Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has reportedly now not only decided on the “nuclear option” on filibusters but he is apparently ready to help instigate a political BIG BOOM that has the potential of enmeshing the GOP in charges that it’s ushering in a new, dangerous area of theocratic McCarthyism.
If he does it, it’ll be a watershed moment — a transformational moment for the GOP…marking the political death of a dominant part of its party.
Forget Democrats. Anyone who is a libertarian Republican, centrist, or independent voter has to be extremely concerned — and angered — by this:
As the Senate heads toward a showdown over the rules governing judicial confirmations, Senator Bill Frist, the majority leader, has agreed to join a handful of prominent Christian conservatives in a telecast portraying Democrats as “against people of faith” for blocking President Bush’s nominees.Fliers for the telecast, organized by the Family Research Council and scheduled to originate at a Kentucky megachurch the evening of April 24, call the day “Justice Sunday” and depict a young man holding a Bible in one hand and a gavel in the other. The flier does not name participants, but under the heading “the filibuster against people of faith,” it reads: “The filibuster was once abused to protect racial bias, and it is now being used against people of faith.”
Organizers say they hope to reach more than a million people by distributing the telecast to churches around the country, over the Internet and over Christian television and radio networks and stations.
And how is Frist responding to questions about joining up with people who label as “faithless” those who’ve the committed sin of disagreeing on individual judges OR on whether — as Senator Bob Dole (who MUST be an atheist and closet Democrat) suggests — it’s unwise to scrap a Senate measure in place to prevent what Alexis de Tocqueville called “Tyranny of the Majority”?
Dr. Frist’s spokesman said the senator’s speech in the telecast would reflect his previous remarks on judicial appointments. In the past he has consistently balanced a determination “not to yield” on the president’s nominees with appeals to the Democrats for compromise. He has distanced himself from the statements of others like the House majority leader, Tom DeLay, who have attacked the courts, saying they are too liberal, “run amok” or are hostile to Christianity.
The telecast, however, will put Dr. Frist in a very different context. Asked about Dr. Frist’s participation in an event describing the filibuster “as against people of faith,” his spokesman, Bob Stevenson, did not answer the question directly.
Why won’t the Senator’s spokesman answer this BASIC question directly? Because the Senator apparently wants to have it both ways. And he can’t.
“Senator Frist is doing everything he can to ensure judicial nominees are treated fairly and that every senator has the opportunity to give the president their advice and consent through an up or down vote,” Mr. Stevenson said, adding, “He has spoken to groups all across the nation to press that point, and as long as a minority of Democrats continue to block a vote, he will continue to do so.”
Senator Frist: what was ALL THAT TALK about Democrats being the same as Michael Moore because they wouldn’t repudiate some of his charges? Aren’t you doing the same thing — or a zillion times worse?
Isn’t this ushering in a new LOW in American political demonization? Isn’t this akin to labeling those with whom we disagree Communists or Communist stooges? Isn’t this throwing out all pretensions of the kind of intellectual, civilized discourse and debate taught in universities, law schools and practiced daily by Americans on the right and left who sit down for drinks or coffee and agree to differ on issues but maintain respect? MORE:
Some of the nation’s most influential evangelical Protestants are participating in the teleconference in Louisville, including Dr. James C. Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family; Chuck Colson, the born-again Watergate figure and founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries; and Dr. Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.The event is taking place as Democrats and Republicans alike are escalating their public relations campaigns in anticipation of an imminent confrontation. The Democratic minority has blocked confirmation of 10 of President Bush’s judicial nominees by preventing Republicans from gaining the 60 votes needed to close debate, using the filibuster tactic often used by political minorities and most notoriously employed by opponents of civil rights.
Dr. Frist has threatened that the Republican majority might change the rules to require only a majority vote on nominees, and Democrats have vowed to bring Senate business to a standstill if he does.
Not all Republicans are going along with the “nuclear” option, by the way — and it’ll be interesting to see how many GOPers denounce efforts to further polarize America on this one:
On Thursday, one wavering Republican, Senator John McCain of Arizona, told a television interviewer, Chris Matthews, that he would vote against the change.“By the way, when Bill Clinton was president, we, effectively, in the Judiciary Committee blocked a number of his nominees,” Mr. McCain said.
Definitely. But the new modus operandi in 21s Century America is that you try to wipe out the history of what your party did before. We see the same approach in the Tom DeLay controversy where DeLay is to the early 21st Century what Jim Wright was to the late 20th Century.
