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November 02, 2005

The Breaking of the Fellowship: Graham, DeWine Announce They'll Go Nuclear If Alito Is Filibustered

And we only need two of the seven to force a 50-50 tie, Cheney casts the tie-breaking vote.

That seems to have quieted noise about filibustering him:

After a brief flurry of filibuster talk immediately following Alito's nomination, Senate Democrats now are taking a wait-and-see stance.
"I don't know a single Democrat who is saying that it's time for a filibuster, that we should really consider it," said Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat, after meeting with Alito Wednesday. "It's way too early."

Nelson said he had received assurances from Alito "that he wants to go to the bench without a political agenda, that he is not bringing a hammer and chisel to hammer away and chisel away on existing law."

As annoyed as we all get with the RINOs, they do occasionally vote our way.

posted by Ace at 06:48 PM

Comments

I think DeWine is up for reelection in 06. I also think he got the message.

Posted by: Dave in Texas on November 2, 2005 07:00 PM

I think you underestimate the value of what the "RINOs" did. By making the compromise, they set the GOP up to go nuclear - if need be - with less public backlash. Because of that compromise, RINOs like me are now like, "hell yeah, pull the trigger on those obstructionist bastards if they fillibuster."

Or, alternately, put the Dems in their place w/o having to go nuclear.

Posted by: Bill from INDC on November 2, 2005 07:35 PM

I was ready for Carolinians to abort Edwards for his mini-McCain behavior but lately he's gotten the message. I was especially pleased to see him stand up against the $250 million Alaskan bridge. I wish all my senators had done the same. Brit Hume or Chris Wallace need to get some Republican senators like Liz Dole on their show to explain why they couldn't cut any pork to pay for New Orleans.

Posted by: waelse1 on November 2, 2005 07:37 PM

THIS is why I was always a member of the Coalition of the Chillin', as some of the good folks over at RedState dubbed it. Graham and DeWine have always been a bit flakey, IMHO, but I knew that when push came to shove they, along with McCain (who has to pay the piper SOMEDAY if he wants to run in '08) and Warner, would push the Big Red Button if necessary.

Oh, and Ben Nelson (D-NE) also praised Alito today. Done deal, boys and girls.

And now: the John Paul Stevens Deathwatch.

Posted by: Jeff B. on November 2, 2005 07:38 PM

No crap, Jeff B. Did you see Stevens swearing in Roberts? Dead man walkin'!

Posted by: JFH on November 2, 2005 08:27 PM

If Stevens retires (or dies - he's what, 85?), the moonbats will freak. Three, count them, three Supremes appointed by Chimpy McSmirkerer.

That will be fun.

Posted by: Pixy Misa on November 2, 2005 08:30 PM

Stevens will not retire with a republican in the whitehouse. For he, too, is a moonbat.

Posted by: on November 2, 2005 08:45 PM

May he denotnate right in the middle of the senate or right where TED KENNEDY will be sitting

Posted by: spurwing plover on November 2, 2005 09:05 PM

HEY! That Graham feller is MY Senator! Oh, wait, that should embarass me... Never mind, sorry...

Posted by: chip on November 2, 2005 09:23 PM

I'm afraid this is why Reid pulled that closed session stunt, and there will be more to come soon: by being deliberately antagonistic, the Dems are preparing the ground for the media to spin the Constitutional option -- when it comes -- as petty partisan payback rather than a matter of constitutional principle.

Posted by: quiggs on November 2, 2005 09:25 PM

Let me pose a dangerous question. Suppose Stevens or one of the other left-wing justices shuffles off the mortal coil. Would it then be okay for Bush to appoint someone less conservative like Gonzales or... Gonzales? The court would still be left, on balance, more conservative.

Posted by: V the K on November 3, 2005 07:29 AM

Suppose Stevens or one of the other left-wing justices shuffles off the mortal coil. Would it then be okay for Bush to appoint someone less conservative like Gonzales or... Gonzales?

No. His oath was to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States to the best of his ability. His understanding of the Constitution and the consensus of those who elected him preclude the appointment of justices who ignore that document.

