Two More Justices Confirmed

The LA Times reports that Wednesday the Senate approved Justice Janice Rogers Brown to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (full story here), after two years of waiting. She is the second of the three nominees promised in "The Deal" to get an up-or-down vote. (See previous posts on The Deal here and here.) Priscilla Owen has already received her vote (here and here).

That left William Pryor, and today he was also confirmed to the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals (full story here). Pryor had also been waiting for confirmation for two years, although he was given a recess appointment by President Bush in February of 2004.

I was impressed with the fairness of the LA Times article, written by Times Staff Writer, Maura Reynolds. There were quotes from both sides of the aisle, and although the lefties' quotes seemed a bit longer, overall the article presented both sides of the Brown controversy accurately. This was unexpectd, considering the source.

CNN, however, was quick to add opinion-based speculation to their news article: "By ending the filibusters of Pryor, Brown and the now-confirmed U.S. Appeals Court judge Priscilla Owen, the Senate has taken care of the first part of an agreement reached last month by Senate centrists that averted a showdown that could have brought Senate action to a halt."

So, according to CNN, if the Senate were to have voted whether or not to consider a filibuster of judicial nominees off limits, that vote could have "brought Senate action to a halt." I agree that the vote could be considered a "showdown" since a showdown is just what the Republican leadership had in mind. But a vote does not stop the Senate. Voting is what the Senate is supposed to do.

Any bringing the Senate to a halt would have to be the intentional action of Senators themselves, and so far the only ones threatening to do that are Democrats.

My other problem with the CNN article is their labeling of the 14 who made The Deal as "centrist." Olympia Snowe, Lincoln Chaffee and their ilk are hardly centrists. They're RINOs--Lefties with an "R" at the end of their names--and to characterize them as centrists is to do true moderates a disservice. But CNN's agenda appears to be that of portraying anyone who sides with the hard-liner Dems as being the reasonable ones. It won't wash.

Ultimately, these two votes, combined with Priscilla Owen's confirmation a couple weeks ago, put us precisely where The Deal's rubber meets the road. The three named judges have had their votes. What remains now is to see how the Democrats--especially those who signed The Deal--handle the rest of the filibustered judges. Will they get votes, or will the Dems be surprised (shocked!) to discover that the remaining judges present extraordinary circumstances worthy of continued filibuster?

If I were a betting man, I'd put my money on perpetual filibuster.