But longtime political traditions, standards and values are not jettisoned by all partisans (note McCain, Dole on the filibuster and Gingrich’s comments on DeLay) .
If Frist goes through with being an accomplice in the theocratic McCarthyization of America, then he will set a new standard — one of the lowest in modern memory. And hopefully he — and the GOP — will be HELD ACCOUNTABLE by voters of all parties and independents who prefer a more unified America.
UPDATE: The Reform Jewish Movement has now called on Senator Frist to Repudiate Claim That Judicial Nominees are Victims of a “Filibuster Against Faith.” Indeed: Senator Frist. And the statement by Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism minces no words. A small part of it:
The news that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist plans to join a telecast whose organizing theme is that those who oppose some of President Bush’s judicial nominees are engaged in an assault on “people of faithâ€? is more than troubling; it is disingenuous, dangerous, and demagogic. We call on him to reconsider his decision to appear on the telecast and to forcefully disassociate himself from this outrageous claim. Senator Frist must not give legitimacy to those who claim they hold a monopoly on faith. They do not….
The telecast is scheduled to take place on the second night of the Passover holiday, when Jews around the world gather together to celebrate our religious freedom. It was in part for exactly such freedom that we fled Egypt. It was in part for exactly such freedom that so many of us came to this great land. And it is in very large part because of exactly such freedom that we and our neighbors here have built a nation uniquely welcoming to people of faith – of all faiths. We believe Senator Frist knows these things as well. His association with the scheduled telecast is, in a word, shameful. We call upon to him to disassociate himself from the claim that the Senate is participating in a filibuster against faith, and to withdraw his participation from the April 24th event.
OTHER VOICES ON THIS IMPORTANT ISSUE. We do not restrict our roundup to one viewpoint.
—Jeff Jarvis has an EXCELLENT and extensive roundup. He warns against generalizations on both sides. Read his WHOLE POST but here is a tiny taste:
All religious people are not conservatives (and all conservatives are not religous people [and all liberals are not godless])….
It’s wrong to make gross generalizations that end up rejecting whole swathes of the population to make a point. Plenty of people who believe in God vote Democratic. Plenty of Republicans didn’t like what Delay and the fringe of their party did in the Schiavo matter or, I’ll bet, in Frist’s TV follies.
So don’t fall into the trap of assuming that Democrats are godless and Republicans are all on the religious fringe. It’s fine to fight the religious right fringe; I do; somebody has to. It’s fine for the religious right to fight for their side and use their political wiles to do so. That’s what makes America great.
But let’s not paint America now not as red vs. blue but as churchgoing vs. not. It’s just not true.
–Conservative blogger Steve “Poliblogger” Taylor:
There is, no doubt, opposition to Christian ideas and ideals, but blanket statements such as this may make the faithful fell good, but it ultimately causes some to be repelled by Christianity, which is opposite the charge given to the church by Christ.(And gee, I wonder if Frist is running for the presidency in ‘08?)
—Bogus Gold:”Granted, like most other Republicans, I favor the nominees getting a floor vote. But I’m not sure blowing political capital over the immediacy of this vote was a necessity. We want the judges confirmed, but we were likely to get that anyway if played properly. Now it looks like the only options are to either lose the Republican base, or lose everyone else. That’s a “can’t win” scenario looking into the political future if I’ve ever seen one.”
—Daily Kos’ Armando:
In short, they “will rule or ruin.” These are dangerous times. Not only due to the threats to our security from terrorism and the disastrous Bush foreign policy. But, we face a Republican Party as extreme as the secessionists of Lincoln’s time, prepared to discard the form of government laid down by the Founders – prepared to destroy the separation of powers and an independent judicial branch.
It is time that moderate Democrats of good faith understand that war has been declared and shots are being fired. It is time they recognized the threat to our national institutions and that the time for half measures has passed. It is time for Democrats to stand up.
I support Frist’s efforts to get judicial nominees an up-or-down vote and even support invoking the so-called “nuclear option” to get it done. However, this particular move is not only unseemly but likely to backfire. Frist’s appeal is that he appears above politics. This sort of slimy tactic will not serve him in the long term, especially as he seeks the White House in 2008. Clearly, the GOP leadership thinks they’re in trouble on this one….
This is clearly an issue the Republicans should be able to win on the merits. The idea that the president’s nominees should not be able to get a vote in a Republican majority Senate is simply bizarre. But arguing that Democrats are defying Jesus with their obstructionism is unlikely to turn this one around.
