Furious Frist Finally Focused For Filibuster [Jack M.]

And it's about damn time.

Apparently, Sen. Frist has had just about enough of John McCain's posturing and preening and has threatened to kill the Arizona Senator's "Jihadi Protection Act" unless the Senator agrees to re-write the bill to change provisions that have drawn White House/Intelligence Community objections.

How is he going to do it?

The old fashioned way: by filibuster.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist signaled yesterday that he and other White House allies will filibuster a bill dealing with the interrogation and prosecution of detainees if they cannot persuade a rival group of Republicans to rewrite key provisions opposed by President Bush.

Frist's chief of staff, Eric M. Ueland, called the dissidents' bill "dead."

Heh. I, for one, hope that they do follow through on this threat and force the debate to the Senate floor prior to the recess. I would love to see, say, Mitch McConnell and Jeff Sessions debate John McCain and Lindsey "Wagner" Graham on the "gob smackingly vile" interrogation technique of "belly slapping".

But Frist struck a more jarring tone, telling reporters that the trio's bill is unacceptable despite its majority support.

For a bill to pass, Frist said, "it's got to preserve our intelligence programs," including the CIA's aggressive interrogation techniques, and it must "protect classified information from terrorists." He said that "the president's bill achieves those two goals" but that "the Warner-McCain-Graham bill falls short."

What's interesting, as well, is that Frist is taking a harder stand publicly than the White House is taking on this issue. Good Cop, Bad Cop? His 2008 ambitions taking over here? Or feedback from the base that it's time to smack McCain around a little. I think a little of all 3 is playing out.

You know the only thing that would make this even more entertaining?

If McCain's bill were to be defeated by a "secret hold". Should the filibuster not occur, I hope that someone will place one on the underlying bill, if one does not lie against it already.

I'd pay to watch those fireworks.

posted by Ace at 06:32 PM

| Access Comments