Posted by: VRWC Agent on November 3, 2005 08:13 AM

Being from SC, I ripped Graham a new one on my blog and in a letter to him for his role in "The Gang." I got a nice three paged typed letter back explaining the action.

I still disagreed with it and him on that issue, but I don't think Lindsey "Vice President" Graham is a RINO. Yeah, he follows "President" McCain too much on some peripheral issues. But as shown by his stance in cutting pork, he is more conservative than RINO and a lot more conservative than many other Republicans. Of course he is not close to being as conservative as SC's other senator - Jim DeMint.

Posted by: Aaron on November 3, 2005 08:59 AM

How could the Democrats in the Gang try to justify a fillibuster of a guy who get praise from sources like this?

It's a done deal. He's in.

Posted by: Hubris on November 3, 2005 09:21 AM

I'm glad that I'm a little bit older now and know that the threat of a filibuster is way more powerful than, you know, an actual filibuster.

Posted by: tachyonshuggy on November 3, 2005 10:08 AM

The whole allusion to the LotRFotR is hilarious.

I do think that Peter Jackson was unfair to Faramir and Boromir though. Lets see, the not-too-bright prince, maybe McCain? The sensitive, not quite as strong brother, maybe Nelson?

Posted by: joeindc44 on November 3, 2005 11:07 AM

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TJM definitively ranks the films of David Lean

Mayor Karen is so stung by fan-made AI ads that she's resorting to the shitlibs' go-to demand for an end to criticism -- these ads are "violent" and "hateful" and making me feel unsafe because one video showed AI cartoons throwing tomatoes at me and the tomatoes looked like blood when they squished
This was her actual complaint. The mushed-up tomato looked like blood so it's a death threat and these violent attacks on me must stop. What is dis bitch, CNN?

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MacDonald's old partner Adam Egot revealed that MacDonald repurposed a bit with one of his ventriloquist dolls -- that he was a "bad guy" who "didn't believe the Holocaust happened" -- for the Norm MacDonald show, in which he claimed Egot didn't believe in the Holocaust.

Funniest thing I've read about the Virginia mess. Back when they were hustling the referendum through the assembly both Senators, Warner and Kaine, advised them to go slow and play by the rules. Louise Lucas said she respected them but didn't need advice from the "cuck chair" in the corner. The gerrymandering was overturned and Louise is heading for the big house. Edward G. Robinson voice "where's your cuck now?"
Posted by: Smell the Glove

I posted his post on twitter and it's gotten 25K views so far. Thanks, Smell the Glove

Chris
@chriswithans

"Ahhhhh ahh I put my career on the line for Louise Lucas and Jay Jones thinking they'd vault me into presidential contention and we ended up costing Democrats 20 House seats and unleashing a Reverse Dobbs ahhhhh ahhh"

Forgotten 80s Mystery Click That Sums Up the Democrat Communist Party Today
Something is wrong as I hold you near
Somebody else holds your heart, yeah
You turn to me with your icy tears
And then it's raining, feels like it's raining

TJM wonders about world building in stories, mostly The Hunger Games

"It's f**king f**ked."
-- reportedly a genuine comment offered by a "senior Labour source"
Correction: I wrote that Labour is losing 88% (now 87%) of the seats it is "defending." I think that's wrong. The right way to say it is the seats they are contesting -- that is, they don't necessarily already hold these seats, but they have put up a candidate to run for the seat. It's still very bad but not as bad as losing 87% of the seats they already held.

Basil the Great
@BasilTheGreat

🚨ED MILIBAND [a Minister in Starmer's government] SAYS KEIR STARMER WILL RESIGN AS PRIME MINISTER

He has reportedly reassured Labour MP's that Starmer will be resigning following the disastrous results tonight

It's over

"The end of the two party system in the UK" as first the Fake Conservatives and now Labour chooses political suicide rather than simply STOPPING THE INVASION
Incidentally, the only reason this didn't already happen in the US is because of the Very Bad Orange Man (who is right on 85% of all policy calls and extremely, existentially right on 15% of them)

No political party that is NOT also a doomsday religious cult would EVER choose a cataclysmic loss -- and possible extinction as a party -- to support a toxically unpopular favoritism of NON-CITIZEN ILLEGAL MIGRANTS over actual citizen voters.

