Thoughts from
San Diego on Law, Politics, and Culture

 
Peace in our time
By Tom Smith

Once again, the stupid party lives up to its name. In fairness, the Republicans have only the barest majority, and several of them are not really Republicans. A "deal" was probably inevitable. But here's the point the commentators seem to be missing. Who's to say if the deal will really stick? Toobin on CNN and other commentators are speaking as if, when W puts up a conservative for the Court, and 40 Democrats say that's "extraordinary," the Republicans will just sit back and take it, because that was the deal. But political deals fall apart all the time. It's just a matter of how much pressure the Republicans are under, and they will be under a lot. This deal just puts off a battle, and like most such delaying tactics, it will make the battle more ferocious when it actually comes. It might be different if the moderates believed in something more than moderation for the sake of moderation. But they don't. They are just the people who believe (in some cases, like Chafee's, accurately) that moderation is more politic, given their own circumstances. If Bush nominates a conservative for the Supreme Court, and he probably will, my prediction is this deal is going to blow up big time.
posted by thomas at 5/23/2005 10:27:00 PM