially Christianity has never been greater than today," Dobson went on. He urged supporters to pressure the seven "squishy" Republicans who haven't committed to nuking the filibuster. And he personally warned the legislators not to squander their party's rare grip on power:

"You have been made the majority in the House, in the Senate, and a Republican occupies the White House. Together they represent the coveted 'Triple Crown' of American politics. If you fritter away the responsibility to reform the courts, and if you ignore the 'values' that motivated those who supported you at the polls, you do not deserve the trust given to you."

It's only Thursday, but that last one is probably the Moneyshot Quote of the Week.

If you haven't telephoned your Senators -- no matter who they happen to be -- now would be a good time.

Update (5/11/05): Well, yesterday came and went without a vote on the 'nuclear option'. Now Dr. Kitten Killer says it will be on for next week. He's been saying 'next week' for several weeks now. The fact of the matter is that Bill Frist would call the question if he had the votes. Harry Reid called Frist's bluff yesterday; did you see his statement? I think it's incredible that Frist can't hold his caucus together with a six-vote majority (including Dick Cheney as tie breaker) and he wants to be president ...

I just want to know if all that cash paid for a duffer to go shank a few drives into the North Sea.

Busted

The Next Hurrah pulls a loose thread and unravels a big hoary (or is that whore-y) mess:

Last week I pointed out the irony that one of Bush's filibustered judicial nominees is the son of the former Republican Senator who led the last filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee. Today we'll look at another of Bush's filibustered nominees and his
connection to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

Michigan Court of Appeal Judge Henry Saad was nominated in 2001 for the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal. His confirmation was blocked, Bush renominated him, and his appointment is again stalled in the Senate. Saad's wife is Mara Letica, an attorney and vice president of her family business, Letica Corporation. In 1992 she was nominated by the elder Bush as ambassador to Croatia, but the nomination occurred late in Bush's presidency, and like her current husband, she wasn't approved by the Senate, in that case so incoming President Clinton could appoint his own ambassador. In 2004 Letica was one of 105 members of Small BusinessLeaders for Bush-Cheney '04.

The small business group was not, however, Mara Letica's only contribution to last year's presidential contest. In addition to some contributions to congressional candidates, she gave $25,000 to the Republican National Committee. (Some of her donations were recorded as "Mara Letica," others as "Mara Letica Saad," and her home address on Michigan campaign finance disclosures is identical to Judge Henry William Saad.) While some people may wish that judges and their familes come to the bench having been above partisanship, that's just not a realistic expectation, and probably shouldn't be. But after all the protests by George W. Bush, his campaign and the White House about being shocked -- SHOCKED -- to learn about the Swifties' scurrulous attacks against John Kerry, and their denials about any associations between the Swifties and the Bushies, some enterprising reporter might want to ask Bush or Scott McLellan or somebody else at the White House what they think about the wife of one of his filibustered judges giving $10,000 to Swift Boat Veterans forTruth to help them spread lies about John Kerry's military service in Vietnam.

On August 31st of 2004 Rush Limbaugh said "if you really dig deep, you might find some Clinton PAC [political action committee] money, laundered three or four different ways, found its way to the Swift Vets. But that's just me." As usual, it was just Limbaugh. In reality, you don't even have to dig that deep to find money getting to the Swift Vets straight from the Bloomfield Hills, Michigan home of a filibustered Bush judicial nominee.

Corruption as art

Salon peels back the layers of Tom DeLay's charitable organizations, political action commitees, and the cronies and hacks and lickspittles that bind them all together. And one question (at least for me) remains: what's DeLay's golf handicap?

At one time in our recent history, the mere appearance of impropriety was enough to trigger the resignation of Congressional leaders -- of both parties.

Not so with DeLay. Have you ever seen a cockroach dig in his heels and grimace?

Me neither. I mean, usually they just scuttle away.

Create a backdrop slogan for Bush's next appearance

Go to this site:

Bush Backdrop Generator

Be sure and select different photos for creative options. Hours of fun.

Moneyshot Quote of the Week

"The Republicans are out of their cotton-picking minds on this issue,'' said (Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman Charles) Munger, a self-described right-wing Republican. Social Security is "one of the most successful things that the government has ever done.''

Bold and italicized emphasis is mine.

It occurs to me that if the man who occasionally puts the reins on Warren Buffet (sixth graf) can't convince the GOP that they're screwing up ...

... that there's going to be a lot more screwups to come.

I'd go out to the lobby for more popcorn if I could say I was only watching this Saturday morning Western, and wasn't acutely aware of being in the stagecoach, with them, about to go over the cliff.