That is exactly what they want you to think!!

Don't fall for it.

Liberal Spirits Squat: Ted Kennedy on a barstool at Happy Hour.

I don't think they had the votes.

I think the Republicans just pulled off a major bluff, and turned a likely humiliating floor vote defeat into a significant victory.

The reason so many Republicans feel like we lost is that this deal wasn't imposed on the Democrats by virtue of our majority in the Senate, but rather it was imposed on the majority by a band of so-called moderates Republicans banding together with the 45 Democrats to, for the most part, rule out going nuclear... no matter what Graham and DeWine might say.

Of course, the Democrats can and are saying the same thing, that this deal was 7 sell-out Democrats aligning themselves with the GOP to allow floor votes on 3 of the most despised nominees.

It's just that I don't determine victory by how bad the other side feels, but rather whether I think I ended up with what I should have ended up with... and since the filibuster still lives, I don't feel like I did end up with what I wanted.

I think there's merit to the idea that Republicans won. Very little has acutally changed, it's only been postponed. At some point, Bush will nominate someone the Democrats consider to be The Most Extreme Nominee Ever. Then we'll be right back where we are now. If I were a betting man I'd be throwing money on the table.

The better PsyOp victory is that the media is doing cartoon happy-dances over the "breakup of GOP unity". I spent enough time on the other side to recognize this pattern of folly. Let the Democrats revel in this false confidence, when the shit goes down Republicans understand how to fall in line. Watching Democrats whimper after each successive loss is kind of fun (not as much fun as when the Wonkette exit polls proved wrong, but nothing may ever beat that)

Look at this way. A judge who had been stuck in nomination for FOUR YEARS, had been vilified as the worst example of right wing extremism, was made the center of the Democrats case to uphold the filibuster, will get a floor vote tomorrow. Do I think we won.....FUCK YES

I sent a scathing e-mail to the RNC website. The only thing I kind of regret was that it was liberally sprinkled with the "fuck-word." As in "What a bunch of fucking losers," and "You'll never get another fucking PENNY from me!" Well, now that I think about it, maybe not. Naaaaahhhhhhhhhh.

I think we should keep in mind, only 7 republicans advanced this compromise. Frist has stated in very simple english that the intention of the republican leadership is to get up or down votes on ALL of the presidents nominations. He also said that the constitutional option is still available if that does not happen. This was a shady power grabbing move by McCain. We should not condemn all the republicans for this. My opinion is that while this does not abolish the filibuster, it does reduce the chance that liberals will use it. The fact that Janice R Brown will now go to a vote, implies that Democrats where full of shit when they cried that she was a radical. Remember they said "only in extreme cases" then in the next breath said "OK" to giving Janice Rogers Brown an up or down vote. This would imply to any thinking person, that any judge as conservative as Judge Brown is acceptable.

The dems have already violated the agreement. One of the signatories did not vote for cloture on the Owens debate as specifically stipulated in the agreement. This thing is Null and Void.

Forget the wording of this agreement. Do you really think the 7(or more) RINOs are going to enforce it if the 'crats use the filibuster? I doubt it. All this agreement says is that 7 RINOs are not willing to vote on the judges the president nominates, and are unwilling to allow the rest of the Senate to vote on them either. This is obvious from the fact that the 'crats got a 'deal', even though they had nothing substantial to offer the GOP...

This may have been a choice by 14 senators for comity, but its unintended consequence will be to raise the stakes on the next Supreme Court confirmation--which will decide what rules the Senate is really going to follow. A decision has been delayed, not made.

What a truly gutless bunch! When one considers the above, can you imagine how brutal the coming fight will be for the Supreme Court?