"Up-or-down Vote"

If you are exposed to any kind of news media, you've probably heard the phrase "up or down vote" about 10,000 times in the last few days. We Americans don't have the attention span to really know what is going on, so the Republicans have packaged this deceptive "up or down vote" soundbite for us. "Just let us vote," they say. "Those mean democrats are just keeping the Senate from working."

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist shares his wisdom in an editorial to USA Today, again using the "up or down vote" morsel.

Last time I checked, the right to hold open debate is a Senate procedure as well, and one that has been used by both parties. I believe it is Strom Thurmond that holds the record for the longest filibuster speech.

The Republicans are now threatening to kill the filibuster because they are annoyed. They want the American public to think that the meanie Democrats are just being obstructionists. The Republicans just want to talk, you know. They want a good debate and then they'll take the result after that -- a result of good old Senate process!

"Our Constitution grants the Senate the power to confirm or reject the president's judicial nominees. In exercising this duty, the Senate has always followed a careful and deliberate process of examining the nominees through hearings, discussing their merits in committee, debating them in the full Senate and then coming to an up-or-down vote on the Senate floor. We investigate, we debate, and then we decide."

Riiiight. What our friend Billy Frist knows is that they'll go through the motions and the conclusion is already determined. The Democrats will probably raise points about controversial decisions and look for examples of judicial activism. The Republicans will then respond with "but she was a Sunday school teacher and did really, really well in law school." They'll repeat that stuff for awhile and then the vote will fall along party lines. So, if "up or down vote" is part of a fair, investigative process, why will the results fall along party lines?

Because "up or down vote" is a smokescreen, folks. They keep saying it as if that is really all they are asking for, but when they get it, they have a confirmation and they've circumvented the minority's only recourse.

Ahh... politics! As long as they keep saying "up or down vote" until they get their way, they shouldn't have any problems with the American public thinking about it.

EDIT: Out of curiousity, I googled for "'up or down vote'" to see just how on message all of the Republicans are. Never missing a beat, it seems, they've got their little soundbite mastered. In the process, I found another blog post that had the same analysis as I did, except they have a lot more spare time on their hands.