It’s been confirmed that some kind of compromise has been reached which will avoid a vote on the Dems’ filibuster tomorrow. I suppose we should wait to hear the terms before criticizing the deal. But the Dems wouldn’t have compromised if they’d had the votes. What could the Republicans have gained that would make a deal worthwhile? Beats me. It won’t be any easier next time. And, rest assured, there will be a next time. I’m afraid the Dems have staved off a losing vote tomorrow, and lived to fight again another day, on a nominee less impregnable than Priscilla Owen.
UPDATE: What a hideous deal! The Democrats have agreed to cloture on only three nominees, and they have made no commitment not to filibuster in the future, if there are “extraordinary circumstances.” Of course, the Dems think any nominee who is a Republican is “extraordinary.” The Dems have just wriggled off the hook on some of the nominees that, politically, some of them did not want to be seen voting against.
Someone explain to me why the Republicans haven’t been rolled once again. To me, it looks like a pathetic collapse on the part of the Republicans–not the leadership, but Senators like McCain who sold out their party.
ONE MORE: Now the Republicans are treating the execrable Robert Byrd like a hero! Unbelievable. What a low moment. “We have kept the Republic,” Byrd says. I think I’m going to be sick.
MORE RETURNS COMING IN: The infallibly optimistic Hugh Hewitt can’t put much of a spin on this one:
It is impossible to say whether this is a “terrible” deal, a “bad” deal, or a very, very marginally “ok” deal, but it surely is not a good deal.
READERS WEIGH IN: So far, based on a quick survey, they agree with my assessment by eight or ten to one.
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