For God's Sake Yet another manufactured government crisis has been averted. Bully for the centrists who pulled the plug on Bill Frist (R., Tenn) and his White House-backed attempt to eliminate the filibuster from the judicial confirmation process. While moderate ringleader John McCain may wind up getting the credit for this deceleration of GOP power, he could not have achieved this eleventh-hour compromise without some willing Republican accomplices. The Senate being stacked up the way it is, Democrats needed no fewer than six defections from the other side to slam the door on the so-called "nuclear option". McCain was first to break ranks, as he often does. Then the usual moderate suspects from the Northeast fell in with the Maverick. Throw in Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and that required the promise of just one more vote to knock Frist off his axis. There in the back of the smoky room stood a man who had nothing to lose, who indeed had already lost everything. Biding his time, and sharpening his razor for the hamstringing that would surely take place on the Senate floor, was Trent Lott. He had waited a long time for this. Ever since Lott spoke regrettable words at a birthday party for Strom Thurmond two and a half years ago, he has seethed in silence. It cannot have escaped his attention that the embattled House leader, Tom DeLay of Texas, is faced with numerous questions about all manner of impropriety, and still receives support from the President. That is something Lott never had as his gavel was taken away from him and handed to Frist. Then came the announcement that Pascagoula Naval Base in Mississippi would be closed. Perhaps this was payback for Lott's principled call for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's resignation last year, perhaps not. Either way, Lott's home state would lose federal dollars, jobs and prestige. For a fellow who has served his Party for so long with such resilience (if not always right-headedness), it was a thumb in the eye. And then came James Dobson of Focus on the Family. This blowhard from the far, far, far right wing of the conservative movement made Trent Lott his personal Bozo the Clown punching bag for his stance of compromise on the filibuster issue. "I don't remember being so disgusted and alarmed by what I just had confirmed in the Senate as I am now," Dobson said. "Senator Trent Lott is about to sabotage Majority Leader Frist and cut a separate deal with the Democrats to preserve the filibuster of judges." He went on to compare the McCain-led deal to a game of Monopoly, which is really all it is to him. Bluenoses like Dobson have no interest in the way the Senate works, or is supposed to work. All he knows is how to lobby politicians, wielding the threat of the "people of faith" vote as a scythe to cut down anything he perceives to be anti-God, much like a certain firebrand Muslim cleric who has gotten under Bush's saddle in Iraq. He does this for a living (who needs a real job in the Bush economy anyway?). Before Focus on the Family, he ran a little outfit for seniors called USA Next, the latest incarnation of the Swift Boat Vets. These hacks support Bush's extremely unpopular ideas on "reforming" Social Security, and will attack anyone who doesn't (read: AARP). Among Dobson's esteemed fellows at the smear-factory was Jack Abramoff, the crooked lobbyist who enriched other puritanical zealots - like Ralph Reed, with help from DeLay - by pitting Indian tribes against each other in the casino wars. So we're not exactly talking about the most virtuous people in the world here. It's easy to understand Lott's annoyance and displeasure at being called out by a slug like Dobson. "Who does he think he is," Lott wondered aloud, "questioning my conservative credentials?" If you ask Trent Lott about his support for centrist good sense in the face of some of the worst political pressure that can ever be brought to bear on a Senator, he'll probably chuckle and tell you he was only interested in preserving the traditions of the Senate. That will be a standard line among those who derailed Frist's demand for an "up or down vote" on all of Bush's judicial nominees. To be sure, when it comes time to replace Chief Justice William Rehnquist on the Supreme Court, this issue will again rear its ugly head. Bush will nominate an ultra-conservative, perhaps even his own lawyer, Alberto "BTK" Gonzales. The Democrats will take it upon themselves to filibuster such a thing. Having long since painted himself into his corner, Frist will call for the nuclear option. When that happens, the conservatives of America will be shocked to realize that Trent Lott won't be the only one willing to pull the rug out from under their "mandate". He'll be joined by other common-sense Senators, like Arlen Specter (another victim of far-right religious venom), or George Voinovich. Then Dobson's attack machine will have to be turned loose on its own Party. But it won't matter. The majority of people in this country have already noticed the twisted theocratic bent of today's GOP. It came to a head with the Terri Schiavo case, and continues with this lunacy in the Senate. In all cases, it has Bill Frist's fingerprints all over it. The polls don't lie; the public is tuning out conservatism, because conservatism cannot contain itself long enough to make sound policy. They've shot themselves in the foot, for God's sake. Paul Heller 05/24/05 << back to the archives
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