All this compromise did was pass the buck to another day, while allowing three extremist judges to be elevated to lifetime appointments on federal appeals courts.

"I think they did what the Senate very often does," said Ross K. Baker, a professor of political science at Rutgers University and a longtime student of the Senate. "They kicked the can down the road. They basically postponed a crisis and set up the predicate for another one in the future on the Supreme Court nomination."

Check the language of the compromise. Check Sen. Mike DeWine's statement, with which Lindsay Graham agreed:

Some of you who are looking at the language may wonder what some of the clauses mean. The understanding is – and we don’t think this will happen – but if an individual senator believes in the future that a filibuster is taking place under something that’s not extraordinary circumstances, we of course reserve the right to do what we could have done tomorrow which is to cast a yes vote for the constitutional option.

The Washington Post article linked above makes it clearer:

The only U.S. Senator to vote against the Patriot Act, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), speaks on the compromise:

This is not a good deal for the U.S. Senate or for the American people. Democrats should have stood together firmly against the bullying tactics of the Republican leadership abusing their power as they control both houses of Congress and the White House. Confirming unacceptable judicial nominations is simply a green light for the Bush administration to send more nominees who lack the judicial temperament or record to serve in these lifetime positions. I value the many traditions of the Senate, including the tradition of bipartisanship to forge consensus. I do not, however, value threatening to disregard an important Senate tradition, like occasional unlimited debate, when necessary. I respect all my colleagues very much who thought to end this playground squabble over judges, but I am disappointed in this deal.

The worst, the compromise is in. Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown and William Pryor are in. Total capitulation by Democrats. Total victory for Frist. Let them spin it how they want, it's a loss for the Democrats. Henry Saad of Michigan is the fall guy. He won't get a vote. No one cared about him anyway. That's tossing the Dems a chicken bone.

Ken Salazar. Traitor. Democrats will remember this when he runs for re-election. He's been in the Senate a few months - most of his moves have been Republican-light. Another Joe Lieberman. He'll probably go the way of Ben Nighthorse Campbell in a few years.

Harry Reid had 49 votes. We would have won. There's a blogger conference call to discuss the deal and Senator Reid’s Reaction at 8:15 tonight. Go to MyDD and Swing State Project and Daily Kos for details. I have a dinner meeting and I'm too angry, anyway.

We don't have a "Republic" tonight. We have a total Republican regime. Welcome to the Theocracy.

Thanks to Ian of Political Teen for putting up the video of today's Connected Coast to Coast segment in which Paul Rieckhoff of Operation Truth and I debate media bias in military reporting. We discussed media coverage in the war zone, Newsweek, the Pat Tillman reporting and a little more. Phil Bronstein guest hosted for Ron Reagan. I agreed with everything he said and much of what Paul said. I don't think Monica was convinced, but she argues really well for her side.

The Sargeant of Arms called all Senators to the floor this afternoon. The vote on Priscilla Owen is at high noon tommorrow. Bloggers will be live blogging through the night and tomorrow. Senator Reid has 49 votes. We need two more.

Chief Blogs and where to go for news first: Swing State Project, and of course, Daily Kos. If you're live blogging, put a note in the comments.

I'll begin around 9pm Mountain Time. Markos of Daily Kos has an excellent summary of where things stood as of Midnight last night.

Blog coverage will include links to Senators' speeches as soon as we can get them, and in some cases, full transcripts. And anything else we learn that we think readers will be interested in.

In a great effort to stop the Republican abuse of power, Princeton's "Filibuster for Democracy" Protest has spread to 50 filibusters in 34 states. These kids are awesome!

Call them for interviews. Hear it from the next generation what is at stake tomorrow. Judges are appointed for life; those Bush puts on the bench will shape their adult lives.

It's almost time. Sen. Frist has scheduled an all-nighter in the Senate. Cots have been brought in.

Cots were brought into the Capitol Monday as Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist scheduled an all-night session stretching into Tuesday to dramatize the debate over President Bush’s judicial nominees and the filibusters that Democrats have used to block votes on 10 of them.

David at Daily Kos says "All Hands on Deck."

The battle to preserve the rights of minority political factions - and the public interests those factions represent - is about to be fully joined. Here are the simple steps you need to take to gear up for the fight to save the filibuster.

The timing is a bit uncertain still, but it will be fast and you have to move. Stay by a computer. Bookmark the links.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear only one case today. It involves parental notification rights in abortion cases. Scotus blog reports:

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide a long-unsettled issue of abortion law: the standard to be used in judging the constitutionality of a restriction on a women's right to end a pregnancy. The question is whether such a restriction is to be upheld if there is any circumstance in which it could be applied constitutionally. The Court for some time has not followed that approach in abortion cases, but has never explicitly repudiated it. The working standard the Court has applied is whether a restriction, as written, would put a burden on the abortion rights of a significant number of women.

The Supreme Court has refused to hear the cases of Mexican citizens on death row in the U.S. For the time being. The case is Medellin v. Dretke, 04-5928.

The Supreme Court on Monday turned aside an appeal by a Mexican citizen on death row in Texas who contended he and 50 other Mexicans should have their death sentences overturned because they were improperly denied legal help from their consulates in violation of international law.

Over the dissents of Justices Scalia and Thomas, the Supreme Court today ruled that defendants cannot be placed in front of the jury in shackles.

The Supreme Court, brushing aside warnings by two justices that it was jeopardizing courthouse safety, ruled Monday it is unconstitutional to force capital murder defendants to appear before juries in chains and shackles.

Justices threw out the sentence of Carman Deck, who was shackled in leg irons and handcuffed to a chain around his belly when he faced a Missouri jury that put him on death row.

The opinion is here.

The Detroit Free Press has a report on abuse at a privately owned juvenile prison. The Governor is trying to close the facility.

Since its opening in 1999, though, parents of inmates have alleged physical, sexual and mental abuse at the Michigan Youth Correctional Facility in Baldwin. A watchdog agency has accused the Florida-based GEO Group Inc., which owns and operates the prison, of neglecting inmates' health, education and rehabilitation. One sign of trouble, critics say, is the high number of suicide attempts from last October through March.