Only a cult does this.

Now they've lost 84%.

Annunziata Rees-Mogg
@zatzi
If this continues Labour loses 2,148 seats tonight.

That is much worse than the worst case predictions I’ve seen.

Cataclysmic

Update: They've now lost 88% of the seats they're defending. As I mentioned earlier, I think I heard that London will not bail them out, as many of those Labour seats will probably flip to "Muslim Independent" or Green. Detroit's 5am vote will not save them.

Yup, Labour is losing 80% of its seats...

The British Patriot
@TheBritLad

🚨 BREAKING: Labour have lost 80% of all seats contested as of 2:25 AM.<
br> If this continues, Keir Starmer will be out of office next week.

Reform has surged and projected to pick up between 1700-2100 seats.

Wow, up to 1700-2100 seats. It's not incredible that this is happening. It's incredible that the Davos crowd is so absolutely determined to privilege Muslim "migrants" over the actual native population who elects them, no matter how loudly the natives scream that they want to be prioritized, that they will gladly self-extinguish as a party rather than simply representing the interests of their own voters. Astonishing.
Remember, when they call other people "cultists" -- they are the ones so imprisoned in their social reinforcement and discipline bubbles that they will choose political death rather than dare upset the Karen Enforcement Officers of their cult.
Update: Now they've lost 83% of the seats they were defending.

(((Dan Hodges)))
@DPJHodges

Reform are basically wiping Labour out in the North. It's not a defeat. It's not even a rout. Labour are simply ceasing to exist.

Nick Lowles
@lowles_nick

Tonight’s results are calamitous for Labour. Not just for Keir Starmer's leadership, but for the very future of the party

STARMERGEDDON: In early returns, Reform gains 135 seats, Labour loses 90, the Fake Conservatives lose 36 (and I didn't even know they could fall any further), the Lib Dems lose 4, and the Greens gain 6. Note that the only other party gaining seats is the Greens and they're only gaining a handful of seats.
Update: Reform now up 145, Labour down 98.
Labour projected to lose Wales -- where they've ruled for 27 years.
Fulton County Georgia just discovered 400 boxes of ballots for Labour
Update: REF +156, LAB -107, CON -45
Brutal: In four out of five council seats where Labour is defending, they've lost. 80%.
I'm sure it's not this simple, but Reform is straight taking Labour's and the "Conservatives'" seats. They've lost almost exactly what Reform gained. If understand this right (and warning, I probably don't), all of London's council seats are up for election, and Labour might lose hugely there, as their old voters abandon them for Reform, Muslim Indenpendents, and the Greens.
REF +190, LAB -134, CON -56.

Updates on the Labour collapse in council elections -- which wags are calling #Starmergeddon -- from Beege Welborne. There are about 5000 seats up for grabs, Labour is expected to lose 1,800, Reform will probably gain 1,580, up from... zero. So this would be more than that.
People claim that while Labour has adopted the Sharia Agenda to appeal to the million Muslims it allowed to migrate to the country, those voters are ditching Labour to vote for the Muslim Independent Party or the Greens. Delicious. This shadenfreude is going straight to my thighs.
Oh, and if Starmer loses about as badly as expected, Labour will toss him out of a window Braveheart style and replace him. He will announce he is resigning to spend more time with his Gay Ukrainian Male Prostitutes.

Media bias and senationalism are as old as, well, the media:

That was written by Denny O'Neill and illustrated by, get this, Frank Miller. Editor to the Stars Jim Shooter was in charge at the time.
I always thought the gag was original to the comic book, but in fact the "Threat or Menace" headline was a satirical joke about media bias and sensationalism for a long while. The Harvard Lampoon used it in a parody of Life magazine: "Flying Saucers: Threat or Menace?"

Hamas is Humiliating Trump's 'Board of Peace'
[Hat Tip: TC] [CBD]