–Centrist Rick Heller:”The way the religious right is leading the Republican Party to the edge is reminding me of what happened to the Democrats in the mid-1960’s, when pressure to be ever more liberal lead to the crack-up in 1968. In the latter case, the Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War was the precipitating incident of the crack-up. The GOP is still together, but their coalition is growing more brittle.”
—Josh Marshall:”So Frist wants to cast this, literally, as a war between the believers and the unbelievers. I guess this is part of toning down the rhetoric.(How much do we have to endure so that this guy can run for president?)”
—STEVE SOTO has a long analysis. Part of it:
…(If) he is unsuccessful in making this fight it will eviscerate his power and lead to more conservative peers in the Senate also with White House ambitions to turn him into road kill. Even worse yet for Frist, John McCain has warned Frist against doing it, and reminds the media that it was the GOP itself that successfully blocked Clinton judges.
This would pretty much finish Frist off as a Republican who could draw support from moderates or independents, and would correctly peg him as being a captive of the American Taliban. But it also forever establishes the fact that Frist’s judgment is faulty and not to be trusted, and would require Senate Democrats to treat Frist as a Majority Leader who puts his personal political and religious needs above the needs of the country and what is required of his position. In other words, it would finish Frist off as Majority Leader.
—My DD:”The partisan warfare over the judiciary and the filibuster is heating up. The explicit alliance of the Republican Senate Leader to a handful of extremist religious organizations is upping the ante. The rhetoric which claims Democrats and Liberals are against religion and people of faith is an attempt to stoke hatred to win political battles. It’s a dangerous game that we must meet head on.”
—Matthew Yglesias:”At any rate, liberals of faith have spent a lot of time telling liberals of little faith such as myself that we need to be more open to religion, which is fair enough. Now, though, I think it’s time for the liberals of faith to stand up, because in many ways they’re the real targets here. Apparently being a “person of faith” is now synonomous with “holding conservative views about constitutional interpretation and the role of precedent in the legal system.”
—Liquid List:”Evangelical America is doing a fine job advancing their agenda through old-fashioned local, grassroots organization. But, unlike Boss Tweed and his sort, James Dobson and Chuck Colson are not out to help improve the lives of working men and women. No, their way leads to a very scary place. The time is here for regular Americans to take note of these developments and fight back – hard.”
–Republican John Cole:
This is so patently offensive that I don’t have adequate words to describe how truly wrong this is…If you don’t share our politics, you hate the baby Jesus. If you don’t share our politics, you hate religious people, If you don’t share our politics, you are evil.
Congrats, Republicans. Our leaders have now taken the traditional rhetorical demonization of our opposition and elevated it to heavenly heights. I assume my friends on the right are going to spend the week-end attacking me for being a ‘religious bigot’ because I rightly point out the inappropriateness of this behavior. The usual suspects are front and center.
First and foremost, as a liberal Christian, who believes Christ would be very strongly opposed to Congressional efforts like the bankruptcy bill, the shock-and-aweing of Iraq, and nonstop exploitation of religion for political gain, I’m wholly offended that anyone in Congress would suggest anyone else is less Christian than they are. By standing with the vile likes of Dobson and Perkins (anti-Christs in all but supernatural powers), Frist is forever tainted by their rabid extremism in my opinion. His people should have advised him better.
Secondly, let’s expose this secular power-grabbing freak show for what it is: spiritually and politically corrupt. There is no justification for the so-called nuclear option (other than arrogance and a grossly overdeveloped sense of entitlement).
—Chris Mooney:”But I hope that this action will silence any protests about how today’s Republican Party still reflects aspects of its more moderate roots. The party leadership, as epitomized by Frist, has become inextricably bound to a religiously driven base of activists. You can like that or hate it, but you can’t seriously dispute it.”
–Pudentialla (written in lower case):”we don’t know how to break this to the “reds,” but jesus wasn’t a republican. you know what would be nice. it would be nice if mainstream christian churches held rallies outside the so-called megachurch in kentucky protesting the way that these folks were perverting christ’s message and promise in the name of the power of princes and potentates…”
—Mick Stockinger notes criticism by Jarvis an others about the GOP and Evangelicals:
Would Jeff etal think a Democrat politician sucking up to Union bosses was a bad thing? That characterizing Republicans as fat cat racists was a bad thing? Maybe, but partisan outrage hardly signals bad politics…Try to find an anti-American to say he is anti-American. Its always “I love Americans, its just Bush I hate”, or “some of my best friends are black, hispanic, etc…” Just as predictably, the targets of such hate don’t buy the rationalizations. Since Democrats have so thoughtfully alienated the Christian right (and this is hardly a recent development), it seems only fair to exploit that and point out the obvious.
