I swore that I wasn't going to do this.
I made myself promise that this Discourse would not have anything at all to do with politics.
Well not only am I writing about something that is the subject of political debate; I'm writing about politics itself.
Unless you've been under a rock the past few months, you know that the Democrats and the Republicans in the United States Congress are wrangling over something that they respectively call the "nuclear option" or the "constitutional option".
During President Bush's first term, the Democrats in the Senate blocked several of the President's judicial nominations from coming to a vote by using the filibuster. The filibuster is a tactic where legislators (and I use that term very lightly) can obstruct the legislative process by continuous speech and debate, thereby prohibiting items from coming to a vote.
The Senate Democrats, knowing that they lacked the numbers to defeat President Bush's nominees in a vote, used the filibuster to keep certain nominees from being voted on. This is effective because while the Constitution states that only a majority vote of the Senate (51) is required to confirm a judicial nomination, the Senate rules state that 60 votes (out of 100) are required to stop a filibuster. With 55 Republicans, 44 Democrats, and 1 Independent in the Senate, the Democrats don't have enough votes to defeat a nominee; but the Republicans don't have enough votes to stop a filibuster.
Stalemate.
Enter the nuclear/constitutional options.
If you read carefully, you will have noted that I said "Senate rules" require 60 votes to break a filibuster. If the Democrats continue to obstruct the judicial nomination and confirmation process as described by the Constitution, the Republicans have threatened to change the Senate rules to only require a majority vote to end a filibuster of judicial nominations. This rule change would only require a majority vote of the Senators that are present. Assuming everyone was present and voted, the Republicans would need 51 votes to change the Senate rules.
Democrats, the liberal media, and other unthinking people have wailed from the mountaintops that the nuclear option is the end to democracy as we know it. They claim that it is nothing more than an attempt by the Republicans to subvert the Constitution.
Excuse me?
The very essence of democracy is the vote of the people. In this case the vote of the people's representatives. The Constitution gives the power to the President to nominate federal judges and gives the power of consent and advice to the Senate. It is the Democrats, by their obstructive use of the filibuster, that are subverting the Constitution by preventing a vote on the President's nominees. It doesn't matter whether or not the nominee is a Christian conservative, a deranged lunatic, or a little green creature from Mars. The President has the power and responsibility to nominate, and the Senate has the power and the responsibility to vote its consent or dissent.
Every American should be incensed that a member of Congress — of any party — would conspire to obstruct a constitutionally mandated process.
We The People deserve to have issues debated, and voted on, by our elected representatives. We should demand an end to obstructionism.
Wayne