Jon Kyl Announces Pre-Emptive Surrender

cafeblue

The ways these guys seem to find to snatch defeat from the jaws of success never cease to astound me. Here they are, with voter dissatisfaction with Democrats at a high not seen since the Carter administration, and Republicans still laboring under the delusion that making nice with the Democrats will get them results, no matter how may times it has failed and come back to bite them between the hip pockets in the past. What’s the old saying about the definition of insanity?

If these ‘leaders’ in the Republican party are going to be this stupid, they deserve to be the minority party. And if we’re stupid enough to keep voting for them,, we deserve it, too.

earlgrey

Why does AZ have such moderate Rs?

Also if MM (Mitch McConnell) barely won his own race in KY, than how comes he gets to be majority leader? Seems he has lost touch with his state, how he supposed to lead the R Sens. for the whole country. He has done a good job of minimizing his repsonsibilities by making sure there are fewer and fewer Rs to keep in line.

http://barnettlaw.org Frozen_Man

to make conservatives despair. It is hard enough having to battle against the democrats and the traditional media outlets without having to constantly battle more than half of the republican party as well. Glad we have places like Red State to continue in the good fight against foes foreign (the dems) and domestic (the Kyl repubs).

Tbone

Harry Reid.

bk

Besides, who would we get instead? Diane Wood? Cass Sunstein? Maybe Goodwin Liu could just skip the 9th and go straight to the Supreme Court. It’s not like Obama’s not going to nominate someone who is hard left.

The good thing with Kagan is that the Kennedy already thinks she’s an idiot, so are his swing votes more likely to be with her or against her? I say against.

wolfster38

Who paid them off, where did the bribe come from? This is not at all right.

Hugh

TxCon

a difference in the two parties. A “conservative” who doesn’t fight for conservative principles is just a bad as a liberal who does fight for liberal principles.

red_oakster

Let’s see if DeMint or Coburn try to filibuster Kagan. I don’t see it happening.

So what is Kyl’s great transgression? While implying that he is going to vote against Kagan, he says there aren’t 41 votes to filibuster Kagan.

In the meantime, Kyl has spent his entire Senate career fighting for lower taxes, the social conservative agenda, and a strong US foreign policy. He is the leader on estate tax repeal. He single-handedly sunk Clinton’s test-ban treaty. And he sank Harriet Miers inside the Senate GOP, which caused her to withdraw. And he has taken the lead opposing Liu’s nomination to the Ninth Circuit.

I want more Jon Kyls, not less.

SIConservative

Just a few years ago, we made the case quite strongly that filibusters of judicial nominees weren’t allowed under the Constitution. I accept that people can be convinced that they were wrong and, consequently, that there can be legitimacy to a change in view. I have yet to see an explanation, though, of what has changed outside of the Party making the nominations and the party in power in the Senate. That’s not enough.

I don’t like the Kagan nomination. I wouldn’t have nominated her. Senators and activists can certainly make the case that she is insufficiently experienced and that her attitude toward the military disqualify her from service on the Court. I haven’t yet had time to read her thesis, but from the little I have read about it (haven’t read everything that’s been posted on this site), it appears that there is sufficient material therein to justify a vote against confirmation. There could very well be statements in the hearings as well that give the right reason to oppose her nomination.

That said, we lost the election. The case we made a few years ago, even if the Democrats disagreed, was the right one. The Constitution requires that the Senate give its advice and consent on nominees, and a minority of Senators does not have the right to stop a majority from doing so even in “extraordinary circumstances”. The implications of that now, for lack of a better way to put it, suck.

Unfortunately, adherence to the Constitution in the modern political environment could reasonably be defined as unilateral surrender. Adherence to that Constitution, though, is essential to the survival of the Republic. The Democrats have already abandoned it. If we follow suit, what hope is left?

E Pluribus Unum

If you cannot lead the Republicans, then you should get the [censored] out of the way.

E Pluribus Unum

Screw that. When the other side has just gone to lawlessness, you do NOT win the day by limiting yourself to the law.

