As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chuck Schumer of New York is at ground zero in the war over President Bush’s seven renominations for the federal bench.
Fittingly, Schumer delivered the Democrats’ weekly radio message on Saturday, focusing on the Republicans’ so-called nuclear option threat of effectively destroying the filibuster rule.
Here’s what the senator had to say:
As the president leaves on a four day trip to Europe to encourage the spread of democracy abroad, our democracy here at home is under attack. There is a whiff of extremism in the air the likes of which we haven’t seen in decades. There exists a small group of people who have no tolerance for those whose views are different from theirs and they seek to intimidate everyone else.
These small groups are so certain that they are right and everyone else is wrong that they are trying to undermine the age-old checks and balances that the Founding Fathers placed at the center of the Constitution and the republic. They lash out at the time-honored independence of our judicial branch and they seek to undermine the tried and true tradition of the Senate in which the minority party has rights. And unfortunately this small group has tremendous influence over the Republican party and seems to be dictating its politics and policy.
Americans are a mainstream people, and we are a people of faith. Most of us believe deeply in God, but we also believe deeply in the right of debate and compromise. Anyone who views their faith as a justification to roll over the “inalienable rights” that our Creator endowed us with doesn’t understand what America is all about.
Go far enough right, you’re ’round the bend: Ah yes, Schumer is referring to President Bush’s beloved base that requires regular feedings with the “red meat” of policies and pronouncements better Republican presidents have mostly shied away from. We would say Bush has sold his political soul to these people, but we’re quite sure the truth is that he’s simply one of them.
There are several things that Republican senators who are not far-right ideologues should very carefully consider before going nuclear over this matter.
First, as has been pointed out, majority status is temporary. Being able to filibuster may seem like a highly expendable nuisance today, but what about later on, when Democrats control the Senate by a comfortable margin?
Second, we realize how popular it’s been in your caucus to demonize Democrats as having no more or better reason for blocking these judges than craven partisanship. But consider that Democrats OK’d the overwhelming majority of Bush’s judge selections, only digging in their heels on these seven. If there isn’t a little voice in the back of the head telling you the Democrats just might have some valid reasons for their objections, you’re intellectually dysfunctional and/or as prone to partisanship as you’re sure they are.
Third, the public has demonstrated it’s paying at least some attention, has at least some reservations about the way you people are handling near-absolute power, and doesn’t want to see you overreaching again, as you did in the Schiavo matter.
Fourth, many of you will serve in the Senate for years to come. Bush may be in his second term, but he’s still a johnny-come-lately in Washington. He didn’t have particularly kind, supportive things to say about our federal legislative branch before coming to town. He hasn’t been especially good about working in concert with your body as president. Are you sure you want to be out on a limb again because he feels he’s entitled, as usual, to have it all?
Think carefully because you’ll live with the fallout long after Bush is gone from the capital.
