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With an impending showdown on the horizon regarding Bush judicial nominees and the ‘nuclear option’ — the threat to change Senate rules to elimnate the fillibuster — negotiations have been underway for Democrats to agree to confirm two of three of the controversial judicial nominees in exchange for backing down from the fillibuster threat..

Now it aappears, majority leader Bill Frist is no longer up for negoatiations – probably because he realizes what the big game is. The big game has nothing to do with these three nominees. They are small potatos. It is expected on both sides of the aisle that at least one supreme court vacancies will become available before the end of the Bush’s second term. The Democrats realize this and are positioning for the end game. They want the fillibuster in place to allow the stalling of any progress until A) the nomination is killed, B) a watered down nominee (read: not-so-conservative) is nominated or C) the 2008 presidential election comes and hopefully there will be a Democratic President. That is the end game.

Sen. Frist wisely sees the plan and is indeed sitting back in his symbolic 21B Baker Street, smoking his symbolic pipe, wearing his symbolic plaid hat looking at his Apprentice, Sen. Mitch McConnell and saying “My Dear Watson, the game is afoot!”

He’s not giving any ground and appears poised to execute the nuclear option anyway.

Of course, there ,must be another way. Republicans, should they choose to exercise the nuclear option, will not have the tool when they need it in the future. It was only a mere 11 years ago that the Republicans wrested control of Congress from Democratics who had controlled it, more or less, for over 50 years. The day is not far off when the Republicans will be in the minority once again and will need the benefit of using the fillibuster to equalize the partisan divide. The fillibuster, though the thorn in the side of the majority is the life saving tool of the minority – and so both parties benefit and hurt from it at the same time.

In this case, it appears the fillibuster won’t be helping or hurting anyone in the not-too-distant future.

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Written by Aaron Brazell on April 26, 2005

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