I originally flipped my lid over this, but I'm now in wait-and-see mode.

My gut tells me that the Republicans caved because they don't have the heart to fight it out. Others see this as simply a tactical retreat to set up victory at a later date.

I hope I'm wrong and they're right.

It remains on the table in the same way a flat-tax is "on the table." Yeah, it COULD be brought up, but given the backbone showed by Republicans BEFORE the deal, the chances of them invoking it now are more remote.

Basically, the deal just kept the status quo for the Dems ("we won't filibuster unless we want to") and in return for this, the GOP sold at least 2 nominees down the river (possibly more).

McCain & Byrd are behind this.

There's no way in hell this can be good for conservatives.

*Whistles, looks around, will not sink to saying "toldja so".

"*Whistles, looks around, will not sink to saying "toldja so"."

Your restraint is admirable if not premature. You can say 'toldja so' when the gang of seven vote to go nuclear when the Dems break their end of the bargain. The former being speculation, the latter being inevitable.

The worst part of the "deal" had nothing to do with judician confirmations per se: Dems can (and probably will) filibuster, and the Republicans can still break the filibuster. The "deal" exists only between 14 Senators out of 100, and is not binding in any case.

The worst part has to do with the loss of prestige by Bill Frist. He was very publicly pantsed by rogue elements in his own party, and his authority as Majority Leader is now in tatters. DeLay, whatever you may think of him, would never have allowed this to happen. Neither would Newt Gingrich. First may be a decent man and a good Republican, but has shown himself to be fairly inept and enforcing Party discipline.

Sooner or later the Democrats are going to filibuster a nominee to prevent a vote they know they're going to lose, and at that point Frist may very well drag out the "nuclear option" again. I don't think it will happen on Bolton; more likely it will be over the opening Supreme Court seat which Rehnquist will vacate upon his retirement.

This "deal" pushed the logjam a little bit more downstream, but severely weakened Frist in the process. He's going to have to exercise iron control in the next few months to recoup his lost ground.

I'm actually still pretty annoyed about the deal, as it cemented my opposition to my homestate senator, Olympia Snowe.

I would love to think this is a good move by the Republicans and that they are going to show guts if the Democrats filibuster a nominee, but I'm reminded of a line from the Princess Bride:

Buttercup: We'll never survive.
Westley: Nonsense. You're only saying that because no one ever has.

I still have some serious doubts.

"a tactical retreat to set up victory at a later date."

Seriously Warden, when has our party ever been smart enough to pull something like that off? Let's face it, we got rolled. I'd like to see this thing in a positive light, but when Robert Bryd gets to decide what constitutes "extraordinary circumstances" there's just no way to sugar coat it.

I wasn't so much outraged by the deal as mildly disgusted and thinking I should stop following politics so closely. I'm still sorry the Repubs didn't go nuclear.

As far back as Bork's nomination in the 1980s, the Dems have adopted scorched-earth tactics to achieve their goals, and in the process they've made partisan politics a lot more toxic than they used to be. In order to justify their tactics they've had to convince themselves and everyone alse that their opponents were pure evil; that's one reason why they portray a not-too-conservative guy like Bush as the second coming of Hitler. The congressional Dems need a costly, punitive slap-down, to show them that mindless obstructionism and character assassination don't pay. In foreign policy, Bush understands that there's a time to talk and a time to act, but when it comes to dealing with Congress he's every bit as delusional as Kerry.

At the end of the day, the only thing the Democrats are going to remember about this deal is that the Republicans blinked; they didn't carry out their threat. They'll filibuster again, sooner rather than later, and then we'll have to go through this whole sorry dance all over again.

THIS DEAL SUCKS! And it only forestalls the day when Republicans will have to use the nuclear option. Wonder if they have the votes and the balls to do so after chickening out this time.

Seriously Warden, when has our party ever been smart enough to pull something like that off? Let's face it, we got rolled

I'm not arguing that. Others are. I believe exactly as you do, but because only time will tell who is correct, I'm going to just wait and see.

Like I said, I hope I'm wrong. If I'm not, you'll see me do a whole lotta ranting.

The main point remains, the 7 pubs are weasels, with the two most weasily (new word) being McCain and Graham.

Graham may just now be figuring out that he had the most to lose from this deal, outside of Frist, and that he is seeing that he will pay a price.

I keep hearing that if it works and ends the contentious attitude then he and McCain will be the winners. Some people dont get it. Even if this works they have shown thier colors and have lost the loyalty of the party's base.

My gut tells me that the Republicans caved because they don't have the heart to fight it out. Others see this as simply a tactical retreat to set up victory at a later date.

This is no time for a "coalition of the chillin'" or a bunch of pubs who are so tired of all this shit they're starting to make up stories and excuses for shit like this. It doesn't take a mindreader to see what's going on here: a few ambitious or gutless politicians managed to defeat their own majority and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. When it comes down to it the next time around mark my words: if they caved when the stakes weren't so high and the price cheap, they'll cave when both the stakes and the price are enormous and every Liberal in this country is shrieking about how their Supreme Court nominee is worse than Hitler!

The Senate just voted 56-42 to block a final vote on Bolton, so I'd say the filabuster agreement "saved our republic" for a whopping 3 days. Holy Hell it sucks to be Bill Frist these days.

The problem with rolling over on the fillabusting is that the dems have undeservingly slimed too many people's reputations and have still managed to block too many deserving and qualified people. What they did to Pickering and Saad (sp?) is disgusting. And as nordicgirl has pointed out, they compromised for what? They couldn't even get a vote on Bolton. [How come no comments on the weeping senator from Ohio, by the way? ]

The president should have a right to appoint his own representative to the UN. He shd have the right to appt his own cabinet without them being slandered and embarassed. I can't believe Biden got away with his "Hey Boss" schtick at Rice's hearings. I feel like I'm living in this alternative universe where a repub or nonliberal can't look cross-eyed at someone without being run through the wringer while the lefties get away with murder.

Wake up and smell the comity.