Was Dick Pre-Mature

I cannot decide if Vice President Dick Cheney spoke too soon when he said on Friday that if came down to a tie, he would vote to stop the filibusters of judicial nominees. Of course Harry Reid, the only politician who can make me miss the days of Tom Daschel, was beside himself.

Reid was so upset he went so far as to accuse the president of lying

“Last week, I met with the president and was encouraged when he told me he would not become involved in Republican efforts to break the Senate rules,” Reid said. “Now, it appears he was not being honest, and that the White House is encouraging this raw abuse of power.”

From what I have seen, President Bush has stayed out of the issue of Senate Republicans changing the rules of debate. Vice President Cheney, an actually separate individual human being, spoke about the issue in the context of his role as President of the Senate.

“Let me emphasize, the decision about how to proceed will be made by the Republican leadership in the Senate,” Cheney said in a speech to the Republican National Lawyers Association at the National Press Club. “But if the Senate majority decides to move forward and if the issue is presented to me in my elected office as president of the Senate and presiding officer, I will support bringing those nominations to the floor for an up-or-down vote.”(emphasis mine)

That anyone can see this as anything other than a fairly clear statement of the obvious requires a politician's willingness to twist and distort reality to suit their agenda. I am sure that there was very little shock and awe on the left when they were told that if it came to tie the Vice President would vote to support the President. I mean its not as if the Vice President is John McCain.

The question remaining is was the timing right for Cheney's statement. Does his reminder that the Democrats have to secure 51 votes to defeat the rule change give cover to some of the fence sitters that their wavering may not prevent the measure's passage? Does it send a message that the executive is very interested in seeing this rule pass in hopes that some of the wavering Republicans might think twice before following the lead of the RINO party leader from Arizona?

All of this of course is meaningless speculation if Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist continues to dither and let Harry Reid run the Senate. But then again maybe Frist was the target of Cheney's message all along.

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 05:04 AM | No Comments | Add Comment