–The centrist blog Oxblog’s Josh Chafetz:”PATHETIC AND DISHONEST. Those are the only words I can think of to describe a major media event portraying Democrats as “against people of faith” for blocking President Bush’s nominees. And I am thoroughly disgusted that the Senate majority leader is taking part. I can think of few better ways to drive me and my fellow independents into the arms of the Democrats.”
—Ed Cone:”Do these people understand the game they are playing? This is dangerous, dangerous stuff.”
—Talk Left:”Don’t stay silent on this one. Our democracy depends on it.”
—The Blogging of the President:”It remains to be seen what if any public reaction is going to occur, but such an event should wipe out all shadow of a doubt in the eyes of any watching that the agenda behind such a move is fundamentally ideological and verging on outright theocratic. The agenda is to impose a radically restrictive sectarian morality upon government laws and rulings.”
—Correnete:” Tell me again why we grant these people tax-exempt status?”
—Americablog:”Now, we are faced with a Senate Leader who is running a theocracy and attacking the religious convictions of the opposition party. This is really scary stuff. It sounds like something that should be coming out of Tehran, not D.C. The Democrats have to stand strong, engage the remaining few normal Republicans and shut this debate down once and for all. We all have to make noise too. Between the theocracy and the threats of violence, the GOP has given us the talking points.”
—American Centrist:”Did Bill Frist commit suicide? The answer is “not necessarily.” He has a very long and very thin tightrope to walk, and he has to do a lot of stuff right in the coming months to get the chips to fall his way. One thing is for sure, if he makes too many big missteps he will be out in the cold by the Iowa Straw Poll. If, on the other hand, he is somehow able to navigate some of the key Bush initiatives through the Senate between now and primary time, he’ll be in a pretty good position to make his case for leader of the Party. Odds Frist will pull it off, 4:1.”
—Ron Beasley:”The ‘Nuclear Option’ is the product of the Radical Christian right. Frist is now putting himself firmly in the Christian jihadists camp. As the Terri Schiavo fiasco showed us that 70 to 80% of the American people are not in that camp. Major conservative pundits like George Will have come out against the “Nuclear Option” and sometimes moderate John McCain has said he will vote against it. Dr. Frist is leaving the Senate next year to run for president. I think he will find that joining the Radical Christian jihad was the wrong political move.
—Citizen’s Rent:”Members of mainstream religions in this country must speak out and declare that the Republican party and their far-right religious supporters are not the arbiters of true faith. It is an insult to God and all that Christians hold dear to allow faith to be used, trivialized, and manipulated in the struggle for secular power. It is the antithesis of Godliness. Really, it has to end.”
—Digby:
I cannot stress enough how important I think it is to draw the contrasts between the Democrats and Republicans right now. Their ducky president looks lamer and lamer by the day and both GOP leaders of the congress are overreaching badly with this public soul kissing of the extremist religious right. (Giving them any cover for this wacky morals crusade is just dumb. Don’t go there, please.)
All we need to do is say we are defending the constitution. Most people may know nothing about civics in this country anymore, but they know damned well that disembowling one branch of government is not business as usual.
—The Politburo Dikitat has a great roundup with lots of quotes. And he has made it clear he is now breaking with his party on this issue:
The Moonbats (Kos, Yglesias, Marshall, etc.) are in full war cry on this one. Did you know that if bats shriek LOUD enough you can actually hear them? On this one, they are. And I can hear them, and it hurts my ears. On the other hand, from NRO/TKS/KLO/etc., not a word on this matter; when NRO doesn’t want to touch it, you can bet it’s a losing proposition.
Comrades, some of my loyal readers have been disappointed in my changing attitudes over the past several weeks. Guess what? Back in January, I was looking forward to the filibuster fight. It was one of the on-the-horizon events that looked pretty good. In case you haven’t noticed, I like a good fight. 🙂 I was looking forward to this one. It seemed to me nominees should get an up-or-down vote. But you know what? I’ve changed my mind. I have decided that I, too, hate the baby Jesus, and I hope that this move goes down to well-deserved defeat.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.