Left In Lowell

Looks like a deal has been struck between 7 Dems and 7 GOP Senators:

Under the agreement, Democrats would pledge not to filibuster any of Bush’s future appeals court or Supreme Court nominees except in “extraordinary circumstances.”

For their part, Republicans agreed not to support an attempt to strip Democrats of their right to block votes.

Kos quotes McCain as saying:

You have before you the agreement and I won’t go in the details of it. But basically, all 14 of us have pledged to vote for cloture for the judicial nominees Janice Rogers Brown, William Pryor and Priscilla Owen.

The signatories make no commitment to vote for or against cloture on two judges, William Myers and Henry Saad. Future nominations will – the signatories will exercise their responsibilities and the nominees should only be filibusters under extraordinary circumstances.

Kos goes on to say:

Now, some wanted to roll the dice, but had we lost, Dobson would’ve chosen the next Supreme Court justice. I wasn’t willing to make that bet, and I’m glad we didn’t have to.

On top of everything, Frist looks weak. He’s failed his crazies. He’s finished.

Things may change, but so far, this is the second-best option. Beating Frist on the procedural vote may’ve been the best option. But the worst option was too horrible to contemplate.

To some extent, he’s right - losing the filibuster would have been pretty damn bad. But the alternative, allowing Owens and Brown to get the nod - is not really a victory as far as I’m concerned. I fought hard against these nominees myself - calling and writing Kerry and Kennedy (not that you have to worry about Kennedy) and doing the actions that came across my desk via pro-choice and other activist groups. These two, especially Owens, are especially nasty pills to swallow.

It’s so sad that our choices are reduced to between having the Senate rules nuked, and letting the worst of the worst of Bush’s nominees get lifetime appointments to the Appellate Court.