Folding with a winning hand

I’ve tried writing about “the Deal” since the news of it came public Monday night. In the several attempts I’ve made, I usually have wound up either at a loss for words on how to explain what the hell these Republican Senators were thinking or edging close to calling for a recall vote in the States in question. John Warner’s from my home state of Virginia and, up until this week, I’ve been generally OK with that. This time, however, the Senator has just gotten things dead wrong.

There’s been much said about “the Deal” at a variety of places around the blogosphere and many of the authors are people I can’t hold a candle to, so I won’t try. The gentlemen at Power Line, Michelle Malkin, Ed over at Captain’s Quarters, Bench Memos, and Red State Rant are all on record quite eloquently: “the Deal” is a huge win for the Democratic minority in the Senate and a big, ripping loss for the majority.

My issue with this deal is as simple as reading it aloud. The whole thing depends completely on the Democrats being fair and trustworthy in making a distinction between someone who has acted unethically vs someone who has acted in violation of their ideology. So far they’ve shown no ability or desire to make that judgement and if you think they’ve not done so with these appelate judges, you just wait until the Supreme Court seat opens up. This did nothing whatsoever to deal with the issue. These 14 Senators decided to co-opt the whole Senate and simply punt the issue into the future. Nice leadership, fella’s. The majority in the Senate had a clear mandate from the majority of the electorate to break this deadlock and get the President’s nominees an up-or-down vote. They hosed it. They had a winning hand at the table and they tossed the cards face down while the Democrats laughed in their faces.

Fair enough. I’ll remember it. And while I can’t do much about John McCain except dedicate every ounce of my political energy to seeing he never becomes President of the United States, I will be seeing your name at my local polling place, Senator Warner. And remember this week, I will.

“Extraordinary Circumstances”

Cox & Forkum hits the nail squarely on the head.