All right, I am obsessed with the Republican Senators today. In January, there will only be 41 of them (maybe 42 if that crooked Norm Coleman ekes out a win). In 2006, there were 55 GOP senators. They've lost over 25% of their numbers. That is a serious fail. When they were in charge, they enabled Bush. When in the minority, all they did was obstruct.
The GOP strategy for the next Congress is starting to emerge. It's more of the same. Over the past couple days, Arlen Specter and neanderthal Jon Kyl have been puffing out their chests and squawking about Eric Holder's nomination. They want to play games with the date of the hearings. It's about posturing, we're told in this AP analysis:
Republicans this week said there is good reason to spend time reviewing Holder's qualifications, especially given the recent politicization that demoralized the Justice Department under former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. The agency has major responsibilities, including the balance between tools to fight terrorism and the protection of civil liberties.Okay, where to begin? These same GOP Senators, Specter and Kyl, ignored the failings of the Bush Justice Department. Now, it's a matter of their pride to delay the hearings on Holder. That's absurd.
"As I look at this matter, it seems to me not realistic or fair to begin hearings before Jan. 26," said Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee.
Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said mid-January might work.
More time, of course, also would mean more opportunity to talk about and review publicly that unpleasant chapter in Holder's career — and by extension, the troubled tenure of the Democrats' last president.
But insisting on the postponement served another Republican purpose as well. Peppered throughout their protests on the Senate floor was the word "precedent" — as in, not setting one with regard to confirmation hearings for Obama's other picks.
All of the GOP Senators, in concert with their president, have put this country on the precipice. This country is in serious danger on many fronts. Americans voted for change. Serious change. Not games. Obama keeps saying he wants to put partisan politics aside for the good of the country. That only works if both sides do it -- and it looks like the GOP isn't changing its tactics.
Harry Reid and the rest of the Democrats in the Senate need to show some real leadership over the next few months. This is no time for the GOP's intra-Senate stunts. Every time the Republicans play the usual political games, they must be stopped. If the GOP Senate leaders want to filibuster everything, let them try. But, they will be exposed. Some of those GOP Senators running in 2010 might want to take note of all the empty seats at their next caucus lunch before they engage in the obstructionist games. And, the Senate Democrats have the power. They need to lead.