This Constitution will be lost if we do not fight for it. I agree with you that judicial filibusters are in violation of the Constitution. But they used it on us, and if we do not use it back on them, then the Sotomayors and Kagens will dismantle what is left of orderly law anyway.

http://barnettlaw.org Frozen_Man

The questions is not whether DeMint or Coburn would filibuster Kegan or even whether they could muster the 41 votes necessary to filibuster. The question is whether it is good to roll over before the fight even begins. It is similar to Obama saying we would not use nuclear weapons if we were attacked with chemical warfare. While the statement may be true it does not strengthen our side in any way. We have unilaterally laid our cards down face up for all to see during the middle of the hand. It is much harder to play when the opposition knows all your cards and you don’t know theirs.

According to Gallup only 40% rate Obama’s pick of Kagan as good or excellent. That is lower than Sotomayor, Alito, Roberts, and even lower than Harriet Myers (44%). With that low of a number already of an opinion that it is a good or excellent pick why roll over now, or at the very minimum why let the Dems know that you already are intending to roll over. At the very least make Obama spend some of his ever dwindling capital defending his pick. After what Kyl said why should he spend any the fight is over before it starts.

Richard Mullins

I don’t think he’s going to a more moderate candidate for SCOTUS and getting rid of her gets a more sinister candidate, like Cass Sustien. I was also figuring that she wouldn’t last long in the SCOTUS due to the hard knocks provided by the person she’s to replace, John Paul Stevens. I think I might have JPS parting words to her,”Welcome to the club, kid. It’s a hard place and I don’t think you can handle it”. If confirmed, she might be out in 5-10 years.

redneck_hippie

Hope and Change doesn’t seem to spring eternal in this year of our Lord 2010. See Rasmussen.

As Joel B. Pollak writes today, “Are likeable cronies better?” in his blog:

“If we do not know how well Ms. Kagan has applied the constitution in the past, we must make arbitrary judgments about her views about the constitution. Thus we are already operating on the terrain of the ?living document? and ?empathy? schools of thought. It is up to Ms. Kagan to distance herself from these ideas?and that must be a focus in her confirmation hearings. She must answer very convincingly to earn the people?s trust.”

When is Kyl up again?

red_oakster

I guess it’s what one means by surrender. I fully expect Kyl and others to use the confirmation hearings to expose Kagan’s leftist outlook. Is that a surrender? And I expect Kyl to vote agaist her? Again, a surrender? I don’t think so.

So what about a filibuster? A filibuster was never a realistic hope when the GOP has only 41 votes and a bunch of them (Snowe, Collins, Voinovich, Graham, Lugar, Alexander, Gregg, Brown, and then some) were never going to come close to considering a filibuster. So somehow this is all Kyl’s fault? For stating the truth?

So the improbability of Coburn or DeMint filibustering is directly connected with Kyl’s statement that there wasn’t going to be a filibuster. Expecting a filibuster is completely unrealistic. If you’re going to criticize Kyl for stating the obvious, you need to criticize a Coburn for not leading a filibuster.

Given the fact that Kyl’s record is superlative, I think the unfair criticism directed toward him merely undermines other criticisms that have a basis in reality, such as the Crist fiasco or the snubbing of Toomey by Senator Cornyn’s hacks at NRSCC.

SIConservative

I get where you’re coming from, but the ends don’t justify the means. Our priority must be the rule of law. We can’t put that off until it’s convenient. If we do, we have no authority to argue otherwise when the table are turned. I used this in a discussion recently, but it bears repeating:

?Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country?s planted thick with laws from coast to coast?man?s laws, not God?s?and if you cut them down?and you?re just the man to do it?do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I?d give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety?s sake.? – More in A Man for All Seasons

nessa

redneck_hippie

for once it appears we may get a useful idiot of our own.

The activism that we know we can expect from any Obama appointee just may backfire big time. Do you believe that once Kagan joins the power behind the throne she will moderate? Not that I believe the claptrap about her concensus building, but what if she crosses the divide and twists arms on the sinister side of the court?

bk

But Stevens could at least provide arguments that could nearly as often as not sway Kennedy to the dark side. I don’t see Kagan (nor Sotomayor most likely) being able to do the same.

