While Virginia's senior Senator, John Warner, was busy reaching a compromise to save the filibuster and avoid going "nuclear" in the U.S. Senate, George Allen, Junior is acting like the whining, petulant, arrogant, spoiled, short-sighted junior Senator that he is. For example, the Richmond Times-Dispatch quotes Senator J-E-R-K as saying that this is "not a great deal for two of the nominees who have been accorded a nice wake, having been thrown overboard at sea." He also called the deal, reached in large part due to John Warner's hard work, "disappointing." Charming.As we pointed out the other day, the U.S. Senate debate on ending filibusters for judicial nominees - the ?Nuclear Option? - highlights a major philosophical and temperamental rift within the Republican Party:
On one side, we have the young firebrand conservatives who have risen to power mainly since the 1980s. People like Virginia?s Junior Senator, George Allen, for example. These folks care more about ideology than party, more about party and ideology than national interest. And most of all, they care about themselves ? specifically, their future political careers. They apparently do not care who, or what, they damage in the process of advancing themselves and their extreme right-wing agenda. Other examples of this type of Republican include Oliver North, Grover Norquist, Tom DeLay, John Thune, Tom Coburn, Jim DeMint, and apparently Bill Frist.On the other side, we have the older, moderate, pragmatic, traditional Republicans like Virginia?s Senior Senator, John Warner....
Make no mistake about it, this ?Nuclear Option? on the filibuster is part of the radical right?s attempt to advance their agenda at all costs. If they have to trash the constitution, rule of law, and all the rest in the process, so be it, people like George Allen say. Which is why people like John Warner, the ?dinosaurs? who used to rule the earth and are powerful still, are so critically important today. Will John Warner throw his lot in with the ?Dark Side? of the Republican Party, or will he stay true to his core beliefs of a lifetime? That?s what we?ll see over the next week or so ? a battle for the soul of the Republican Party, for the integrity of the US Senate, and for the future of representative democracy in the United States of America.
Interesting the company that George, Junior keeps. Check out these words of wisdom from raving right-winger Michelle Malkin, for instance:
My two cents: Ditto to all of the above (comments calling the deal "hideous," etc.). The GOP parade of pusillanimity marches on. With this pathetic cave-in, the Republicans have sealed their fate as a Majority in Name Only.Next stop on the trail of capitulation? Driving the final nail in John Bolton's coffin.
Or how about the revealing comments by James Dobson of the Christian Taliban group, "Focus on the Family," that the John Warner deal "represents a complete bailout and a betrayal by a cabal of Republicans and a great victory for united Democrats?"
There you have it, the George Allen/Michelle Malkin/James Dobson/Christian Taliban wing of the Republican Party. Perhaps we should add Allen's protege and political soulmate, Jerry Kilgore, to the mix. Sure, why not? He's no better.
And let us just emphasize once more that these people are not John Warner Republicans, they are extremists. How do we know for sure? Because extremists hate, fear, and fail to understand the concept of compromise. And this deal was certainly a compromise, one in which both sides gained something and lost something. As a Democrat, for example, I am not happy that an extremist like Priscilla Owen will be confirmed as a judge -- not one bit.
Having said that, I can (barely) accept Owen becoming a judge in exchange for preserving the Senate's internal checks and balances, and blocking the right-wing extremists' grab for total power. (Democratic Leader Harry Read of Nevada emphasized that "attempts to trample the Constitution and grab absolute control are over.") Again, it's called a compromise - a dirty to word to the George Allens of the world.
Luckily, some people -- John Warner, for instance - are wise enough, mature enough, and smart enough to realize this. Unfortunately, Virginia's junior Senator, George Allen, is not one of those people.
On a positive note, let's close with the moving words of Senior West Virginia Senator Robert C. Byrd:
We have kept the Republic. I'm very proud of these colleagues of mine on the Republican side and the Democratic side. We have lifted ourselves above politics and signed this document in the interest of...freedom of speech, etc. Thank God for this moment and for these colleagues of mine.
That's right, Sen. Byrd, let's thank your colleagues like John McCain, Joe Lieberman and John Warner. And let us hope that somebody defeats George Allen, Junior at the earliest possible date, 2006 preferably. Somebody, perhaps, like that other Virginian who understands compromise and has the last name "Warner?"