Way off topic, and I'm sorry for that. My girlfriend and I just found out that a very good friend of hers from high school has died in Iraq. His name is 1st Lt. Aaron Seesan and being a soldier is the only thing he ever wanted to do. I just wanted to ask everyone out there to say a little prayer for him, and more importantly for his parents, his big brother and two little sisters.
Thank you.

Will do, Troy. God bless him and his family and see the soldier Home.

Hmm, FrankJ once I thought the same way and life was clearly delineated between what was right and acceptable and what was not, but in truth a democracy can't work like that, if it did and everyone only did what was right in their heart and imposed it on everyone else you have a dictatorship, it could be benevolent or it could be despotic, but either way it is impossible for us to currently arrive at consensus about what is right. After all look at our last election the country is split about who to lead us and even if it weren't there are so many people at different moral groups who is to say that wiccans would have the same moral code of the christians, or the hindu's or the american indians? What you desire is not healthy for a democracy, or even our Republic. I wish I could give you some comfort or agreement but unless you want the rule of the king back than you should understand that we have grown past dictators and need to learn how to govern ourselves. Compromise of charecter is far different from compromise of politics. Please don't confuse the two. I suggest going to your local town council and watching what it takes to make people get along and plan for growth. Stay honorable yourself and resist the urge of tyranny, remember what it took to make our constition, read the "federal papers", and understand that in time compromises work themselves out. God had judges before he had a King in isreal and thought very poorly of people that desired one.

What an excellent essay!

Great quote by John Ashcroft,

"There's only two things you find in the middle of the road: a dead skunk and moderate. And I don't want to be either"

I am so sorry for your loss my prayers are with you and Lt Seesan's family.

First topic: I am very sorry for your loss. What a brave man. I will send prayers his way.

Second topic: If the system ain't broke, don't fix it! The up or down was fair, because the Senate is elected by the people. If they wanted a liberal government, then they would elect liberals, if they wanted conservatives, then they would elect conservatives. This messes up the natural balance. Clinton got to appoint his without filibuster, so why shouldn't Bush be allowed that. Oh wait, he's Republican, the rules change for him.

Tim, you're missing the entire point here. The point of democracy is that the majority wins. The people decide. A few rogue Republican senators have trumped that by making this deal. Denying a vote to a nominee is denying the Democratic process. It is closer now to this dictatorship you mentioned, because a minority of the people is deciding what is best for everyone. The people voted for a senate in which the Republicans are the majority party, so how can you go against that and let the Democrats control things?

Patriot Xeno, Well said! This compromise was one of the stupidest things those lily livered republicans have done yet. A political "compromise", if that is what you can call it, is only sought when there can be no political victory. In this case a political victory for the republicans looked like a sure thing.

McCain, the other "mavericks", and the Demoncats could at least give us a senatorial courtesy flush before they use the constitution as toilet paper.

Agreed, victory was assured and those yellow b@5T@rds have let us down again. Well, I say to them, "Congratulations, YOU FAIL! Good luck on getting those votes for you're next run, Dumb@55." Thank the Maker that I registered unaffiliated.

And it's "The Federalist Papers". Noob.

Be warned against a spirit of compromise that is but a cloak to cover the nakedness of irresolution and timidity.- C.S. Lewis

Rand had a similar outlook:

In a compromise between food and poison, poison always wins. Even if there's a lot fo food and just a small amount of poison.

This compromise was unnecessary, but I will try to find a silver lining here...Hopefully this will be an impetus for challengers to go after these moderates.

Am I the only one who noticed Frank's Yodaisms? Frank, are you sure your last name isn't Oz?

I hate to break it to you guys, but the Repub's did not have the majority needed to break a filibuster easily. Would they have won eventually? Yes. Would it have been turned around so that everyone thought the Dem's were fighting for us instead of against the Repub's? Absolutely. This 'compromise' allows the Repub's to get some of their nominations through now. There's absolutely nothing in this deal that says the other nominations are hereby null and void. This may be tough to swallow but in both the short and long terms this benefits the Republicans more than the Democrats. Especially since one of the nominations is a minority female. That's gonna hit the Dem's demographics and IMHO that's what this was all about to begin with.

