Friday, April 29, 2005
Try picking another
This is one of those stories that sends me into Hulk-like levels of rage. Andrew on Confirm Them reported about the Democrats protesting in front of the Jefferson Memorial in order to "urge their colleagues not to give in to what a Democratic release termed 'White House pressure'" regarding the judicial filibusters.
Listen, I am no fan of Jefferson. People around these parts know that. But the symbolic nature of this act represents a profound historical ignorance that is beyond belief. Aside from the fact that, as senator Cornyn correctly notes, Jefferson himself affirmed that the Senate owed the President's nominees a simple majority up-or-down vote, there is the mind-numbing stupidity of arguing for the preservation of the filibuster in front of a memorial to a man who, more than any other Founder, was committed to majority rule. Andrew provides a handful of quotes that demonstrates Jefferson's dedication to the general will.
Equally important is Jefferson's hostility to the judiciary and his repudiation of judicial review. You think modern conservatives disapprove of the drift of the courts in America? Jefferson no doubt would be apoplectic were he to come alive and discover what the Court has wrought.
Whether or not the filibusters ought to be stopped is an entirely different argument (and for such arguments, there is no better source than Confirm Them), but if you're going to defend the preservation of the filibuster, you'd better pick a better symbol than Thomas Jefferson.
Listen, I am no fan of Jefferson. People around these parts know that. But the symbolic nature of this act represents a profound historical ignorance that is beyond belief. Aside from the fact that, as senator Cornyn correctly notes, Jefferson himself affirmed that the Senate owed the President's nominees a simple majority up-or-down vote, there is the mind-numbing stupidity of arguing for the preservation of the filibuster in front of a memorial to a man who, more than any other Founder, was committed to majority rule. Andrew provides a handful of quotes that demonstrates Jefferson's dedication to the general will.
Equally important is Jefferson's hostility to the judiciary and his repudiation of judicial review. You think modern conservatives disapprove of the drift of the courts in America? Jefferson no doubt would be apoplectic were he to come alive and discover what the Court has wrought.
Whether or not the filibusters ought to be stopped is an entirely different argument (and for such arguments, there is no better source than Confirm Them), but if you're going to defend the preservation of the filibuster, you'd better pick a better symbol than Thomas Jefferson.
# posted by Paul Zummo : 8:42 AM
