Senate filibuster showdown averted / COMPROMISE: 14 senators craft agreement to allow vote on some judicial nominees
It is said that the U. S. Senate is the World's most exclusive club. Yesterday we found out that the most exclusive club may consist of Senators, but not all 100 are members. I believe that the most exclusive club is the 14 Senators who exercised common sense in the face of tremendous pressure from their own "leadership". It appears that there are too many Senators who for one reason (extreme ideology) or another (fear of party retribution) felt it was better to ride the party line to a nuclear disaster rather than explore compromise. What really bothers me is the "leadership's" response to the progress made by the "gang of 14". Not only did the "leadership" not contribute to the compromise, they failed to support it after it was reached. Now, here is where I should rail against the 86 Senators who either drove the Senate to the precipice, or sat back and waited for impact. I won't be that cliche.
If you read the media coverage, the real leadership of the senate is obvious. The leaders are Mr. Perkins (Family Research Council) and Mr. Neas (People for the American Way). These two have both gone as far as to insinuate that the voters will retaliate at the polls over this compromise. READ: The voter's on our mailing list, phone lists, and e-mail lists. I hope there is retribution. I just hope that 86 people are nervous, and not the 14 people who thought about the country above their radical party contributors.
Another group that needs to be chastised here is the media. What the heck are they doing giving inches and inches of column space, or minutes and minutes of air time to the opinions of these extremist organizations. Except for one or two lines of poll results, I have seen nothing that addresses the public's feelings on this. I am glad that Mr. Perkins of the Family Research Council has an opinion, and I'm glad he has the right to share it. Now, give me a quote from Joe Voter in Stearns County, Minnesota. I just wish Joe Voter's 1 vote carried as much weight as Mr. Perkins. The only way we are going to bring these votes into balance is to listen as closely to Mr. Perkins as we listen to Joe Voter. It would be even better if we listened as much to Joe Voter as we do to Mr. Perkins. The point is we need to listen to both of them in equal measure.
CALL TO ACTION: Where were your Senators Monday night? If they weren't in Senator McCain's office practicing statesmanship and dealing with the hard issues of the people's business, help find them other, more suitable, employment the next time they re-apply to you for their job. If they were cowering behind the party banner instead of carrying it into the battle of negotiations and compromise, send them home when their tour is up.
Minnesota, it seems that Senator Coleman is comfortable as President Bush's and the radical Republican's lap dog. He did some great things for Saint Paul, and I'm thankful for that. I'm afraid that he is so close to the President that if you pulled them apart, Senator Coleman would need a skin graft. As for Senator Dayton, he is already playing the role of lame duck. It's unfortunate that the fire that won him this seat burned out so shortly after he took it.
In 2006, please seek out and support a Senate candidate that would be welcome in Senator McCain's office. Put your support and your vote with a candidate who listens more to you than he or she does to Mr. Perkins or Mr. Naes.
