Wednesday, February 05, 2003

Freshen up his drink alert!
It looks like the usual suspects in the Democrat party are going to filibuster the judicial nomination of Miguel Estrada:
Sources said Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee -- including Sen. Patrick Leahy, the ranking member, and Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois, John Edwards of North Carolina, Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, Dianne Feinstein of California and Charles Schumer of New York -- met with Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota and his whip, Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, last week to come up with the Democratic strategy for the upcoming floor battle.

Many of the same players met again Tuesday night with Daschle and Reid to firm up the plan.

According to sources, Democratic planners apparently decided to filibuster -- to block or delay Senate action with procedural or otherwise obstructive motions, frequently with never-ending speechifying -- "if they have the votes" to defeat action to end debate.
...
One new tactic is Kennedy's assertion that Estrada has "serious temperament problems," a claim that hasn't previously been made. On Wednesday, Kennedy told his Democratic colleagues that members of the Hispanic caucus and other Latino leaders see Estrada as not being "even-tempered" and having a "short fuse."

One influential Hispanic who heard the remarks told Fox News that he found Kennedy's comments "offensive" and "racist." A GOP source, added: "They're trying to make him into Ricky Ricardo."
Way to go, Ted! Maybe Mary Jo can get you a refill?