Let's Get Ready to Rumble II

Last week while I was jonesin' for judges I had a little something to say about Bush's disastrous plan to re-nominate 20 people that failed to get a vote or got fillibustered first term. They were rejected for a reason.

In the hubub over the Dr. Phil appearance with Lil' Russ I neglected to mention that several Democratic senators, including our new leader, showed some chutzpah on this issue over the weekend, sending a big shot across the Frist's bow.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has vowed to tie the Senate into procedural knots if Frist tries to change the filibuster rule. "It will be very difficult to get even the most routine work done in the Senate," Reid spokesman Jim Manley said in an interview Sunday.
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But Salazar argued that changing the Senate rules to ensure confirmation of Bush's nominees would wreck any chances for bipartisanship on a range of issues. "It's going to be a bloody fight," he said. "And I would hope it can be avoided."
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So far, though, Democrats seem in no mood to back down. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., responded to Bush's plan to renominate the 20 judicial candidates by accusing Bush of ignoring the Senate's constitutional role to provide "advice and consent" on presidential nominees.

"This opening shot shows he will only be happy if every judge is approved. which is not what the Founding Fathers intended," Schumer said.

This is exactly the message Democratic senators should be sending. It is not up to the minority party to compromise or meet the majority party halfway. The Republicans' definition of compromise has been "do what we want, or else." Well I say screw that; we have nothing more to lose by losing. It is time to stand and be counted. No compromise for the sake of compromise. We do so only where it is good for the country and the people we represent. We stand on principle. We enunciate a clear message and plan on the important issues. We stand in stark contrast to the so-called values they espouse. We are on the right side of history. Let them do in blink of an eye what it took the Democrats to do in two generations. We help them implode under the weight of their own arrogance.