People For the American Way Foundation (PFAW), the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), NARAL Pro-Choice America, the Sierra Club, and the Alliance for Justice have released this Statement on Bipartisan Discussions Regarding the Judicial Confirmation Process:

• We oppose strongly the nuclear option and the efforts to eliminate the filibuster, the last check and balance in the legislative branch of the federal government. The Frist-Lott-Rove attempts to change Senate rules by breaking them are unprecedented and irresponsible. We oppose any effort to take away the right of any Senator to filibuster now or in the future.

by TChris

By insisting that Republicans play by a fair set of rules, House Democrats apparently achieved a victory today.

Speaker J. Dennis Hastert said this morning that Republicans were ready to relent on rules changes that have left the ethics committee unable to do any work.

House Republicans endured some just criticism for their attempt to shield Tom DeLay's alleged ethical violations from scrutiny. As a face-saving measure, Hastert claimed that restoration of the original rules for ethics investigations will give DeLay a chance to clear his name.

Sen. Bill Frist has rejected the Democrat's offer to pass a few of Bush's judicial picks in exchange for not forcing a vote on the nuclear option which would ban filibustering of judicial, cabinet and other nominees.

Daily Kos says it's a huge tactical blunder by Frist that played right into the hand of Democratic Minority Leader Sen. Harry Reid.

Reid got the Democrats to look conciliatory, forcing Frist and his Republicans to look even more inflexible than before. Damn the guy is good. I'm glad he's on our side.

Agreed. I could have lived with the confirmation of the two Michigan judges to the 6th Circuit as outlined in the compromise offer, but not Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown, William Pryor or William Myers. Sen. Reid said he would not compromise on these most extremist nominations, and he didn't.

Abdullah at the Ranch. First, check out OHarmony. Then the thinking person's version. [hat tip Atrios.]

President Bush today gave new support to embattled Texas Congressman Tom DeLay. They appeared together at a social security event in Texas. And then the President gave DeLay a ride back to D.C. on Air Force One.

White House aides underscored Bush's backing for DeLay -- who has denied wrongdoing -- as he joined the president at a Social Security event in their home state of Texas. Bush and DeLay flew back to Washington together aboard Air Force One.

Bush made no mention of the ethics controversy but he praised DeLay's efforts on important legislation. "I appreciate the leadership of Congressman Tom DeLay in working on important issues that matter to the country," he said. White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters Bush supports DeLay "as strongly as he ever has, which is strongly."

Meanwhile, back at the capitol, Republicans are giving serious consideration to repealing the ethics law changes it recently enacted that required at least one Republican to vote to investigate a Congressman.

People For the American Way has developed a chart compiled from Congressional Research Service data that lists the judicial and executive branch nominees filibustered prior to the Bush administration. Twenty-six of the filibusters – more than three-quarters of the total – were initiated by Senate Republicans.

You can view the chart here (pdf).

MoveOn PAC is springing into action to retain judicial filibusters. This week's events:

• 150 rallies are planned at courthouses in 48 states to
  oppose the nuclear option on Wed.;
• MoveOn PAC has launched two new TV ads-- an ad called "Stampeding Elephants" on national CNN & local cable; as well as a "Gavel" ad in cities of targeted Senators; and
• Al Gore will headline the MoveOn PAC rally in DC tomorrow at noon. To listen to Al Gore's DC speech at noon EST, the teleconference line is: 1-800-540-0559; Code: Judges.

by TChris

Another former colleague of John Bolton has advanced the opinion that Bolton's lack of diplomatic skills makes him an inappropriate choice to serve as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

[Frederick] Vreeland, who worked with Bolton in the early 1990s under the first President Bush, said Bolton "dealt with visitors to his office as if they were servants with whom he could be dismissive, curt and negative."

"He spoke of the U.N. as being the enemy," Vreeland added in the e-mail sent Friday to Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware. The e-mail was first reported by Time magazine. "It is totally erroneous to speak of Bolton as a diplomat."

According to Vreeland, if the Bush administration's policy is "not to reform the U.N but to destroy it" -- and that very well may be the Bush administration's unstated policy -- "Bolton is our man."

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll out Monday night shows the majority of Americans oppose the nuclear option by a 2 to 1 margin. They want to preserve the filibuster. They get it. The radical right, for all its self-puffery, is not the mainstream. It don't speak for America.

The poll also shows dwindling support for Bush's social security reform plan involving privatized accounts and for Bush himself:

Bush's standing with the public was at or near new lows, with less than half the public supporting the way the president is handling the economy, energy policy and Iraq.

Taken together, the findings suggest that Bush is off to a difficult start in his second term, with Democrats far less willing to accommodate him and his agenda than his reelection victory last November may have foreshadowed. Beyond that, the survey highlights the divisions within the Republican Party, whether that involves Bush's signature Social Security proposal or the intersection of religion and politics that has become a defining characteristic of today's GOP.

MSM has been reporting recently that the Democrats invented the term "nuclear option." Not so. Media Matters and Josh Marshall trace the birth of the term to Republican Senator Trent Lott.

the term "nuclear option" -- referring to the Republican-proposed Senate rule change that would prohibit filibusters of judicial nominations -- was coined by one of its leading advocates, Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS). But since Republican strategists judged the term "nuclear option" to be a liability, they have urged Senate Republicans to adopt the term "constitutional option." Many in the media have complied with the Senate Republicans' shift in terminology and repeated their attribution of the term "nuclear option" to the Democrats.

Media Matters has an exhaustive history of the use of the term. Jeff Toobin also credited Lott with the phrase, and provides some context, in this New Yorker article:

Crooks and Liars has a CBS video clip from Walter Cronkite's September 25th, 1968 broadcast with W GOP Sen. Robert Griffin justifying the Republican's use of the filibuster to block President Johnson's nominee Abe Fortus for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. As we noted here, Republicans have been inaccurately describing such use of the filuster as "unprecedented." [link fixed]

Senator Bill Frist and the Republicans would have the American people believe that if the nuclear option passes and the Senate rules are changed to prevent filibustering of judges, that the Democrats will bring the Senate to a standstill.

It's simply not true. What will end is the Democrats' deference to the Republicans in setting the legislative agenda.

This morning I had the opportunity to participate in a blogger conference call with Sen. Harry Reid. Here is some of what I learned during the call.

Traditionally, the party in power sets the agenda. So far during this Administration, the Democrats have gone along, and as a result, the Republicans were able to pass bankruptcy reform and their highway and class action bills.

If Frist and the Republicans insist on bringing the nuclear option to a vote and win, the Democrats will no longer allow the Republicans to set the agenda. Using a Senate procedural rule called Rule XIV, the Democrats will introduce their own bills and insist that they be heard and voted upon. Not just any bills, but bills on issues the Democrats care deeply about.