The Deal

I guess I wouldn't be the blogger I pretend to be if I didn't comment on the compromise by 7 Republican Senators and 7 Democratic Senators regarding the filibustering of judicial nominations.

I'm not especially happy but I'm not especially outraged. I think a lot of the outrage is based on what people think will happen, basically that the Democratic Senators will use a broad brush when it comes to the term "extraordinary circumstances." And maybe that will happen. Maybe the "good faith" deal is a sham. Maybe they'll continue to use the filibuster regularly.

But maybe they won't. Maybe those 7 Democrats won't filibuster a nominee to the Supreme Court who would overturn Roe. If they're open to giving up or down votes to Bill Pryor, Janice Rogers Brown, and Priscilla Owen (nominees whom pro-choice organizations despised) it seems to me that it would be extremely difficult for them to filibuster nominees with similar ideologies and judicial views.

I always try to find the silver lining and the main one for me besides the future confirmation of qualified prolife judges is: How embarrassing is this for Planned Parenthood, NARAL and all the other organizations that continuously called Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown, and Bill Pryor "extreme?" NARAL even continues to call them the President's "absolute worst nominees." Those three seemed to be the main focus of the filibusters and now they're going to get up or down votes and be confirmed for lifetime appointments on the appeals court level. That's gotta burn.

NARAL's statement from Nancy Keenan thinly hides the angst she must be feeling knowing that in the near future that Bush's "absolute worst nominees" will be confirmed.

Even though they try to add a positive spin, Planned Parenthood is mostly negative in their assessment of the compromise. There are no party cakes at Planned Parenthood since "U.S. senators agreed to allow extremist judges one step closer to the federal courts."

They must feel that all those pro-choice Senators have turned their backs on them, allowing the most "extreme" nominees to receive votes.