November 22, 2004 PERMALINK
The Sunday Talkshow Breakdown
A weekly feature of LiberalOasis
(posted Nov. 21 10:15 PM ET)
Governing sure is hard work.
GOPers struggled on Sunday to explain their failure on intel reform, and the attempt to sneak in a provision to make people's private tax returns available to certain congressional committees.
Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist, whose '08 prez prospects sink lower with every congressional embarrassment, took the biggest brunt yesterday on CBS' Face The Nation.
Because he tried to spin, with a straight face, questions from Bob Schieffer like:
I would guess that a lot of Americans are pretty disgusted this morning when they woke up and read in the newspaper that the Congress was unable to come to agreement on the reforms that the president said were a priority ... to reorganize the intelligence community.
What do you say to them?
Elsewhere on Sunday, GOP message discipline broke down.
Sen. Pat Roberts on Fox News Sunday and Sen. John McCain on NBC's Meet The Press looked relatively less pathetic than Frist as they sought to salvage some shreds of dignity.
McCain, of course, is used to sticking it to his party when it's for the greater good/serves his own career.
But Roberts is more often a party hack, so it was a notable expression of sincere frustration when he said:
...there's been a lot of opposition to [intelligence reform] from the [start].
Some of it is turf, you know, quite frankly.
Some of it is from the Pentagon.
Some of it, quite frankly, is from the White House, despite what the president has said.
Frist didn't quite have the same level of candor yesterday.
In fact, he blatantly lied at least twice.
First, on the private tax return provision:
BOB SCHIEFFER: Do you even know who put it in the bill?
FRIST: I personally don't know...
Oh really? Here's what the AP reported:
Frist referred to the bill Saturday night as the "Istook amendment," and congressional aides said it was inserted at the request of Rep. Ernest Istook Jr., R-Okla.
Second, Frist was being questioned about judicial nominations, and the possibility of the "nuclear option" -- arbitrarily changing Senate rules to ban filibusters of judges.
(Frist strongly implied he would go nuclear if Dems kept filibustering.)
Then Frist was asked about his past filibustering activities:
SCHIEFFER: Senator, a group called The American Progress Action Fund sent me a question to ask you...
... "Senator Frist, if you oppose the use of the filibuster for judicial nominations, why did you vote to filibuster Judge Richard Paez when President Clinton nominated him to the 9th Circuit?"
So you've done it.
FRIST: Filibuster is used--and it's called cloture, as you know.
SCHIEFFER: Yes.
FRIST: Filibuster, cloture ... as a scheduling, or to get more information, is legitimate.
But not to kill nominees.
He was not killed by us, he was confirmed.
Yes, he was confirmed, but no thanks to Frist.
He not only supported the filibuster that was part of a four-year delay on his nomination, but supported a parliamentary move to kill Paez's appointment even after the filibuster was broken.
From the report "Turning Right" by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund:
The first attempt to consider Paez's nomination on the floor of the Senate was rejected by a Republican filibuster in September 1999.
Fifty-three Republicans, including Senators Hatch and Frist, voted in support of the filibuster, therefore denying a vote on Judge Paez's nomination.
Another six months would pass before the Senate again turned to Judge Paez's nomination.
On March 8, 2000, Senate Democrats finally succeeded in breaking the filibuster, thus paving the way for a floor vote.
However, the following day, conservative Republicans moved to indefinitely postpone consideration of the nomination.
This motion was rejected, although 31 Republicans supported it, including Senator Frist.
Judge Paez was finally confirmed by a vote of 59 to 39—more than four years after his nomination.
Points to Schieffer for at least asking the question, but he didn't bother to follow-up and explain the full story, letting Frist off the hook.
Though after the beating he took, perhaps that was just chivalrous.
QUICK HIT
How 'Bout This Guy For DNC Chair?
Here's Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. on CNN's Late Edition:
Democrats need to focus on two areas: message and organization.
We must take the time to create and articulate guiding principles that withstand the test of time.
And not just see this process as every two years and then four years and six-year election cycles.
...[Dems are] going to have to develop not just a quarterback...
We're going to have to build a winning team that includes a lot of players on the bench and a lot of races throughout the South, throughout the Western states, throughout the Midwestern states, in order to be effective...
...And we can take a play right out of the Republicans' notebook...
...Why don't Democrats fight for education of equal high quality and health care as state-ballot initiatives at the local level?