Roberts is sharp as a tack and Alito obviously does lots of digging to back up his positions. I can see them swaying a moderate like Kennedy more than I see the Obama people doing it.

If there are no more retirements this summer, look at the liberal lineup this fall. Ginsberg and Breyer, who are just biding their time for retirement, and the two Obama newbies. The typical 5-4 decisions will have Kennedy siding with them or with the guys on the right. I like the lineup for the moment under the circumstances.

Richard Mullins

All he had to do was convince her and she would convince Kennedy. Stevens couldn’t get much help from the intellectual lightweights of Souter,Ginsburg and Breyer. Any one Obama picks is sure to be on the left side of the things. No moderate here. I’m wondering if have Kagen around will send Ginsburg and Breyer over the edge.

redneck_hippie

Obama picked a crony who will rubberstamp his flatulence from the throne. No doubt about that. I only know of her argument for McCain Feingold. Sure, she will breeze through the senate one-on-ones. Her only attribute is being a hale-fellow-well-met. I still say Obama settled on her because he wants a speedy confirmation, and this he will certainly get. Grrrr.

honorable

Mitch and Jon Kyl have to go as leaders of Senate Republicans. They have not provided the type of Leadership we need and deserve in these times of national emergency.

When I see all the candidates Jim DeMints’ Senate Conservative Fund is supporting and trying to elect, I feel there is still hope for the conservatives.

Since the day BHO announced the nomination of Kagan, I have been asking the Senate Republicans to block her nomination-delay, filibuster or derail till November so we can get back in majority. But Kyl has already thrown in the towel before the fight even begins. Disgusting!

http://barnettlaw.org Frozen_Man

Because yes I do think that having only one real option to stop Kagan from being appointed to life time tenure on the Court and then stating before the process even really begins that acknowledging that you won’t be considering that option as it should be reserved for “extreme circumstances” and she doesn’t qualify is giving up before the fight begins. AGAIN, I am not criticizing him for not filibustering, I am criticizing him for not leaving the option open and giving up his one real weapon before the battle commences.

Furthermore, exposing Kagan’s leftist outlook doesn’t win conservatives too much. If someone doesn’t know Obama is a leftist, who only appoints leftists this appointment is not going to change much. And yes merely voting against her appointment is giving up when all other options and possibilities are not kept as an option until the end.

E Pluribus Unum

When it’s drastic enough, then diplomacy is over and it’s time to draw weapons. Regardless of what the Constitution says.

This is that time. It is a time to go with the Declaration of Independence.

redneck_hippie

Washington_Republican

I sure hope he is not like his father.

The_Gadfly

To announce that it won’t be tried is to surrender. The so-called “hearings” won’t matter. At the end of the day it’s a party line vote and then the nominee heads to the floor for another party line vote. The threat of the filibuster was the only way to keep it honest.

And even if everybody knows one of the seven Republican dwarves is likely to fold, you make them fold instead of folding yourself.

The_Gadfly

It’s already almost June. The Senate goes on recess shortly. If there were a filibuster on a stealth candidate, would a partisan candidate with a record fare better? How long does it take before The Big 0 admits defeat on the nomination of an actual personal good friend? In November there is an election, then the numbers change. Sure they might be able to come back and try to rush through a different appointment after the election but before the new senators are seated, but how well would that sit with the American public? After that The Big 0 has to start making hard choices. Does he compromise with the Evil Rightwingers ™ to get things done or does he keep poking his fingers in the eyes of the electorate just as he’s gearing up for the ’12 election? I rather think that having no core of his own, he’ll crack up like one of Asimov’s robots caught on a conflict between the laws of robotics.

SIConservative

I have to ask you to be clear on two points:

First, are you really arguing for another Revolution? Do you really want a violent overthrow of the government? It certainly seems like it.

