Tony Perkins explains one more time why Frist won't can't compromise

AP has a good analysis on the role of the hapless puppet doctor in the current debate:

Frist has served as the standard-bearer for the White House and the Republican Party's religious conservatives in the fight to put like-minded jurists on the federal bench. He has rejected Democratic offers to confirm some of the blocked nominees, contending that all deserve a vote while moving forward on the nomination of Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen, a step toward a Senate showdown.

For Frist, a man with White House ambitions, it's a role that has elevated his status in the 2008 presidential race.

Probably the key section of the article was the following passage which explains the entire basis for this debate:

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, rejected any talk of compromise on Wednesday.

"Some of the Republican senators engage in this at their own political risk," Perkins said. "So much is riding on the courts. Someone that sells the American people short on this, they're going to have a hard time running for national office."

So, please, let's not pretend Frist really has any say in this debate. Bill Frist's hands are tied here. He is doing the bidding of the theocrats. No more grand discussion about the constitutional precedent, this debate is about the radical right wing's control over the GOP. And, Frist just does what they say. He is their little puppet. If you watch C-SPAN closely, you can practically watch them pull his strings.