Sorry for your loss Troy in Denver...

Isn't marriage suppose to be full of compromising? Um, on second thought there is very little compromising, just the guy giving up and in to the wife's demands.

What a pile of self-righteous armchair preaching steaming horseshit! "Satan" has nothing to do with the United States Senate, NOTHING, YOU IGNORAMUS!

"IMHO that's what this was all about to begin with." -Scott

I disagree with your opinion. This was always about the next Supreme Court Justice. When the current Chief Justice steps down (expected to be soon) conventional wisdom has the President nominating Scalia to replace him. Then the President will nominate a new SCJ to take Scalia's old seat. The dems were 'testing the waters' to see how easy it would be for them to block the President's future SCJ nominee. This was a bad compromise. The Senate Republicans have shown weakness. I'm disappointed in Frist.

Hey whuthufu?, its HIS blog. That is HIS opinion. Don't like it? See ya!

Patriot Xeno, calm down first of all remember that the weakness of democracy is the ability for the majority to squash the minority regardless of right or wrong, thats why people wouldn't sign it without a bill of rights. Thus be respectful of your fellow citizens and TREAT THEM LIKE YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE TREATED IF YOU WERE IN THE MINORITY. Second while i deplore the democrats from using the filibuster, this is all more of a media moment than anything else. the rules of order that the senate follow are there for a reason, letting there be side cuts and safety valves for parties and members to take when they feel they need it. and if the leader of the senate feels unable to over ride them who are you to question that? thats like trying to tell an army guy how to wage a war. Yes the rules can be changed and yes the republicans didn't do it, but i severely doubt it was because they were scared of anything less than government meltdown and more partisanship. It is a shame that good judges will be denied courts but in an age of 50/50 politics both sides have used every dirty trick to promote their cause. Remember clinton, do you really stand behind everything the republican congress did during those days? And as for the republicans has government spending slackened? has less pork been doled out? is the country really better for what they have done? Don't place such holy faith in the republicans, there are probably less than a handful of politicians i would ever let watch my kids on either side of the divide.
Third we live in a FUCKING REPUBLIC that means we have to elect people to go there and do their best to represent us, if you think you can do a better job run for office and go, or work as a staff member or try to help your local party. And yes I'm sure your going to say that you elected them to go there and put in conservative judges, and guess what they failed to get them all. and guess what they used dirty politics and manipulated the media. learn from them and reply in turn if thats your wish. If you all really want to live in a real democracy and know that at anytime 51% of the population can vote to kill 49% of the population that go ahead, i'm sticking to my bill of rights and what we have forged here.

The whole thing makes me want to move to Arizona just to vote against "Maverick" McCain. But on the good side, at least the three most taked about judges are going to get a fair shake in the Senate, and I believe they'll be voted for. The libs didn;t get everything they wanted, so they can quit celebrating like they did something special here.
Check out my blog for more on this.

FrankJ, I meant no disrespet on your blog either, i used to share your views until i held some small offices in college. it's pretty bad even on that level and you learn that selfish people have just as many if not more votes than you do. becareful of absolutes, you loose the value of free thought when you can only see one path even though many end at the same point. (blah blah straight is the path and narrow is the way) i know all that but religion can be blinding too. I have to many family members that stopped asking questions as soon as the republicans took on the mantle of the christian right, and it's a foolish and dangerous position. work to reduce corruption and increase government transparency and our system will be just fine.

Geeze, if you wanna rant that much, how's about you start a blog and give us the option of reading or not, eh?

Secondly, IMAO is a humor site - most everything is to be taken tongue-and-cheek.

Third - and most important - Troy, I'm sorry for your loss.

Oh, and Frank - I thought it was a darn good post.

Tim:

Stop being such a liberal. You're ignoring the principle of tyranny of the minority; it's what the filibuster is all about.

I, too, have held a few small offices in college, and I have found that I sleep better at night when I zealously advocate for what's right, rather than playing up to the masses in order to be re-elected. I also noticed that when I held out for doing the right thing, the organization was usually more successful. To compromise only sets a precedence for laxness to set in.

