Don't Let Me Stop You: Judicial Deal Stinks

There's a deal, and it's odious. If you are downwind of Washington, DC, you can probably smell it. See the details at Confirm Them.

FOXNews.com - Politics - Deal Reached to Avert Judicial Showdown: "The agreement said future nominees to the appeals court and Supreme Court should 'only be filibustered under extraordinary circumstances,' with each Democrat senator holding the discretion to decide when those conditions had been met.

'In light of the spirit and continuing commitments made in this agreement,' Republicans said they would oppose any attempt to make changes in the application of filibuster rules."

The Whitehouse tried to put the best face on things it could, but about the best that can be said about this "compromise" is that it's not quite as bad for the Republicans as an outright loss. It is easy to see, however, in the faces of Barbara Boxer, Tom Harkin, and Harry Reid, that they are absolutely thrilled with this outcome. And why not? They managed to get two nominees thrown to the wolves, Saad and Myers, who now have apparently no chance for a vote. Seven Republicans promised to oppose changes to the filibuster rules for the rest of this Congress.

What did the Democrats give up? There will be votes on Owens, Brown, and Pryor will all get votes, but there was little hope of stopping that anyway. They have not even promised not to filibuster any future nominees, as long as a senator thinks it's "extraordinary circumstances." Translation: "unless we want to." It's hard to imagine how this "promise" could be enforced in any meaningful way. Meanwhile, the Republican promise to oppose changes in the filibuster rule will be hard to abrogate, no matter how many filibusters there are.

In the name of civility in the Senate, the "moderate" Senators have abandoned principle and countenanced continued politcization of the judicial confirmation process. This will not restore civility. It will only encourage more of the same from the Left.