I do believe we have been betrayed by those we elected to represent us. We have been handed over to the enemy for the sake of "Senate" tradition. I hereby pledge to withhold monies from ANY republican group however far removed from this act of treachery. I certainly hope that we will not be further insulted by some self serving pile of excrement posing as an elected representative whining that we simply don't understand the intricacies of the "revered senatorial body." Cowards have no place in the role of leadership and we are unfortunate indeed to be led by just such a miserable lot.
Such was the typical reaction of the so-called Americans who post regularly to the fascist blog known, in glorious irony, as FreeRepublic.
Tonite, the freepers lost - big-time. And they know it. To their credit, there's no sugar-coating on FreeRepublic tonight. The pols they despise even more than Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton, the moderate Republicans, are the big winners. It galls the freepers to recognize that the likes of John McCain, Lindsay Graham, Susan Collins, John Warner, and Olympia Snowe cleaned their clock.
Here's what else the historic filibuster compromise means:
- Bill Frist's political ambitions are at a stark, lonely, pathetic dead end. His Presidential campaign is now a non-starter. His failure on the nuclear option makes him almost as hated by the religious right as by the loyal left.
- Frist and his squad, led by Dick Cheney, did not have the votes. they came up short. Rejected. Not up to the task.
- John McCain is now the favorite for the Republican nomination for President - or for a fusion third party run for the White House if the religious right refuses to acknowledge the compromise. The only American politician who can beat him? Senator Hillary Clinton.
- The wheels are now in motion for a real Republican split, coupled with a centrist alliance, that could lead the formation of one or possibly two important parties or movements that do not see their homes in the traditional GOP or Democratic strongholds.
Blue and red are becoming purple and brown and pink.
UPDATE: Kos, who's still not sure Harry Reid had the votes, nails it thusly: "On top of everything, Frist looks weak. He's failed his crazies. He's finished." We concur.
UPDATE II: The ever-centrist Bull Moose has a terrific post called "The Patriotic Option" that praises McCain and quotes Dr. Jimmy Dobson's lament: "a complete bailout and betrayal by a cabal of Republicans and a great victory for united Democrats." Correct, Doc. Joe Gandelman (naturally) provides an epic round-up of last night's news, with link left, right, and center and he too sees this as a definite loss for the religious right. Jason Chervokas says the deal was a message from centrists to President Bush and Senator Frist: "we backed us off the brink this time, call off your dogs or we'll shoot you down the next time." But he also warns that the religious right is unlikely to back down. The vicious Steve Gilliard has a profane message for ol' Doc Dobson, but the best part of his post is the verbatim verbiage on wingnut blogs - sheer right-wing apoplexy. Love it.
UPDATE III: What do the liberals think? Lance Mannion doesn't like the deal because Bush gets his judges and the Dems have to rely on centrist Repubs to hold up their end of the bargain. Matt Yglesias says that "anything that somewhat humiliates Bill Frist can't be all that bad," but also ain't thrilled by the brokering. Josh Marshall calls it "an unpleasant compromise" that's a victory for the center, which defeated a larger force on the field of political battle.
UPDATE IV: Lawrence O'Donnell had this to say about McCain in his Huffington post: If John McCain is not the next Republican presidential nominee, it will be because he outraged the Dobson wing of his party with the cloture compromise. Senator McCain knew that he was risking his political future every minute he was in the room discussing compromise. What Senator McCain did in the end -- pushing both gangs of seven together for the press conference announcing what no one thought they could accomplish -- is easily the bravest political act of this century. Fred Wilson, a longtime centrist Democrat who has given to plenty of campaigns, says he loves McCain and would have voted for him in 2000. Says Fred: I'd love to see McCain in the White House. He'd take the country back to a place it needs to go.