Tim,

I used to write like you, but after a while, I realized that the impregnable block o' text was not effective in getting my point across. I discovered the "return" (or "enter") key, and have been much more effective since. I suggest you do the same.

In short, I mean no disrespect, but don't be such a whitespace tightwad.

Ben

I think Frank J. is just trying to say he's disappointed in the result and doesn't think compromise was either necessary nor wise. It's funnier to say it as if he's a preacher instead of the usual way. Compare his post with the preceding two sentences, for instance.

Troy, my heart goes out to you and your girlfriend. God Bless.

...ahem ... fuck democracy.

(if you think that this is anti-american or unpatriotic, think republican)

that is all

Tim,
First of all, I was completely calm when I wrote the first post, and I'm completely calm now - I'm not the one using all caps at times.

I completely agree that we should treat them as we would want them to treat us. However, this does not mean that we should let them walk all over us, or be absolute dickwads. Treat them with respect, but stick to your principles.

I wasn't arguing that Republicans were better, or had better policies, or were for less spending. You brought all those points into this. My sole point was and still is that the minority party preventing a simple vote is against everything we stand for. I don't have a problem with nominees getting voted down (though in cases I would obviously be disappointed). I do, however, have a problem with them not being voted on at all. You champion the bill of rights as evidence of your cause, but I ask you where does it say that the minority has the ability to deny the Democratic process to a judicial nominee?

Yes, we do live in a Republic, or rather, a Representative Democracy. We elect people to vote on our behalf. The key here is that we elect them to vote.

And yes, I am going to run for state senator, but as it stands now, my cousin is our delegate, so I won't run for a while. I guess that means I don't know what I'm talking about.

Also, I'd appreciate it if you'd not think up something terrible and then accuse me of being for it, just because you're wrong on the filibuster issue. Your "at anytime 51% of the population can vote to kill 49% of the population" statement was wildly out of line. By doing that, you're only showing yourself to be among the ranks of the extreme lefty's, who accuse anyone with a contrary opinion of being a nazi or a Hitler at the drop of a hat. There is no place for that in the public arena, despite what "Sheets" Byrd thinks, and there's no place for that here.

Amen to that last comment, FrankJ! Very well said (all of it)!

Well Said, Patriot Xeno.
Typical Liberal BS

Here, here!

Right, ho, Xeno!

--Frank, great post. I could not possibly agree more. Weak kneed men cannot possibly hold the world on their shoulders... they can only crumble... and they have. At least now we know.

Yeah Bill Frist really lost his power to McCain the weakest of all republicans...besides Rick Santorum... They are really trying to make this Lame Duck of a President do something ...which he won't... I really think Republicans Should Stop Smearing Our Veterans and maybe not cut the VA Benefits they have been for starters...

Bernard Kerik = John Bolton

Rush / Bush = Oxy Moron

Bush = CHIMPEACHMENT 2006

Thank you in advance for your hatemail...

BRUISER

Off Topic - newsflash from CNBC Europe

Zarqawi was shot in the chest last week outside of Ramadi.

God bless the Seesan family, and all of our brothers and sisters in harm's way.

News on Zarqawi

Awwww, wook at wittle Bwuiser! He is SO desperate for attention. Ain't he adorable in a predictable,whiny,liberal kinda way? Nah, I don't think so either. :D

While I think this particular compromise may have been bad, compromise is a necessary part of life. We compromise every day. It is necessary to do so or else we'd all be at each other's throats.

Note, in this compromise, we are not putting judges in that we don't want. If we put in bad judges we disagree with then that would be a moral compromise like you describe. Though in the end will this be bad? If Bush gets good judges in then maybe it's not so bad.

Of course, it DOES make us look weak that Frist started off with all this bluster and then this happenes. If Frist was more pro-active and did what he threatened to do, it would not have dragged on so long and McCaine and Snowe (who are not real Republicans) would not have had the opportunity to do an end run around him.

But it's not Bush to blame, it's Frist.

I wonder if "Bruiser" is just trying to irritate people in order to get a few visits to his blog...

Only our elections are democratic. Everything else needs to be protected from democracy. That's why the Bill of Rights was phrased in absolutes.