My appearance on MSNBC today was basically rained out. With the story still developing and Senators being interviewed, I got very little time. Imagine — the network prefers to hear from Senators rather than bloggers. Even the Congressman on before me to talk about stem cell research got his time cut. That’s live television. But at least I got to take quick shots at John “Kumbaya” McCain and Robert Byrd. Hopefully, Rocket Man will have enough time to denouonce the deal when he appears on MSNBC.
For Republicans, yesterday was not a rain-out; it was a defeat. The optimists are clinging to the notion that members of the gang of seven can still support a rules change at any time if the Democrats act in bad faith. That view is based on the following language–“In light of the spirit and continuing commitments made in this agreement, we commit to oppose the rules changes in the 109th Congress.” This language is ambiguous on the question of whether the commitment not to oppose rules changes is other than completely binding. Quite apart from that problem, who honestly believes that Senators who lacked the stomach to change the rules when they were unencumbered by any agreement will vote to change the rules given the agreement? Any Senator who so voted would risk being accused by his opponent in the next election of outright dishonesty.
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