Second, if it’s time to act “regardless of what the Constitution says”, you do realize that you are abandoning it wholesale and can no longer make any claims to it for any of the rights that it secures, right?

The_Gadfly

Once the Democrats adopt it and make it policy, I will concur with you. Until then, we should fight be the rules as established on the ground.

The_Gadfly

bk

All they can imagine are ads saying “Woman-hating GOP tells Obama one female Supreme Court nominee is enough.” Makes a great talking point for lefties who couldn’t care less what the truth is.

http://www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com ColdWarrior

The answer is: this way, Keith Overbite won’t call him a bad name.

No courage.

I watched Jon Kyl at a Arizona Republican Lawyer’s Assn. luncheon, when asked about how he did not employ every Senate Standing Rule to slow down the passage of Obamacare as part of a strategy to kill it, tell the audience that he and the other Republican senators employed EVERY POSSIBLE DELAYING TACTIC under the Rules (which is simply not true). Then, when asked whether the “individual mandate” was constitutional, he gazed up at the ceiling, rubbed his chin slowly, and then went on to ruminate that it was “an interesting question” and he wasn’t sure “how that would come out.” Jeesh!

For Liberty,
ColdWarrior, PC (that?s ?precinct committeeman,? not ?political child!?)
Conservatives, UNITE! CHANGE the Republican Party and save the world by UNITING INSIDE the Party as precinct committeemen. NOW!

E Pluribus Unum

On point one, excellent way to construct the straw man. That is what the Dems do anytime Americans and Tea Partiers make bold statements to the effect of “this shall not stand”. We were in the context of Republicans using the filibuster just like Dems do. You say no way, I say yes way. And since I say yes way, now I am fomenting revolution, according to you.

Nice job.

Second point. Bull. You do realize that a cop exceeds the speed limit in pursuit of a civilian car that is speeding, right? Does his temporary action outside the normal use of the statute constitute a wholesale abandonment of the law?

I realize that you will counter-argue that the law specifically authorizes law enforcement and emergency services to ignore that law. But the point is illustrative. The Dems have taken off at 80mph in a 55 zone. Shall we just protest loudly while they break law after law after law, meanwhile institutionalizing their own power? Or shall we speed in order to stop them?

Madison or Jefferson said that this Constitution can only stand in a moral society. One party openly scoffs at Constitutional restraints. We will not survive if we let them.

Period.

I con’t care if you consider that “abandoning [the Constitution] wholesale and can no longer make any claims to it for any of the rights that it secures”. I consider it no such thing.

nessa

…he’d wet himself.

kuksool

As much as grassroot conservatvies are upset with the Establishment, both sides need to work together to win. Case in point, look at Scott Brown. Tea Party people and the McCain-Romney operatives brought Scott Borwn to victory. Another example would be Rubio. Jeb Bush operatvies worked behind the scenes to help Rubio overcome Crist’s huge primary lead. The Establishment & Grassroot Activists need each other.

kuksool

As much as grassroot conservatvies are upset with the Establishment, both sides need to work together to win. Case in point, look at Scott Brown. Tea Party people and the McCain-Romney operatives brought Scott Borwn to victory. Another example would be Rubio. Jeb Bush operatvies worked behind the scenes to help Rubio overcome Crist’s huge primary lead. The Establishment & Grassroot Activists need each other.

cafeblue

Why? so the establishment Blueblood Country Club RINOs can sell us out and backstab us again? And again, and again, and again…?

SIConservative

Taking up weapons? Diplomacy is over? Those sound like statements advocating revolution.

