The compromise that wasn't

Democrats conceding to allow a vote on President Bush's judicial nominees is like playing chicken with a burglar. You threaten to shoot the intruder, but he says he'll shoot back. Negotiating a truce, you say you won't shoot if he doesn't shoot. The intruder agrees, but only if you let him rob your house.

It's a non-starter. This is total capitulation to the bullying tactics of the Republicans, and will certainly mean that President Bush's nominees will be approved.

A true compromise would have been for President Bush to withdraw his unacceptable nominees. Barring that, Democratic senators should have filibustered, and more. I think they should have marched to the White House demanding an audience with Bush.

Harry Reid's relief was ironic and misplaced - the abuse of power is being tolerated:

Clearly euphoric and relieved, Mr. Reid said a message had been sent that "abuse of power will not be tolerated, and attempts to trample the Constitution and grab absolute control are over."

Janice Rogers Brown will be confirmed to the D.C. Court of Appeals, William Pryor to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, and Priscilla Owen to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

Expect more rulings by ethically-challenged Owen in favor of big business, and against workers, consumers, and the injured. Owen, for example, has taken campaign contributions from Enron and Halliburton, rather than recusing herself when cases came to her court, then ruled in their favor.

Expect more rulings by "never met a federal protection he liked" Pryor, who "alone among state AGs and opposed by his fellow AGs, argued that Congress lacked the power to pass laws allowing the federal government to regulate small lakes and wetlands," and who, again, "alone among state AGs and opposed by 36 of his fellow AGs, successfully argued...that victims of domestic abuse should not be allowed to sue their attackers in federal court."

Expect more rulings by Brown in which her personal opinions become the basis for rulings, as with her view that the Roosevelt's New Deal was a "socialist revolution," and her view that it's okay to fire older workers because they're old.