Compromise

Yes, it's true; Senate Democrats and Republicans have struck a deal to end the filibusters of three of Bush's judicial nominees.

"The agreement, which applies to Supreme Court nominees, said future judicial nominations should 'only be filibustered under extraordinary circumstances,' with each Democratic senator holding the discretion to decide when those conditions had been met."

"Under the terms of the agreement, Democrats said they would allow final confirmation votes for Owen, Brown and Pryor, three nominees all assailed by Democrats for what they say has been their conservative activism. There is "no commitment to vote for or against" the filibuster against two other conservatives named to the appeals court, Henry Saad and William Myers."

Please note that the filibuster problem has not necessarily been fixed. It leaves room for Democrats to filibuster more nominees under "extraordinary circumstances," whatever those might be.

Yes, this compromise is better than nothing, but we'd be better off getting rid of the filibuster in its current form and going back to the original filibuster procedures. The minority was never intended to be able to impede progress like that, and judicial nominees were never supposed to be filibustered.

Of course, I favored the "nuclear option," but at least SOMETHING'S getting done now regarding Bush's judicial nominees. We'll just have to wait and see whether or not this compromise will work in the long run. I don't hold high hopes, as the Democrats seem to view any Conservative judicial nominee as an "extraordinary circumstance," but maybe they'll surprise me.

What do you think about the compromise?