As to the second point, you’re effectively suggesting vigilante justice. The point of cops and emergency services isn’t illustrative for precisely the reason you pointed out. In fact, we had the opportunity to deal with this problem in particular while we were in power. We failed to do so. That’s our fault, or, more precisely, the fault of the wimps (e.g. Voinovich) and unprincipled media whores (e.g. McCain) we elected. We can blame the Democrats for what they do, but we had our opportunity to stop them and failed to do so.

rickcaston

I am simply appalled that republicans won’t stand on principle. There is no way ANY republican, regardless of whether they are a true conservative or moderate, can honestly say that this woman is QUALIFIED to serve on the SCOTUS. What seems to be lost in this discussion is the one of qualification. Why is that? Just because the Messiah picks someone does not automatically make him/her qualified to serve. Obama is but ONE branch! He is NOT, or at least not supposed to be, a dictator. It seems to me we have not done away with “with the advice and consent of the congress” just because Obama is in office. The house and senate have a DUTY to make sure this pick passes muster. Republicans would have to have their head stuck in a very dark place to truly believe she is QUALIFIED. That is the question that needs to be asked and if the answer is NO, which is clearly the case, they should do whatever it takes to defeat the pick. We The People deserve nothing less! Anything less is COWARDLY and should be remembered come election time.

rickindenver

To use the filibuster to oppose a judicial nominee is of questionable constitutionality however, since it was used by Democrats in the past, it must be now used to warn Democrats in the future that they should think twice before using this strategy against a republican president’s nominee. At least threaten the filibuster! Show strong republican unity! Stall the process! Make Obama send another nominee and another if needs be untill we either get an originalist nominee or are able to send them an undeniable message in November!

renny

WASHINGTON, D.C. OFFICE
730 Hart Senate Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4521
Fax: (202) 224-2207

http://www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com ColdWarrior

In my more rational moments, I can now argue that . . . a new, revitalized, perhaps more leftist left will once again come to the fore. I can say in these moments that one election year does not the death of liberalism make and that 1980 might even help the liberal camp by forcing it to come to grips with the need for organization and unity.

Then ask them who wrote those words back in November, 1980 while she was at Princeton and writing a thesis about the history of socialism in New York City in the early 20th Century.

And then ask if Sen. Kyl is going to ask Kagan even one question about her views on socialism, such as:

“Ms. Kagan, your Princeton thesis lamented the failure of the socialists in New York City in the early 20th Century and then you said, in a letter published on November 10, 1980,

In my more rational moments, I can now argue that . . . a new, revitalized, perhaps more leftist left will once again come to the fore. I can say in these moments that one election year does not the death of liberalism make and that 1980 might even help the liberal camp by forcing it to come to grips with the need for organization and unity.

“With that in mind, do you classify yourself as a socialist? A progressive? A leftist? A communist? Do you still favor a more leftist left over a less leftist left?”

No, Sen. Kyl won’t ask such questions. Keith Overbite might call him a bad name.

Pathetic. Don’t expect any courage from Sen. Kyl. I don’t.

For Liberty,
ColdWarrior, PC (that?s ?precinct committeeman,? not ?political child!?)
Conservatives, UNITE! CHANGE the Republican Party and save the world by UNITING INSIDE the Party as precinct committeemen. NOW!

kevin78

It looks like we have some RINOs to get rid off

itrytobenice

When you take a reasonable argument and try to make is sound unreasonable by twisting it, you have tried to silence the debate.

EPU is pretty clearly stating that we can’t fight an asymetrical war for our country, either on a foreign battlefield or in the Senate/House, by fighting with one hand tied behind our backs. When they fight dirty and we refuse to fight, we are sentencing ourselves, our country and the future to the whims of a corrupt party.

This country is worth all our efforts, even if they aren’t always pretty.

colony14author

Kyl is surrendering without a fight! How does he know there won’t be enough votes for a filibuster? Every day I read something more damaging about Kagan, and public sentiment can certainly be rallied against her. If a filibuster is threatened, Kagan’s opponents in the Senate will be interviewed by the media. In those interviews they can explain to the American people why Kagan is dangerous – and not in line with their values. The more information is disseminated, the more people there will be opposing Kagan. The more opposition, the easier it becomes to gather the votes for a filibuster. It is, after all, an election year – and with enough public sentiment against Kagan, even a few Democrats could perhaps be persuaded to vote against her. Their loyalty is, after all, to their careers and not to Obama.

Read The Obama Timeline and learn how we got into this mess.

