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1. 

   Anthony 2816 said, 5 months ago

   A letter from a conservative group is asking the Republicans to filibuster.

   The author of the letter was Manuel Miranda, a former adviser on judicial issues to former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.

   Five years ago, Mr. Miranda was an outspoken critic of Democratic filibusters of judicial nominees, which he called “unprecedented, unconstitutional.”

   Another signatory on the new letter is Mark Levin, the conservative talk show host. In January 2006, when some Democratic senators tried and failed to block a vote on the Supreme Court confirmation of Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., Mr. Levin accused them of violating the Constitution.

   “We have Senate liberals tonight saying that they want to filibuster Sam Alito in the name of defending what they claim are constitutional rights,” Mr. Levin said. “Yet the very act of a filibuster against a judicial nominee is in my view unconstitutional. This is how liberals talk. This is how they behave. They say one thing and they mean another. They speak out of one side of their mouth as well as the other.”

   Mr. Levin also signed an April 24, 2005 letter to Republican leaders in the Senate urging them to eliminate the rule that allowed filibusters on judicial nominees. The group, calling itself the “Coalition to End Judicial Filibusters,” declared that “the Constitution mandates” a simple majority vote when the Senate is performing its role of “advice and consent” to the president’s choices.

   http://tinyurl.com/m3ydbq

2. 

   cdward said, 5 months ago

   Let them fuss for all I care. They’re playing to their base, and that is a shrinking audience.

   But they need to be careful because what they sound like is a bunch of children crying, “You did it to us so we get to do it to you! Neener neener neener!”

3. 

   Sooky Rottweiler's ... said, 5 months ago

   I sincerely hope I die before I get old enough to be that bitter.

4. 

   believecommonsense said, 5 months ago

   at this point, i wish they would get on with it and stop playing to the media for making political points from whoever they think they need to get elected next

   government by media-inspired bites

5. 

   tjdestry said, 5 months ago

   Same consideration. Fuss and complain, then vote to confirm. Okay.

6. 

   danielsangeo said, 5 months ago

   Cool. Can we do the same now of Republicans that demanded an up-or-down vote from Democrats?

   Wait, McCoy didn’t mention that? Quelle surprise….

7. 

   GNWachs said, 5 months ago

   Just as a reminder, final Senate votes

   Ginsburg: 96-3
   Breyer: 87-9

   Thomas: 52-48
   Alito: 58-42 after Cloture

   Obama voted no on both Alito and Roberts

   Anthony, are you asking for unilateral disarmament? I can do it but you can’t. The GOP played nice on Ginsburg and Breyer, even after Bork, and it got them no votes from Obama.

8. 

   Tigger said, 5 months ago

   Politics as Usual

9. 

   ChukLitl said, 5 months ago

   I hope they get the same treatment; intensive questioning, then, if qualified, approval of the President’s choice. That’s how it supposed to work.

10. 

    Anthony 2816 said, 5 months ago

    Wachs, the difference between those votes is that different candidates were being offered.

    Remember, recently the Republicans have been saying we shouldn’t confirm Sotomayor because 3 of 5 of her cases that went to the Supreme Court were overturned.

    ALL of Alito’s were. But it didn’t matter then.

    But the main point of my initial post was to point out the be-careful-what-you-wish-for hypocrisy of those sending the letter.

11. 

    believecommonsense said, 5 months ago

    anthony, all of Aliotio’s cases that went to the SC werre overturned? do you have a link where I can read more? thanks

12. 

    Anthony 2816 said, 5 months ago

    I posted a link on an earlier thread, but now I can’t remember which one.

    If you Google “sotomayor reversals” you can find pertinent links.

    The gist is that the Supreme Court tends not to hear cases that they don’t think are likely to be reversed…so by that sort of sampling, most of the cases they hear get reversed.

    Something the Republicans screaming about Sotomayor’s 3 out of 5 (out of 380 cases) don’t want you to know.