I'm very disappointed with the GOP right now. They gave up on the filibuster issue and compromised with the Democrats, with a promise not to try to change the rules during this session. What's going to REALLY tick me off is that the next time the Democrats are in power, the Republicans will probably try to filibuster the Dems judicial nominees, and the country will have selective amnesia and suddenly decide filibusters are evil and obstructionist and they will change the rules. They have already shown they are hypocrites by using the filibuster for this situation in the first place (because they were all about rhe filibuster being anti-democracy back in 1994), so I have no doubt they will later change their minds again when the filibuster works against them.

The other aspect of this compromise is that it basically restricts the Constitutionally given power of the executive branch to appoint federal judges, and thus bypasses the system of checks and balances. The worst part is that it really only does this for Republican Presidents. Democratic Presidents will have the same amount of power to appoint judges as the Constitution grants them.

You know a good portion of the reason the GOP gained seats in the last election was reaction against Democrat obstructionism in the Senate, especially in regards to the judicial appointments. The GOP could ahve gone for the jugular and passed the rules change, but instead they have compromised, something the other side would not have done in the same situation. They've allowed the Dems to take credit for being willing to compromise, and they're allowing the Dems to pass judgement on who can and cannot be appointed. And the compromise allows the Dems to filibuster future nominess, also. This could be seen as a betrayal of not just George Bush by members of his own party, but of the people that elected the Republicans because they were sick of the obstructionism. Why won't the GOP do what their constituents put them in office for? That includes fiscal restraint, something I'd like to see more of.

Did you know that Judge Janice Rogers Brown, currently being smeared as right wing nutcase by the left wing who don't want her on a Federal bench, was elected to her position as a justice on the California State Supreme Court with 76% of the vote? That's in California, hardly a bastion of right-wing thought. What does this tell you? She IS NOT an extremist, and is fairl close to the center, mainstream view on most issues. But really that shouldn't even matter. Her politics are not supposed to come in to play, only her ability to interpret the law, and since she's a strict constructionist, that means her judgements will be based on exactly the way the law is written, without any political interpretation. Sounds like a good Judge to me. So why was she being filibustered? Because she's a minority female nominated by Bush, and the left can't allow Bush to look good with minorities because they fear losing the chance to use the race card to win elections.