SIConservative

Interesting tack.

It’s not refusing to fight. It’s fighting with legal means. We’re not fighting for anything if we too abandon the Constitution. If we do, then what we’re really fighting for is mob rule, tyranny of the majority, not anything the Founders had in mind.

http://www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com ColdWarrior

The problem with motivating the Republican senators to fight is that there are not enough conservatives INSIDE the Republican Party as “card carrying members” — precinct committeemen — UNITED to help put together a primary challenge to them at their next election. Kyl, for example, is not up for re-election until 2014. And, although the conservative Republican precinct committeemen have been recruiting other conservatives like crazy since the 2008 election, going from having 31.8 per cent of our PC slots in Maricopa County, for example, filled to now having about half of them filled. But, still, despite all that’s happened, most conservatives in Arizona who happen to be Republican , go to Tea Party meetings and protests and think they are making a difference.

Tonight I went a Tea Party meeting and gave a 15 minute pitch on why the half of the audience that was there needed to step up to the plate and get involved in party politics as precinct committeemen. There were about 30 potential new recruits. They all profess to want to “do something.” Even when told WHAT to do and HOW to do it, some just can’t bring themselves to spend an hour or so going door-to-door in their neighborhood/precinct to get a few signatures on a nominating petition. I asked them to come see after the meeting to get more info — only three or four did. Weird. They have the time to go to a Tea Party meeting, but just can’t jump into the Party and do something that really matters politically. Maybe I’m just an awful recruiter.

Sen. Kyl looks out a Republican Party that is only at half strength now in the PC ranks, despite all alarm bells going off in Washington as to coming crises, and he sees that the average registered Republican just doesn’t care to get involved in Party politics. And that means that the status quo hasn’t changed much. And may not change enough between now and November, 2014. Sen. Kyl certainly is not encouraging conservatives to become PCs. I’ve heard him speak at several conservative gatherings and he never utters a word about the need for conservative Republicans to get into the Party as precinct committeemen. Why? Because he knows it’s not in his self-interest that they do so.

So, if the Party doesn’t change much in the grass roots PC ranks between now and his next primary, Kyl knows that means he’s got, probably, a 95 per cent chance of getting re-elected. “Why should I stick my neck out?” he asks himself.

On the other hand, if the Party had already gone from having less than one-third of its PC slots filled to having all of them filled, and most of the new PCs had been hard corps conservatives from the ranks of the grass roots conservative gr oups (Tea Parties, 9.12, WeSurroundThem, etc., where I and others recruit), then maybe Kyl might have already seen the need to stiffen his spine a bit and stick his neck out a bit and actually FIGHT for our rights by mounting a concerted effort to expose Kagan for what she is (or was — see my comment above).

Kyl’s motivated by one thing, and one thing only: political survival at the ballot box. With no real change in the Party ranks, he knows he’ll be able to get the vote out better than any primary challenger. On the other hand, if the Party suddenly became about 80 – 20 per cent in favor of conservatives in the PC ranks, with 80 per cent in a position to get out the vote in the primary for a more conservative, more courageous conservative challenger to Kyl, then, just maybe, Kyl might decide to fight for our rights rather than just going along to get along.

Half the PC slots in the Party nationwide are empty. So this state of affairs applies, on average, to all of the other Republican senators.

It’s “we the people’s” fault. Or, “we the conservative registered Republican people’s” fault. Not enough conservatives are actually involved in Party politics where it matters — INSIDE the Party. We’re all too busy writing the next blog post that is going to somehow change the world or cause a charismatic leader to come forward — or something.

Go to my blog below to learn more.

For Liberty,
ColdWarrior, PC (that?s ?precinct committeeman,? not ?political child!?)
Conservatives, UNITE! CHANGE the Republican Party and save the world by UNITING INSIDE the Party as precinct committeemen. NOW!

itrytobenice

I’m a she. I was saying that by twisting his words, you’re trying to shut him up.

RS

EDITOR OF REDSTATE

Jon Kyl Announces Pre-Emptive Surrender

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